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How to connect & use Google Tag Manager integration?

Updated

🧠 What is Google Tag Manager?

💡 Why does it matter?

⚙️ How does it work?

🚀 How to set it up?

🔎 Understanding what your template contains

🧰 What you can do with GTM

✋ Limitations

✅ Best practices

❓ FAQ & troubleshooting

 

🧠 What is Google Tag Manager?

Google Tag Manager (GTM) is a free tool that lets you add and manage all your marketing and analytics scripts — like Google Ads, Tiktok, etc. — without using code.

You just paste your GTM ID into Shotgun, and you can:

1. At the technical level

  • Install tracking tools (pixels, scripts, etc.) without waiting for a dev
  • Set up conversion tracking
  • Create advanced analytics setups
  • Manage everything in one place

2. At the business level

  • Measure precisely which advertising campaigns bring you the most ticket sales
  • Optimize your marketing budget by better understanding what works
  • Stay in total control of your digital marketing strategy

 

💡 Why does it matter?

Most organizers use multiple tools to promote and measure their events: Google Ads, TikTok, etc.

Instead of manually installing all those tools on every event page, you can:

  • Use one GTM container across all your events
  • Add/modify/remove tags at any time — no need to ask a dev
  • Track user behavior more deeply (scrolls, button clicks, etc.)
  • Set up conversion goals for ad platforms

Think of GTM as your marketing control center.

 

⚙️ How does it work?

  1. You create a GTM container in Google Tag Manager
  2. You get a unique ID like GTM-ABC123X
  3. You paste that ID into Shotgun
  4. GTM injects all your tags (Meta Pixel, GA4, etc.) on all your events page and organizer page

From there, you control everything from GTM.

 

🚀 How to set it up?

Step 1 – Create a GTM Container

To begin with, you need to create a new Google Tag Manager container specifically for your Shotgun events. Even if you're already using GTM for your main site, this separation is essential for clearer management.

  1. Go to https://tagmanager.google.com
  2. Create a new account (if you don’t have one)
  3. Create a Web container named “Shotgun Events” (or similar)

  •  

    1. Click on “Create”

    im0.png

    1. Accept the Google Tag Manager Terms of Service Agreement
    2. Copy the GTM ID (e.g., GTM-ABC123X)

    im02.png

im01.png

Step 2 – Import Shotgun's GTM configuration template

  • 💡 Shotgun has prepared a preconfigured template that will save you precious time.
  • Instead of the template provided, you can use your own custom GTM, but note that Shotgun reserves the right to disable any GTM if we detect malicious or non-compliant scripts.
  • Here's how to import and setup the template:
    1. In your new GTM container, click on “Admin” (top left)

    2. Select “Import Container”

      im03.png

    3. Click on “Choose container file” and select this template file created by Shotgun

      GTM-57FNPG86.json

    4. Choose “Overwrite” to replace the current empty configuration

    5. Click on “Add to workspace”

      im04.png

    6. Enter your advertising IDs (TikTok ID, G4 ID, Google Ads ID) in the corresponding variables
      • GA4 ID
      • Google Ads Tag ID
      • ID Tiktok
      • Conversion label - Google Ads
      • Conversion ID - Google Ads
        image (3).png

    7. Activate the tags corresponding to your external advertising IDs. You can leave the other tags paused so that you can activate them later if other campaigns come along.

      Screenshot 2025-06-04 at 14.29.54.png

    8. Publish your container by clicking on “Submit” then “Publish”.

 

Step 3 – Add your GTM ID to Shotgun

  1. Open your Smartboard
  2. Go to Settings > Integrations

  3. Paste your GTM ID into the Google Tag Manager card

    image.png

✅ It’s now automatically installed on your organizer page and all your published event pages

Step 4 – Verify the setup on your event page

  • 🤸 The extension method

    1. Go to the Tag Assistant extension and download it
    2. ⚠️ Make sure your adblocker is disabled (if any).
    3. Go to a published event page and accepts marketing cookies.
    4. Run the Tag Assistant extension, you should see your GTM

    im2.png

  • 👁️ The GTM preview method

    1. Go to your GTM workspace

    im3.png

    1. Click on preview

    2. Add your event url and click on Connect

      im4.png

    3. You will be redirect to your Shotgun’s event

    4. Switch to the Tag Assistant tab in your browser and click on Continue

      im5.png

    5. You can check the GTM load and the others fired tags (Google Analytics, Google Ads …)

    im6.png

🔎 Understanding what your template contains

  • ✅ Ready-to-use tags
    • TikTok: same events as Meta to optimize your TikTok Ads campaigns
       
  • 🔫 Triggers : It is a condition that determines when a tag should be activated.
    • addToCart triggered when adding a ticket with the (+) button
    • removeFromCart triggered when a ticket is removed with the (-) button
    • purchase triggered when the basket is validated and the user enters the payment flow
    • order.confirmation triggered on the confirmation page
    • Event page triggered on url contains /events/
  • 🕵️‍♀️ Custom variables
    • event_id : Unique identifier of the event
    • event_name : Name of the event
    • ticket_id : Unique identifier of the deal
    • ticket_name : Deal name (e.g. “Regular Saturday”)
    • ticket_price Price of the deal without services fees
    • order_id : Unique identifier of the order
    • order_amount : Amont of the order
    • currency : “EUR”, “USD” …
    • user_hashed_mail : Email of the client hashed for privacy policy
    • user_hashed_phone : Phone number of the client hashed for privacy policy
    • id_Tiktok : Tiktok pixel identifier

 

🧰 What you can do with GTM

1. Install Meta Pixel via GTM: If you want more control (e.g. custom events), you can install Meta Pixel as a tag via GTM instead of using Shotgun’s native integration.

2. Add Google Analytics 4: Understand how users browse your event pages — where they come from, how long they stay, what they click.

3. Run Google Ads Conversion Tracking: Track which campaigns actually drive ticket purchases.

4. Add TikTok Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag.: All major platforms support GTM — no need to install anything manually.

5. Trigger Tags on Specific Events: Shotgun pushes all key events to GTM as dataLayer events, including: PageView, AddToCart, InitiateCheckout, Purchase. You can trigger your tags precisely when these events happen.

 

✋ Limitations

  • GTM (like the Meta Pixel) only works on web, not in the Shotgun mobile app
  • Adblockers usually prevent browsers from loading GTM
  • User must accept marketing cookies via the Cookiebot banner to load Meta Pixel
  • Events only start being tracked after GTM is installed on the Shotgun account
  • GTM gives you power but also responsibility — poorly set tags can slow down pages or conflict with others
  • Pixels cannot be loaded within widget iFrames

 

✅ Best practices

  • Use GTM for tools that Shotgun doesn’t natively support (e.g., TikTok, Snapchat, custom analytics)
  • Keep your GTM setup clean — avoid duplicate or conflicting tags
  • Combine GTM with Shotgun’s Meta Conversion API for best results

 

❓ FAQ & troubleshooting

  • Does it work for cohosts ?

    Yes, GTM of any cohost (editor, viewer, merch dealer) are added to the event page as well

  • I'm seeing other GTM that aren't mine

    On any events we have:

    1. Shotgun GTM
    2. Organizer GTM (If setup)
    3. Cohost GTM (if at least one exists with pixel setup)

    All those GTMs will receive the same data

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