Client Tracking Setup

Setup is route-dependent. Verification is universal. Route decision in Phase 1 matters most, importing our container onto a store with a native Pixel already firing double-counts purchases. Every client, on every route, gets a live test before campaigns spend.

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Roles in Tracking Setup

The client grants access, the Paid Ads Strategist does the work, Rachel signs off. Exec chases any outstanding access. Phase 0 secures access and ownership, Phases 1 to 4 are the strategist's technical work, and Phase 5 is Rachel's sign-off. Use the role tabs to see only your items.

Route-dependent, never double-fired

One tracking source of truth per event. If the platform already fires the Pixel and GA4 natively (Shopify, or Woo with the plugin), adding our GTM container duplicates every event. If it does not (custom and service sites), our container is the source of truth. The container never touches the Peach System's own container (GTM-TBQQ8JS8). It goes in the client's own GTM.

Tools used in Tracking Setup

Templates come from the launch-gate repo. Everything else is the client's own property, reached through our shared logins.
Bitwarden vault
Open first. Shared logins for the MCC-linked Google and Meta accounts live in the Creative Tools vault.
Launch-gate repo
agency-ad-tracking-launch-gate → launch-gate/gtm/. The two GTM container templates (container route only).
Google Tag Manager
The client's own container. Import and publish on the container route. Never our container.
Meta Events Manager
Test Events tab for live verification. Read the client's own Pixel ID here. Check for duplicate events.
Meta Pixel Helper
Chrome extension. Confirm the Pixel base and key events fire once, with no duplicates, on the live site.
GA4 / Analytics
Read the client's own GA4 Measurement ID. Confirm events land in DebugView / Realtime.

Timeline overview

The 6 phases of tracking setup. Same Planted / Ripening / Ready status the client sees in their portal. Click any phase to jump to its detail.

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Glossary, plain-language definitions

The terms and acronyms used in this workflow, in plain English. Expand if anything is unfamiliar.
Pixel
A small piece of tracking code on the site that tells Meta what visitors did (viewed a page, submitted a form, bought something).
GA4
Google Analytics 4. Google's analytics that records what happens on the site and can pass conversions to Google Ads.
Google tag
Google's on-site tag (gtag.js), set up with a Measurement ID (G-XXXX). It sends data to GA4 and Google Ads. It replaced the older "GA4 Configuration tag", now it is a single Google tag identified by the Measurement ID.
GTM (Google Tag Manager)
A container that holds and manages tracking tags on a site, so you can add or change them without editing the site's code each time.
Our container
Our pre-built GTM template (from the launch-gate repo) that we import into a client's own GTM when the site has no built-in tracking.
CAPI (Conversions API)
Server-side tracking. Sends events to Meta from a server instead of only from the visitor's browser, so events aren't lost to ad blockers or browser limits.
Server-side tracking
Sending tracking events from a server rather than the visitor's browser. More reliable, harder to block.
Deduplication (dedup)
Making sure an event that is sent two ways (browser and server) is only counted once.
Native integration
A platform's own built-in connection to Meta / Google (for example Shopify's sales channels, Wix's marketing integrations).
EMQ (Event Match Quality)
Meta's score for how well the customer data sent with events matches real Meta accounts. Higher is better targeting.
AEM (Aggregated Event Measurement)
Meta's system for measuring conversions from iOS users who opted out of tracking; you rank your most important events for it.
UTM
The tags added to a link (source, medium, campaign, and so on) that tell analytics where a visitor came from.
Thank-you / confirmation page
The page a visitor lands on after completing an action (a purchase or a form). A unique URL here is often what a conversion is tracked on.