As tag management systems gain popularity, the platforms offer a streamlined approach to tagging, giving marketers more control over tags and fostering tags’ role in the collection and interpretation of digital data. On behalf of Tealium, a tag management system provider, Forrester Consulting surveyed US digital marketing decision-makers in May 2013 and found that more than nine in 10 said data integration was the next step in the evolution of tag management.
Among respondents who had actually implemented a tag management system, Forrester found that the greatest number, nearly three-quarters, said improved analytics implementations—making digital data more digestible—was a benefit of the system. Another 69% cited better marketing agility, pointing to marketers’ ability to assert more control over tagging, rather than needing to work through the IT department. Slightly fewer, 63%, cited better website performance, speaking to the potential to improve load times with streamlined tagging.
Among US digital marketers who said they saw tag management systems as a method to help manage data, 64% of respondents said a system’s most important data capability was providing a managed service for collecting and segmenting data. Slightly fewer (60%) said the systems should be a clean source of actionable data across all touchpoints.
For those digital marketers inclined to see tags as pieces of content, and tag management systems as primarily content management systems, 74% thought ease of use was the most important characteristic of such a system. As tags have proliferated, they have weighed down websites, and it has become more difficult to make changes to code. Because of this, it makes sense that having a tag management system that is easy to use would be top of mind for marketers. Similarly, nearly as many respondents (72%) cited scale and performance as the most important characteristics of a tag management system—making sure the system can easily be put to work.
Of digital marketing decision-makers, 18% said their digital marketing priority for 2013 was getting a tag management system. While this was relatively low on the list of priorities, it is still a sizeable enough audience that tag management systems may soon become much more common among marketers.