The Power of Tag Templates

The tag marketplace within Tealium iQ showcases the power of tag templates. Each of the 700+ vendor tags can be deployed easily, while also gaining powerful new capabilities.

One of the many benefits of tag management is the ability to seamlessly integrate digital marketing vendor tags — i.e., JavaScript code snippets — into your web and mobile channels. This is especially true of Tealium IQ™, our enterprise tag management solution, which enables you to deploy nearly any vendor tag onto your digital properties with just a few clicks. But where does Tealium get this power? The answer: tag templates. Over the years, Tealium has invested heavily in building the biggest marketplace of turnkey vendor tags in the industry. Tealium’s 700+ tag templates are what makes tags easy to manage. They also enable the tags to do much more than they normally would on their own. Let’s learn a little more about what this means for you as digital marketers and web developers.

What is a Tag Template?

A tag template is a standard piece of JavaScript code that either builds a tracking beacon/pixel or sets specific JavaScript variable values before invoking a tag vendor’s code base, or library. Tag templates are provided for each vendor in Tealium iQ. These templates also serve to add “additional” functionality not provided by the tag vendor. For example, you can grab a cookie value (i.e., a visitor ID created from another tag vendor) and send it along to your web analytics vendor, or, even better, you can send a visitor-enriched data point from Tealium AudienceStream®, our award-winning visitor segmentation and data enrichment platform, to any tag vendor that accepts additional metrics. Every template knows the exact format that each individual tag vendor expects the data.

Why Should You Care?

Tag templates mean you don’t have to know how to do any coding and you don’t need to pay a consultant to build features that a tag vendor doesn’t have. With tag templates, the code is written and the features are built-in already. If the tag vendor changes its code base, Tealium iQ detects this and gives the option to get the latest and greatest code with just a few clicks. The tag template model also makes it very easy to move data from your data layer — the behind-the-scenes data that drives customer interactions in digital channels — to a tag vendor.

What are the Specific Benefits of Tag Templates?

1. Tag-specific expertise is no longer required — With a basic understanding of how templates work, one can, for example, implement Webtrends in a way similar to how one would implement Adobe SiteCatalyst or Coremetrics. The “specialized knowledge” of each individual vendor is no longer required to get data into your web analytics reports. Tealium applies a wizard-based approach that makes it easy to configure any tag in three core steps.
2. Benefit from the wisdom of the crowds (in the cloud) — For example, when one TMS user has an idea that benefits everyone, a new feature is added to the master tag template that everyone can use (if they choose).
3. Easily update to the latest tag vendor code — A few clicks brings in the latest code base or pixel definition from your tag vendor. Eliminate the risk of copy-and-paste code errors.
4. The right data goes to the right place for all your tags — A templated approach to tag management means that you now have “smart templates” that know where to get the data and what to do with it. The tag template has the logic built-in to grab your order details and fire a conversion pixel for the tag vendor. If the data is there, the tag template code base will do the right thing with it automatically.

Are Tag Templates New?

Tealium has been using templates for many years. But those who are new to tag management may not be familiar with how they work. This blog post was written to give you an overview of tag templates in Tealium’s enterprise solution. Tealium has helped advance the art and science of tag management by removing the requirement to write custom code, or have very specialized knowledge, to get your key marketing applications up and running. Try out a new vendor tag in Tealium today!