Tag management systems have grown over the years in terms of functionality. Where TagMan was once developed to help users cut costs through advertising tag deduplication based on custom attribution models, tag management systems nowadays have become robust solutions extended far beyond their initially designed purpose. In this blog post we want to focus on the question:

Has tag management become a tool like a website’s or mobile app’s platform in that they should all require dedicated resources?

When talking to our customers, regardless of company size, we are often asked 2 questions:

  1. Where does tag management belong in the organization?
  2. Does tag management require FTE (Full Time Employee) resources?

Answering the first question is very dependent on the client’s organizational structure and will be discussed in another blog post. The second quetsion we will always answer with a wholehearted “Yes!”.

5 reasons tag management requires an owner

Before we go any further, let us just give you 5 reasons why your company will be better off with a dedicated tag management owner:

  1. A tag management system’s features will continue to evolve which, when put to use, can be beneficial to your company
  2. A company’s growing internal digital analytics maturity can increase over time requiring more specific tracking or even a new analytics solution to be implemented
  3. A website’s or app’s features and frameworks can change and may require updates to the current tag management implementation
  4. A company’s changing marketing strategies can result in the use of new tools with new tags which will need to be implemented correctly
  5. A new National or International law may require changes to data collection methods

If left unmanaged, tag management can fail

With the ever increasing complexity and flexibility of tag management tools many companies are starting to struggle to properly manage it. Being such a powerful tool, tag management systems, if left unmanaged or managed improperly, can seriously affect your website’s performance. With this argument you have to stop and consider the full impact tag management can have on your business, both positive and negative.

Proving the positive value of deploying a tag management system is not often the challenge. Tag management systems have earned a good reputation and have proven their worth ever since they were introduced. Explaining the impact of poor or no tag management maintenance takes more effort eventhough the impact is more harmful for a company.

When a company grows beyond the basic implementation and usage of a tag management system they need to remember 5 things:

  1. Tag management requires planning
  2. Tag management requires co-ordination
  3. Tag management requires specialist skills
  4. Tag management requires maintenance
  5. Tag management requires accountability

The Tag Management Manager? Or TM2?

So we agree, tag management requires dedicated resources to design, implement and maintain it as a purposeful and valuable tool. Call this person what you want, the Head of Data Collection, Head of Tag Management, Data Collection Manager or even the Tag Management Manager. Although, if you want to get nerdy, we could call this person the Tag Manager2, get it?

All pun aside, tag management is no longer just a nice-to-have tool. Tag management systems are essential in today’s digital ecosphere. It is because of this reason, and tag management’s ever growing maturity as a whole, that companies should always consider assigning an owner or at least someone with the proper skills and experience in using tag management systems.

Bottom line is, it is important to figure out for yourself who will be responsible for keeping a tag management system’s engine running smoothly.

How much time does tag management take?

The amount of time required to manage a company’s tag management implementation depends on the size of the company’s online activities. Smaller companies might not be able to justify an FTE to work solely on tag management maintenance. We recognize this every day when working with our customers.

Tagticians serves clients with varying resource requirements. From just 4 hours per month to a full time onsite presence. It is often when the amount of time is less than an FTE that companies slowly run into problems since it is harder to find employees who can perform tag management maintenance tasks ‘on-the-side’. Tag management requires specific skills that lie somewhere between full stack javascript and digital analytics. Yes, we are an odd bunch.

Full Time Tag Management Specialist or External Resource?

Although it is often the Enterprise sized companies that have the increased necessity to employ a full time tag management specialist or work with a tag management agency, tag management maintenance should never be underestimated. Even by hiring a part-time employee or by working closely with a tag management agency like Tagticians the long term effects will be beneficial. Sooner or later companies will have to do more to keep up the effectiveness of their tag management implementation.

If you are interested in learning more about how Tagticians can help you maintain a healthy tag management implementation, feel free to contact us. Our tag management maintenance and support plans start as low as 4 hours per month. Or read our blog post on the top 5 traits of a tag management consultant.