Webinar recording – How to enhance Google Analytics 4 data with Google Tag Manager

About the webinar

Google Tag Manager (GTM) is a free tool that enables you to install, store, and manage marketing tags without modifying website code.

In this webinar, presented by James Akers, Tech Champion for Data Analytics and Insight, you will learn how to set up Google Tag Manager to feed new data into Google Analytics 4 and understand more about your online audiences.

You will learn:

• The basics of Google Tag Manager (GTM) and understand how it works with Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to track and manage data effectively.
• Practical techniques to set up GTM and GA4 tags, triggers, and variables to collect and analyse important data about audience engagement, conversions, and marketing campaigns.
• Advanced strategies to optimise data collection and reporting using GTM features like custom event tracking, which will help you make better decisions and understand your audience.

Resources, links and further information

Download the webinar presentation slides (PDF) >

How to install Google Tag Manager on your website

The way you install GTM on your website will depend on the platform your website is built on. You can use plugins or add the code directly to your page templates. We have linked to guides for some of the commonly used platforms here:

WordPress

• Site Kit – Google’s official WordPress plugin
• GTM4WP – Alternative plugin with extra options to pass through additional data such as content Author

Drupal

• How to integrate Google Tag Manager with Drupal 9

Craft

• Adding tracking scripts to your Craft site

Squarespace

• How to Install Google Tag Manager in Squarespace

Wix

• Connecting Your Google Tag Manager Account to Your Wix Site

GTM recipe to track email and telephone clicks

We have created a template for tracking email and telephone clicks for Google Analytics 4. You can import this into your own Google Tag Manager Account.

Please note: As standard this will track any linked email address or phone number across your website. It is intended to track your organisation’s emails and phone numbers. To comply with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) you should not pass this type of personal data about your users to Google Analytics – this may happen if your website has user profiles in a membership section for example. Contact us if you are unsure!

• Download the Google Tag Manager recipe – click the link and then Download in the top left

In Tag Manager go to Admin > Import Container. Select the file, choose Existing workspace and click Default Workspace on the popup. For the import option – select Merge (important!). Press Confirm to import the recipe.

This will create a new Tag named GA4 Event – Contact in you list of tags. You will need to open this tag, select your GA4 configuration tag and press Save.

Finally you need to publish the changes in your Tag Manager account. Click Submit, enter a description of the changes in the popup and press Publish. This will now be live on your website.

Add a Custom definition in Google Analytics 4

To see the email address and phone numbers in your report you will need to add contact_name as a Custom definition in Google Analytics 4. Log in to GA4 and navigate to Admin (cog icon in bottom left). Go to Property > Custom definitions and click Create custom definition.

For the Dimension name enter Contact name and under Event parameter enter contact_name and click Save.

After 24 hours, Contact name will be available as a dimension in your Exploration reports.

External training and resources for Google Tag Manager

The following links will help with your next steps using Google Tag Manager after you have set up and installed your account:

• What is Google Tag Manager? (SemRush) – Explains what GTM can be used for and how it works
• Google Tag Manager for Beginners 2023 (MeasureSchool) – YouTube video which goes through example tags and functionality
• Google Tag Manager Recipes (Analytics Mania) – A collection GTM of ready made recipes to import into you account such as Audio, Vimeo and Forms.

Further Support

The Digital Culture Network is here to support you and your organisation. Our Tech Champions can provide free 1-2-1 support to all arts and cultural organisations who are in receipt of, or eligible for, Arts Council England funding. If you need help or would like to chat with us about any of the advice we have covered above, please get in touch. Sign up for our newsletter below and follow us on Twitter @ace_dcn for the latest updates.