9.3 Configure Google Tag Manager Variables

Go to https://tagmanager.google.com/ and login with your personal login details.

After creating and configuring the Google Analytics tag, we’re now ready to configure Google Tag Manager Variables (like the Data Elements we use in Adobe Launch).

In the Google Tag Manager UI, go to Variables. You’ll see the list of built-in Variables and the one User-Defined Variable we created in the previous exercise.

The first Variable we need to add is called customerEmail. When a customer creates a profile on the Platform Demo website, we’ll link the customer’s email address to his or her customer profile in Platform.
In the Platform Demo website, information is often stored in localStorage. To access this we need a Custom Javascript to populate the Google Tag Manager Variable.

In the User-Defined Variables - section, click New:

First rename “Untitled Variable” into a more descriptive name:

Untitled Variable
customerEmail

Then click in the Configuration part, this lets you choose a variable type.

Choose this one.

Variable Type
Custom Javascript

This is the custom code to enter in the screen below:

function() {
  var email = localStorage.getItem("email");
  return email;
}

So after pasting the code your screen looks like this.

Click Save to save your new Variable.

You’re screen will look like this.

For the next variables, you’ll repeat this process:

• In the User-Defined Variables section, click New.
• Rename the Untitled Variable
• Select Custom JavaScript as the Configuration Type
• Paste the Java-Script code
• Click Save to save your new Variable.

The next Variable will be customerMobileNr. When a customer creates a profile on the Platform Demo website, we’ll link the customer’s Mobile Number to his or her customer profile in Platform.

In the User-Defined Variables - section, click New.

• Rename Untitled Variable to customerMobileNr
• Choose Custom Javascript as Variable Type
• Paste this Custom JavaScript code:

function() {
  var mobilenr = localStorage.getItem("mobilenr");
  return mobilenr;
}

Your screen should look like this.

Click Save to save your new Variable.

The next Variable will be customerFirstName. When a customer creates a profile on the Platform Demo website, we’ll link the customer’s first name to his or her customer profile in Platform.

In the User-Defined Variables - section, click New.

• Rename Untitled Variable to customerFirstName
• Choose Custom Javascript as Variable Type
• Paste this Custom JavaScript code:

function() {
  var firstname = localStorage.getItem("firstname");
  return firstname;
}

Your screen should look like this.

Click Save to save your new Variable.

Next: customerLastName. When a customer creates a profile on the Platform Demo website, we’ll link the customer’s last name to his or her customer profile in Platform.

In the User-Defined Variables - section, click New.

• Rename Untitled Variable to customerLastName
• Choose Custom Javascript as Variable Type
• Paste this Custom JavaScript code:

function() {
  var lastname = localStorage.getItem("lastname");
  return lastname;
}

Your screen should look like this.

Click Save to save your new Variable.

Next: aepTenantId. When a customer creates a profile on the Platform Demo website, we’ll link the customer’s last name to his or her customer profile in Platform.

In the User-Defined Variables - section, click New.

• Rename Untitled Variable to aepTenantId
• Choose Custom Javascript as Variable Type
• Paste this Custom JavaScript code:

function() {
  var aepTenantId = localStorage.getItem("aepTenantId");
  return aepTenantId;
}

Your screen should look like this.

Click Save to save your new Variable.

Next: customerLoggedIn. When a customer is logged in on the Platform Demo website, we’ll set this variable to Yes and use that condition in a Launch Rule configuration.

In the User-Defined Variables - section, click New.

• Rename Untitled Variable to customerLoggedIn
• Choose Custom Javascript as Variable Type
• Paste this Custom JavaScript code:

function() {
  var loggedin = localStorage.getItem("loggedin");
  return loggedin;
}

Your screen should look like this.

Click Save to save your new Variable.

Next: brandName. When you select a brand to demo from the Admin - menu, the brandName will be sent to Adobe Experience Platform.

In the User-Defined Variables - section, click New.

• Rename Untitled Variable to brandName
• Choose Custom Javascript as Variable Type
• Paste this Custom JavaScript code:

function() {
  var brandName = localStorage.getItem("brandName");
  return brandName;
}

Your screen should look like this.

Click Save to save your new Variable.

The next Variables will be created in the same process, but with a little different code.

The next Variable we need is called productProductView. When a customer view a product, this Variable will store the product view information.

In the User-Defined Variables - section, click New.

• Rename Untitled Variable to productProductView
• Choose Custom Javascript as Variable Type
• Paste this Custom JavaScript code:

function() {
  var productview = JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem("thisProductView"));
  return productview;
}

Your screen should look like this.

Click Save to save your new Variable.

The next Variable is called return1. We’ll use this Variable to return a Number-value of 1 when needed.

In the User-Defined Variables - section, click New.

• Rename Untitled Variable to return1
• Choose Custom Javascript as Variable Type
• Paste this Custom JavaScript code:

function() {
  return 1;
}

Your screen should look like this.

Click Save to save your new Variable.

Had we worked with Adobe applications, we would have to capture the ECID. Since we will showcase, that we can also do this with a Google-only approach to platform we’ll store a unique Google identifier, from Google Analytics. We’ll assign the value of the client-side id to this Variable.

The next Variable is called gaClientId. We’ll use this Variable to as a key for all Google Analytics data.

In the User-Defined Variables - section, click New.

• Choose 1st-Party Cookie as Variable Type

• Choose _ga as Cookie Name

Click Save to save your new Variable.

Next: pageTimeStamp. We need a unique timestamp on every call to Platform.

In the User-Defined Variables - section, click New.

• Rename Untitled Variable to pageTimeStamp
• Choose Custom Javascript as Variable Type
• Paste this Custom JavaScript code:

function() {
var date = new Date();

var month = date.getUTCMonth();
var day = date.getUTCDate();
var hour = date.getUTCHours();
var min = date.getUTCMinutes();
var sec = date.getUTCSeconds();

month = (month < 9 ? "0" : "") + (month+1);
day = (day < 10 ? "0" : "") + day;
hour = (hour < 10 ? "0" : "") + hour;
min = (min < 10 ? "0" : "") + min;
sec = (sec < 10 ? "0" : "") + sec;

var str = date.getFullYear() + "-" + month + "-" + day + "T" +  hour + ":" + min + ":" + sec + ".000Z";

return str;
}

Click Save to save your new Variable.

Next: pageHitId. We need a unique HitId on every call to Platform.

In the User-Defined Variables - section, click New.

• Rename Untitled Variable to pageHitId
• Choose Custom Javascript as Variable Type
• Paste this Custom JavaScript code:

function() {
  var min = 111111111;
  var max = 9999999999999;
  var randomNumber = Math.random() * (max - min) + min;
  return String(randomNumber);
}

Save your code fragment and then click Save again to save your Variable configuration.

Next we’ll be capturing some Variables that are available to Google Tag Manager without custom code, by referencing JavaScript objects.

To do that, follow these four steps:

In the User-Defined Variables - section, click New.

• Rename the Untitled Variable
• Choose JavaScript Variable as Variable type
• Enter the JavaScript Variable name
• Click Save to save your new Variable.

First: customerLanguage. We’ll capture the customer’s preferred language by taking it from the browser’s settings.

In the User-Defined Variables - section, click New.

• Rename the Untitled Variable to customerLanguage.
• Choose JavaScript Variable as Variable type.

• Enter the JavaScript Variable name: navigator.language.
  Your screen should now look like this:

• Click Save to save your new Variable.

Next: pageType. On every new page load, we need to capture the type of the page.

In the User-Defined Variables - section, click New.

• Rename the Untitled Variable to pageType.
• Choose JavaScript Variable as Variable type.
• Enter the JavaScript Variable name: digitalData.category.siteSection.

Your screen should now look like this:

• Click Save to save your new Variable.

Next: productCategory. For every product view, we need to capture the product’s category and send it to Platform.

In the User-Defined Variables - section, click New.

• Rename the Untitled Variable to productCategory.
• Choose JavaScript Variable as Variable type.
• Enter the JavaScript Variable name: digitalData.product.category.

Your screen should now look like this:

• Click Save to save your new Variable.

Next: productName. For every product view, we need to capture the product’s name and send it to Platform.

In the User-Defined Variables - section, click New.

• Rename the Untitled Variable to productName.
• Choose JavaScript Variable as Variable type.
• Enter the JavaScript Variable name: digitalData.product.name.

Your screen should now look like this:

• Click Save to save your new Variable.

Next: productPrice. For every product view, we need to capture the product’s price and send it to Platform.

In the User-Defined Variables - section, click New.

• Rename the Untitled Variable to productPrice.
• Choose JavaScript Variable as Variable type.
• Enter the JavaScript Variable name: digitalData.product.price.

Your screen should now look like this:

• Click Save to save your new Variable.

Next: productImageUrl. For every product view, we need to capture the product’s image URL and send it to Platform.

In the User-Defined Variables - section, click New.

• Rename the Untitled Variable to productImageUrl.
• Choose JavaScript Variable as Variable type.
• Enter the JavaScript Variable name: digitalData.product.imageUrl.

Your screen should now look like this:

• Click Save to save your new Variable.

Next: productInteraction. For every product view, we need to capture the type of interaction (View, Add To Cart, Purchase, etc) and send it to Platform.

In the User-Defined Variables - section, click New.

• Rename the Untitled Variable to productInteraction.
• Choose JavaScript Variable as Variable type.
• Enter the JavaScript Variable name: digitalData.product.interaction.

Your screen should now look like this:

• Click Save to save your new Variable.

Next: pageUserAgent. For every page view, we need to capture the user device type and Operating System and send it to Platform. We use the User Agent to derive this information. More info on User Agent can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_agent

In the User-Defined Variables - section, click New.

• Rename the Untitled Variable to pageUserAgent.
• Choose JavaScript Variable as Variable type.
• Enter the JavaScript Variable name: navigator.userAgent.

Your screen should now look like this:

• Click Save to save your new Variable.

Almost done, now time for : pageName. On every new page load, we need to capture the page name and send it to AA, AAM and Platform.

In the User-Defined Variables - section, click New.

• Rename the Untitled Variable to pageName.
• Choose JavaScript Variable as Variable type.
• Enter the JavaScript Variable name: document.title.

Your screen should now look like this:

• Click Save to save your new Variable.

And the final one: pageUrl. On every new page load, we need to capture the URL to send it to other solutions.
Page URL is already a built-in variable in Google Tag Manager, so we do not really need to define this. But for consistency with other information on Platform we’ll define pageUrl anyway.

In the User-Defined Variables - section, click New.

• Rename the Untitled Variable to pageUrl.
• Choose URL as Variable type.

Your screen should now look like this:

• Click Save to save your new Variable.

You’ve finished configuring all required Google Tag Manager Variables!

Next Step: 9.4 Retrieve Platform Datasets

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