HOW TO CHOOSE A TAG MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

By David A YovannoPresident ndash Mediaplexreg

MEDIAPLEX copy COPYRIGHT 2012 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PG2wwwmastertmscom

PG3 Introduction

PG3 Why Tag Managmement

PG5 Eight Questions to Ask Potential Tag Management Providers

PG6 The Questions in Depth

PG6 1 Can the vendorrsquos solution accommodate the number of tags you

currently use and is there room for growth

PG6 2 Will the solution enable you to work with any third party technology

that you choose or does it favor certain solutions over others

PG6 3 Has the solution been proven to work in real world implementations

PG7 4 Does the solution integrate into marketing attribution platforms that

can help you drive greater marketing effectiveness in the future

PG7 5 Does the vendor have staying power mdash is it an established company or

a well-funded new company

PG8 6 Do you already work with the vendor or does the quality of the solution

warrant adding the complexity of working with another vendor

PG8 7 Does the vendor offer strong service and are they easy to work with

PG9 8 How does the vendor address consumer privacy regulation

PG9 Conclusions

PG9 About the Author

PG9 About Mediaplex

wwwmastertmscom MEDIAPLEX copy COPYRIGHT 2012 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PG3

INTRODUCTION

Over the past several years the number of third party

technologies in use to empower brand websites and

marketing has exploded The common denominator across

literally hundreds of these new technologies platforms and

marketing solutions is the use of scripts beacons and other

types of site tags to collect consumer information

Tags are critical to most digital marketing tactics and are

driving remarkable advances in marketing effectiveness But

they also pose implementation hurdles website performance

issues and make it more difficult to ensure that you and only

you control and have access to your customer data

ldquo Tags can pose implementation

hurdles website performance

issues and make it more difficult

to ensure that you and only you

control and have access to your

customer datardquo

To mitigate these risks many companies are in the process

of choosing and selecting ldquotag management systemsrdquo A

great tag management system replaces the many tags on

your site with a single piece of code across all pages It helps

marketers better control their data manage tags without

relying on IT improve site performance and gain flexibility

All while continuing to collect the same information as when

multiple tags were deployed individually on web pages Further

costs for tag management solutions tend be very modest

versus the immediate economic benefits that they provide

ldquo The potential benefits of a great

tag management system are

large but not all systems are

created equalrdquo

While the potential benefits of a great tag management

system are large not all such solutions are created equal

For the strategic marketing generalist it can be difficult to

choose the best vendor This whitepaper is designed to help

the marketer choose the best possible solution for their

brand and company Itrsquos built around a set of eight questions

you should ask vendors as you consider their various

offerings and proposals By choosing a vendor that delivers

on all these issues you can ensure that you reap maximum

benefit from this important solution to real business issues

WHY TAG MANAGEMENT

Thousands of companies are considering tag management

because it helps mitigate five critical business issues

1) Site Crashes and Security Warnings

Improperly implemented tags can cause site crashes that

destroy the user experience and significantly limit online

sales and other KPIs In addition to problems that arise

from improper implementation tags on your site have

the potential to trigger security warnings Also when a

vendorrsquos security certification expires disconcerting security

warnings can appear on your site This too can greatly

impede consumers from transacting on your site A tag

management system can help ensure that you have greater

control over the number and implementation of site tags

and can prevent tag issues from impacting user experience

HOW TO CHOOSE A TAG MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

wwwmastertmscom MEDIAPLEX copy COPYRIGHT 2012 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PG4

2) Slow Loading Pages

The loading speed of your site strongly impacts customer

satisfaction and abandon rates For ecommerce sites it

can improve (or limit) sales cart abandons and lifetime

customer value A study at Amazoncom a few years ago

found that for every 100 milliseconds that load time

increased online sales decreased by 1i That means that

just a one second delay in load time would cut potential

sales by 10 Another factor to consider is that Google

factors load times into consideration when ranking sites

Slow sites seem to rank lower

3) Data Piracy and Leakage

Many marketers operate under the illusion that only they

know what consumers do on their sites For the majority

of brand websites that simply isnrsquot true By working

with third party technologies like retargeters media

providers lead gen and affiliate networks rich media

technologies and the like you share your on-site data

with others And herersquos the rub your partners may in turn

have partnerships with other third parties who can also

see what happens on your site Whatever your partnersrsquo

motivations your site data may currently be visible to a

legion of companies you donrsquot work with ndash may not have

even heard of

Many marketers also find that even when they stop

working with a vendor that former partnerrsquos tags

remain on their site for months or even years The odds

increase if your site was built in stages is quite large or

is managed by a highly taxed IT organization With tag

management itrsquos easy to observe and control all of the

tags available on your site and thereby control your data

4) Slow Deployment of New Technologies

In some companies there is friction between Marketing

organizations that want to implement new technologies

and tags quickly and IT organizations juggling many

priorities It isnrsquot at all unusual for us to hear clients say

that getting a new tag added to a site can take 2-12

weeks For marketers working to achieve increasingly

steep sales goals a loss of a month or more can be quite

frustrating Using a tag management system allows

marketers to implement their own tagging rapidly while

enabling IT to focus on more mission-critical tasks

5) Privacy Violations

In the US the FTC has strongly encouraged companies to

be more transparent in their data collection policiesii and

to offer consumers robust notice on ads and web pages

In the EU standards are even higheriii In order to comply

with the guidelines brands must know with certainty all

of the companies collecting data on their pages With tag

management the task is much easier

A great tag management solution can ndash and should --

address ALL of these concerns

EIGHT QUESTIONS TO ASK POTENTIAL TAG MANAGEMENT PROVIDERS

As you consider tag management alternatives use the

following questions to help ensure you choose the

best solution

1 Can the vendorrsquos solution accommodate the number of

tags you currently use and is there room for growth

HOW TO CHOOSE A TAG MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

i Kohavi and Longbottom 2007ii Prepared Statement of The Federal Trade Commission on The Need for Privacy Protection May 9 2012iii EC Data Protection Reform (Includes dozens of factsheets and videos)

wwwmastertmscom MEDIAPLEX copy COPYRIGHT 2012 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PG5

2 Will the solution enable you to work with any third party

technology that you choose or do they favor certain

solutions over others

3 Has the solution been proven to work in real world

implementations

4 Does the solution integrate into marketing attribution

platforms that can help you drive greater marketing

effectiveness in the future

5 Does the vendor have staying power ndash is it an established

company or a well-funded new company

6 Do you already work with the vendor or does the quality

of the solution warrant adding the complexity of working

with another vendor

7 Does the vendor offer strong service and are they easy to

work with

8 How does the vendor address consumer privacy regulation

THE QUESTIONS IN DEPTH

1 Can the vendorrsquos solution accommodate the number of

tags you currently use and is there room for growth

Solve the problem in one go Find a vendor that can

accommodate all your tags and enable you to add additional

tags as new technologies arise

Donrsquot choose a platform with a limit to the number of tags

it can accommodate Be safe Plan for radical growth in the

number of technologies you employ You are far too busy to

have to go through this process again in 18 months

ldquo Donrsquot choose a platform with

a limit to the number of tags it

can accommodaterdquo

2 Will the solution enable you to work with any third party

technology that you choose or does it favor certain

solutions over others

One of the key benefits of tag management is the freedom

to deploy more and better technologies on your website

quickly and easily Your choice of tag management platform

shouldnrsquot constrain you from choosing to work with any data

or technology company you choose

If you feel ldquopushedrdquo into shifting your existing third party

relationships by a prospective tag management vendor ask

for specific feedback on why the vendor wants you to make

a change

3 Has the solution been proven to work in real world

implementations

As interest in tag management has grown more companies

have entered the space Some of these new solutions

may have very little real world track record combined with

minimal understanding of marketersrsquo true needs Therersquos no

need to go with an unproven solution for tag management

ldquo Therersquos no need to go with

an unproven solution for tag

managementrdquo

HOW TO CHOOSE A TAG MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

wwwmastertmscom MEDIAPLEX copy COPYRIGHT 2012 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PG6

There are a number of cost effective options that boast

strong in-market experience This is not an area in which to

be a guinea pig Your data and customer insight are far too

important for that

4 Does the solution integrate into marketing attribution

platforms that can help you drive greater marketing

effectiveness in the future

Many believe that marketing attribution is the most

important future challenge facing marketers Understanding

the relative impacts of different marketing tools on the

eventual sale is absolutely essential to drive the massive

increases in ROI effectiveness that you will be charged

with delivering

The best way to ensure that you can deliver on this challenge

is by laying the groundwork for precise marketing attribution

now Because tag management is a critical step in

developing a true 360-degree customer view itrsquos important

to discern how your potential vendor is reflecting the

challenge of marketing attribution in its current offering

and product development plans

ldquo Find out how your potential

vendor is reflecting the challenge

of marketing attribution in its

current offering and product

development plansrdquo

Most companies choose tag management to address very

practical page performance and control issues But as we

develop and deploy more and more technologies to better

meet the individual needs of consumers we need to collect

and manage more and more data Tag management is

a keystone in making all of that data collection efficient

Make sure that the vendor you choose can answer how

their offering fits in with the larger trends of marketing

accountability and attribution

5 Does the vendor have staying power ndash is it an established

company or a well-funded new company

The excitement and enthusiasm of entrepreneurs can be

pretty infectious Theyrsquove created companies in a particular

field because of their passion and zeal for it But after the

parade someone needs to sweep the streets And after a

prospective vendor electrifies a conference room every

marketer knows that it is their responsibility to ensure that

the vendor they choose can deliver what they promise ndash

both now and for the foreseeable future

ldquo Choose a vendor thatrsquos been

around for a long time or which

is very well fundedrdquo

Choose a company with some staying power One thatrsquos been

around for a long time or which is very well funded Being

cautious here may prevent the need to find a new vendor in

a year or two

HOW TO CHOOSE A TAG MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

wwwmastertmscom MEDIAPLEX copy COPYRIGHT 2012 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PG7

6 Do you already work with the vendor or does the quality

of the solution warrant adding the complexity of working

with another vendor

While having hundreds of companies innovating in the digital

marketing space has had a great effect on the number and

availability of empowering technologies it has also spawned a

vendor management challenge Some companies are dealing

with more than a dozen third party technology vendors You

donrsquot need me to tell you that is a big drain on your time

While adding the 9th or 13th or 17th vendor to your list

might not seem all that significant I am convinced that the

most effective marketers will be working with fewer more

versatile vendors in the months and years ahead For even

the most frugal brands time and attention are the most

limited marketing resources

ldquo Start by exploring options from

your current set of vendors

and look farther afield where

necessary You may also find that

tag management can be bundled

with other services you are already

buying for better pricingrdquo

If a tagging solution can be delivered by a company or an

alliance partner that you already work with it will likely

demand less of your time Thatrsquos not to say that working

with a pure-play tag management company is a bad idea ndash

but their solution should be ldquobetter enoughrdquo to warrant the

increased complexity Perhaps the best strategy is to start

by exploring options from your current set of vendors and

look farther afield if necessary You may also find that tag

management can be bundled with other services you are

already buying For example Mediaplexrsquos tag management

solution Master TMStrade offers cost effective integrated pricing

for users of ValueClickreg Dotomireg and Commission Junctionreg

7 Does the vendor offer strong service and are they easy

to work with

Tagging solutions are relatively easy to implement While

implementation and training are important the amount

of actual contact you have with the vendor need not be

extensive on a week-to-week basis

But the data provided by third party platforms are absolutely

vital to your marketing effectiveness Choose a vendor with a

team that will quickly address any issues you experience

A vendor that is slow to respond could lead to the loss of

several days ndash even a week ndash of data

As with any service organization your experience will be a

function of the work of the individuals on your team Ask for

references from the prospective vendor ndash specifically from

clients of the sales and account people you will be working with

ldquo Be VERY certain that the vendor

you choose has both the people

and the interest in being there

after the salerdquo

HOW TO CHOOSE A TAG MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

MEDIAPLEX copy COPYRIGHT 2012 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PG8

One other thing to consider ndash tech start-ups tend to focus

more on delivering technology platforms ldquoas-isrdquo than in

delivering services This is because venture capital investors

prefer tech- versus people-intensive businesses Such

businesses tend to be more profitable If you choose an early

stage company for your tag management solution be VERY

certain that they have the people and the interest in being

there after the sale

8 How does the vendor address consumer privacy regulation

While tag management solutions do not in-and-of-themselves

address consumer privacy they can help companies get and

stay compliant Because privacy legislation and regulation

are in flux it is useful to work with a company that works

ongoing with leading privacy solutions providers Such

relationships can help companies prepare for possible future

regulation and quickly find ways to respond to new rules and

guidelines as they arise

CONCLUSIONS

Tag management is an important decision and one

that deserves your focus and attention I hope that this

whitepaper makes it a little easier to choose and implement

the right solution for your particular brand and company

Irsquod be delighted to hear from you ndash on this paper and on

your process for choosing a tag management solution

Please feel free to email me your thoughts and comments at

davidyovannomediaplexcom

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

As President of Mediaplex the technology business segment

of ValueClick David A Yovanno is responsible for all of

its global operations He is also responsible for driving

cross-division synergies and assisting with the Companyrsquos

corporate development program

Mr Yovanno first joined ValueClick in 2000 and held a number

of leadership positions for ValueClick Media including

executive vice president of sales and marketing general

manager and chief operating officer until 2008 Mr Yovanno

left ValueClick in 2008 to be CEO of Gigya a successful

social technology SaaS company based in Silicon Valley and

rejoined ValueClick in 2011 Mr Yovanno also served in the

United States Navy as a Lieutenant and CIO

Mr Yovanno is a graduate of The George Washington

University in Washington DC where he earned his

bachelorrsquos degree in marketing and masterrsquos degree in

healthcare administration

ABOUT MEDIAPLEX

Mediaplex is the technology division of ValueClick Inc

(NASDAQ VCLK) and is recognized as an established

innovative leader in digital marketing analytics and

advertising technology Mediaplex technology provides

a comprehensive solution for the entire buy-side digital

landscape including ad serving real time bidding (DSP) data

management (DMP) tag management attribution analysis

rich media and more Since 1996 Mediaplex has been a

trusted partner to leading brands and agencies helping them

leverage analytics and technology to maximize the return

on their digital advertising investments

For more information visit Mediaplexcom or contact us at

1877402PLEX (7539)

HOW TO CHOOSE A TAG MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

wwwmastertmscom