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What is Google Tag Manager and how does it work?

Google Tag Manager is a Google tool that lets you measure website events and implement code on your website with ease. As a website manager or marketer, that brings plenty of benefits and saves a lot of time. In this blog we set out the most important possibilities clearly, so that after reading it you can get straight to work with Google Tag Manager.

Google Tag Manager container

The container within Google Tag Manager is the collection of all the triggers and tags you have set up. Put simply, a tag is an event, and tags are activated when the trigger fires. A trigger can be almost anything, but the most commonly used triggers are clicking specific elements on the website, viewing a specific page or submitting a form. 

The image below shows an event being measured when someone signs up for the newsletter on the website. That event is activated by the trigger “Newsletter signup”. As the image also shows, the trigger is based on a specific page view. In this case the thank-you page users land on after signing up for the newsletter.

Google Tag Manager pixels

Now that you know what Google Tag Manager is and how to set up events, we come to the second major benefit of Google Tag Manager: setting up pixels. We list the most important pixels below:

Installing the Facebook (remarketing) pixel

The Facebook pixel is one of the most widely used pixels. It is a piece of code that creates a connection between Facebook and your website. Through the Facebook pixel it is possible to track the behaviour of Facebook users on your website. 

The Facebook pixel also shows which pages users visit on your website. It recognises these users, which means you can approach that group again - retargeting them with Facebook ads. 

Google Ads remarketing pixel

The Google Ads remarketing pixel is another frequently used tag in Google Tag Manager. With it you can build audiences from your website visitors to target with Google Ads. Although Google Ads is often aimed at winning new website visitors or customers, the Google Ads remarketing pixel lets you stay front of mind with your audience. 

A few of the general benefits of the Google Ads remarketing pixel are: 

  • Insight into the effect of your campaigns
  • Convincing potential customers by approaching them again 
  • Getting to know your audience better

The image below shows how the Google Ads remarketing pixel is set up correctly. You configure the remarketing tag with the conversion ID you can find in Google Ads. The trigger that fires this tag is a page view on all pages.