Do You Need Server Side Tagging?
Get the Decision Tree in this Video here: http://ddu.ai/server
Do you need server-side tagging?
In this video, I help you decide whether you need to implement server-side tagging for your business using Google Tag Manager.
Watch along to get a balanced overview of your options after answering a series of questions.
First question: Have you experienced marketing data loss?
You can answer yes or no to this question. Then, I’ll ask you some follow-up questions to determine your next steps depending on your answer.
Let’s start with those who answered YES to the question - those of you who have experienced marketing data loss.
Next question for you:
Is the data loss causing a revenue loss?
If you answered yes, I have another question:
Is revenue loss greater than the cost of hiring a consultant?
Assume a consultant can cost you $5,000 to $10,000 - are you losing more money than that by lack of tracking?
If you advertise even a few thousand a month, you certainly are
In this case, it’s obvious that you need server-side.
Verdict: You need server-side.
What if you answered no to the question Is revenue loss greater than the cost of hiring a consultant?
Well, I have another question for you.
Are you a growing business?
If you are a growing business, it’s only a matter of time before data loss becomes YOUR loss. So if you are growing as a business, I recommend that you invest in server-side tagging to supplement your existing tracking systems.
If you are not a growing business? Then I recommend you hold off for now. You may be losing data, but it’s not causing you to lose faith in your business. So while Server Side may be lovely to have, it’s not worth the hassle.
What about those of you who haven’t experienced marketing data loss?
Well, you still may decide to use server-side tagging if you answer these other questions.
First up, Are you in a location governed by privacy laws like GDPR or CCPA?
If yes, I have another question for you.
Are you advertising online?
If you are advertising, I’d strongly consider investing in server-side tagging for your campaign tracking while also opening up other benefits to hosting your own data collection methods.
If you aren’t advertising online, it’s your choice to decide. Is collecting cleaner data in compliance with the GDPR or CCPA worth investing in for your business? Or are you skeptical it will make an impact?
Your call on this one.
What if regulations don’t govern you?
Well, your server-side choice comes down to the answer to the last question:
Do you want to make your tracking more future-proof?
While there’s never a future-proof solution for tracking, it appears that server-side tagging will be a lot less restrictive in the future than client-side tagging. So if you want to set things up today and get the benefits for years to come, Server Side tagging is an appealing choice.
If you don’t care about the future and answered no everywhere else? Then I think you can hold off on server-side tagging for now until you find a more compelling use case.
There you have it. Are you going to be using server-side tagging based on the information here? Leave a comment to let me know!
And finally, to get this printable decision tree, go to http://ddu.ai/server.