It’s best practice to ensure the Form Submission trigger only works on intendd pages and with intendd forms:
Step 2 – thank-you/success page URLs
If the previous step didn’t work, then the next port of call is to track the thank you or success page URL after the action has been completd by the user:
Most forms and widgets have the ability to forward users to another URL once a submission has been made – this setting often has to be enable within the CMS.
There are a few caveats in using thank-you/success page URLs for tracking, such as:
- If the URL ever changes on these pages, tracking will break (this often happens!)
- Internal users updating the content on these pages could accidentally trigger many conversions
- If the thank-you/success page gets visitd
Step 3 – Data Layer variable changes
If you can’t track a URL change, then gambling database you can look at the variables in GTM’s Data Layer to see if any variables change when the action is performd.
Many ecommerce tracking tools will place data in the Data Layer, showing which item has been viewd, adde to the basket, bought, etc. This method can be usd for non-ecommerce tracking too:If you are unfamiliar with the Data Layer, then it acts as a handy conduit between web apps and Google Tag Manager and can be use by any party:
Step 4 – element visibility changes
If there are variable changes in the Data Layer then you may have to rely on element visibility changes to track your KPI.
This is especially useful for popup messages, or pages which use the same URL for several steps of a process, such as a quote tool widget:
Again, this method of tracking can lead 8 effective ways to grow your social media following to issues down the line, such as:
- The code for the element changing in the future and no longer being trackd
- The code for the trigger being usd on another part of the website leads to many instances of false tracking
- The forms or widget switching to a thank you page instead of using a popup in the future breaks tracking
Rely on this if you have to, or try step 5 below for a more robust method…
Step 5 – follow the guides
If you can’t rely on element visibility tracking, then the next step is to hit your favourite search engine and find documentation on the tool you’re trying to track.
A simple search such as “[tool name] GTM tracking guide” will usually do the trick.
You may discover that the tool has a way of communicating with it via JavaScript functions and API calls, or the tool may integrate directly with common tracking software such as Google Analytics:Another way of measuring changes to third-party tools is to look at any first-party cookie changes when an action is performed list provider and use them as triggers.
Set the cookie contents as a variable and then trigger when the cookie has the correct contents: