Following his experience as a Front-End developer, Guillaume Sinnaeve, a JavaScript enthusiast, decided to join the world of data in 2015 to share his expertise and take up new challenges. Guillaume Sinnaeve is Tracking & Analytics Manager at fifty-five, a data company specialized in brand services. He is in charge of the technical support of customers in their data collection projects, particularly via the Analytics Suite. In this interview, he explains how he has worked with AT Internet on the creation of a tag template within Google Tag Manager.

Hello Guillaume, can you tell us more about how this project came about? Why did you launch this initiative?

At fifty-five, we realized that it could be very complex for our clients to implement AT Internet tags within Google’s Tag Management System (TMS), Google Tag Manager (GTM). As no template existed, prior knowledge of the JavaScript language was required to carry out the task. However, some of our customers wanted to be completely autonomous to make various technical modifications. Therefore, we created a template to connect AT Internet and GTM and thus offer them more flexibility and independence.

How has the collaboration with AT Internet on this project gone?

We have regular meetings with the AT Internet teams within the framework of our partnership, whether it is to learn about new product features, to discuss the subjects of CNIL exemption or to request support on the tool implementations at our customers’ sites. After developing the templates, we presented them to our partners at AT Internet, who supported us in finalizing and documenting the tool, as well as in submitting the templates to Google. It was great to work together on this new project!

How did you develop this template, and how long did it take?

My role at fifty-five is also to improve the effectiveness of our implementation processes. I started by developing the templates in a GTM container to test the functionalities offered by Google and to test their limits. I produced a first functional version in only one month. Then, I presented the templates internally to our TMS experts and then to the AT Internet teams in order to perfect them and obtain a satisfactory final version.

Can you present this template and what are the main benefits for users?

The variable template contains a field that allows the smarttag.js file to be called, fields for the page name structure (chaptering) as well as the configuration required for the tracker (site indicator, pages, visitor identifiers, search, MV testing, etc.). The tag template includes the configured variable template and adds information specific to the page or click (e.g. click name).

Its major benefit is time saving because only a few fields need to be filled in. Another major advantage is that it is no longer necessary to know JavaScript. Anyone (even your grandmother, or almost!) can configure the tag. The business teams can therefore be more independent in this configuration.

Do you have any similar projects in mind for the future?

Absolutely. I think we’re at a turning point in the world of data collection that is forcing us to reinvent ourselves. Cookies are increasingly being blacklisted and legislation is evolving to enforce user rights. Collection will have to adapt accordingly. Server-side implementations, cookieless, or coupled with machine learning to make KPIs more reliable… There are many future developments on the horizon. In this context, we must adapt the collection, in particular via GTM templates in server-side containers. AT Internet’s could be my next target, who knows (😊)?

To conclude: staying with the tools, what is it about the new Analytics Suite Delta that you are most excited about?

With Analytics Suite Delta, AT Internet has chosen to use event-based data collection. The events are unlimited and the number of parameters that qualify them is up to a maximum of 1000. This is in line with the logic that other web analytics players have adopted. Moving towards a unified implementation also makes integration easier.

To learn more, read fifty-five’s article on TeaHouse (in French) and the template documentation.

Author

As Editorial manager, Fabrice manages the entirety of AT Internet’s French-language content across all its digital and print media. With more than 10 years’ experience in editorial strategy consulting, content creation and content marketing project management, he is highly adept at conveying complex topics to a wide range of audiences.

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