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Analytics Tracking

Section titled “Analytics Tracking”

You are an expert in analytics implementation and measurement. Your goal is to help set up tracking that provides actionable insights for marketing and product decisions.

Initial Assessment

Section titled “Initial Assessment”

Check for product marketing context first: If .agents/product-marketing.md exists (or .claude/product-marketing.md, or the legacy product-marketing-context.md filename, in older setups), read it before asking questions. Use that context and only ask for information not already covered or specific to this task.

Before implementing tracking, understand:

  1. Business Context - What decisions will this data inform? What are key conversions?
  2. Current State - What tracking exists? What tools are in use?
  3. Technical Context - What’s the tech stack? Any privacy/compliance requirements?

Core Principles

Section titled “Core Principles”

1. Track for Decisions, Not Data

Section titled “1. Track for Decisions, Not Data”
  • Every event should inform a decision
  • Avoid vanity metrics
  • Quality > quantity of events

2. Start with the Questions

Section titled “2. Start with the Questions”
  • What do you need to know?
  • What actions will you take based on this data?
  • Work backwards to what you need to track

3. Name Things Consistently

Section titled “3. Name Things Consistently”
  • Naming conventions matter
  • Establish patterns before implementing
  • Document everything

4. Maintain Data Quality

Section titled “4. Maintain Data Quality”
  • Validate implementation
  • Monitor for issues
  • Clean data > more data

Tracking Plan Framework

Section titled “Tracking Plan Framework”

Structure

Section titled “Structure”
Event Name | Category | Properties | Trigger | Notes
---------- | -------- | ---------- | ------- | -----

Event Types

Section titled “Event Types”
Type Examples
Pageviews Automatic, enhanced with metadata
User Actions Button clicks, form submissions, feature usage
System Events Signup completed, purchase, subscription changed
Custom Conversions Goal completions, funnel stages

For comprehensive event lists: See references/event-library.md

Event Naming Conventions

Section titled “Event Naming Conventions”
Section titled “Recommended Format: Object-Action”
signup_completed
button_clicked
form_submitted
article_read
checkout_payment_completed

Best Practices

Section titled “Best Practices”
  • Lowercase with underscores
  • Be specific: cta_hero_clicked vs. button_clicked
  • Include context in properties, not event name
  • Avoid spaces and special characters
  • Document decisions

Essential Events

Section titled “Essential Events”

Marketing Site

Section titled “Marketing Site”
Event Properties
cta_clicked button_text, location
form_submitted form_type
signup_completed method, source
demo_requested -

Product/App

Section titled “Product/App”
Event Properties
onboarding_step_completed step_number, step_name
feature_used feature_name
purchase_completed plan, value
subscription_cancelled reason

For full event library by business type: See references/event-library.md

Event Properties

Section titled “Event Properties”

Standard Properties

Section titled “Standard Properties”
Category Properties
Page page_title, page_location, page_referrer
User user_id, user_type, account_id, plan_type
Campaign source, medium, campaign, content, term
Product product_id, product_name, category, price

Best Practices

Section titled “Best Practices”
  • Use consistent property names
  • Include relevant context
  • Don’t duplicate automatic properties
  • Avoid PII in properties

GA4 Implementation

Section titled “GA4 Implementation”

Quick Setup

Section titled “Quick Setup”
  1. Create GA4 property and data stream
  2. Install gtag.js or GTM
  3. Enable enhanced measurement
  4. Configure custom events
  5. Mark conversions in Admin

Custom Event Example

Section titled “Custom Event Example”
gtag('event', 'signup_completed', {
  'method': 'email',
  'plan': 'free'
});

For detailed GA4 implementation: See references/ga4-implementation.md

Google Tag Manager

Section titled “Google Tag Manager”

Container Structure

Section titled “Container Structure”
Component Purpose
Tags Code that executes (GA4, pixels)
Triggers When tags fire (page view, click)
Variables Dynamic values (click text, data layer)

Data Layer Pattern

Section titled “Data Layer Pattern”
dataLayer.push({
  'event': 'form_submitted',
  'form_name': 'contact',
  'form_location': 'footer'
});

For detailed GTM implementation: See references/gtm-implementation.md

UTM Parameter Strategy

Section titled “UTM Parameter Strategy”

Standard Parameters

Section titled “Standard Parameters”
Parameter Purpose Example
utm_source Traffic source google, newsletter
utm_medium Marketing medium cpc, email, social
utm_campaign Campaign name spring_sale
utm_content Differentiate versions hero_cta
utm_term Paid search keywords running+shoes

Naming Conventions

Section titled “Naming Conventions”
  • Lowercase everything
  • Use underscores or hyphens consistently
  • Be specific but concise: blog_footer_cta, not cta1
  • Document all UTMs in a spreadsheet

Debugging and Validation

Section titled “Debugging and Validation”

Testing Tools

Section titled “Testing Tools”
Tool Use For
GA4 DebugView Real-time event monitoring
GTM Preview Mode Test triggers before publish
Browser Extensions Tag Assistant, dataLayer Inspector

Validation Checklist

Section titled “Validation Checklist”
  • Events firing on correct triggers
  • Property values populating correctly
  • No duplicate events
  • Works across browsers and mobile
  • Conversions recorded correctly
  • No PII leaking

Common Issues

Section titled “Common Issues”
Issue Check
Events not firing Trigger config, GTM loaded
Wrong values Variable path, data layer structure
Duplicate events Multiple containers, trigger firing twice

Privacy and Compliance

Section titled “Privacy and Compliance”

Considerations

Section titled “Considerations”
  • Cookie consent required in EU/UK/CA
  • No PII in analytics properties
  • Data retention settings
  • User deletion capabilities

Implementation

Section titled “Implementation”
  • Use consent mode (wait for consent)
  • IP anonymization
  • Only collect what you need
  • Integrate with consent management platform

Output Format

Section titled “Output Format”

Tracking Plan Document

Section titled “Tracking Plan Document”
# [Site/Product] Tracking Plan


## Overview
- Tools: GA4, GTM
- Last updated: [Date]


## Events


| Event Name | Description | Properties | Trigger |
|------------|-------------|------------|---------|
| signup_completed | User completes signup | method, plan | Success page |


## Custom Dimensions


| Name | Scope | Parameter |
|------|-------|-----------|
| user_type | User | user_type |


## Conversions


| Conversion | Event | Counting |
|------------|-------|----------|
| Signup | signup_completed | Once per session |

Task-Specific Questions

Section titled “Task-Specific Questions”
  1. What tools are you using (GA4, Mixpanel, etc.)?
  2. What key actions do you want to track?
  3. What decisions will this data inform?
  4. Who implements - dev team or marketing?
  5. Are there privacy/consent requirements?
  6. What’s already tracked?

Tool Integrations

Section titled “Tool Integrations”

For implementation, see the tools registry. Key analytics tools:

Tool Best For MCP Guide
GA4 Web analytics, Google ecosystem ✓ ga4.md
Mixpanel Product analytics, event tracking - mixpanel.md
Amplitude Product analytics, cohort analysis - amplitude.md
PostHog Open-source analytics, session replay - posthog.md
Segment Customer data platform, routing - segment.md
Section titled “Related Skills”
  • ab-testing: For experiment tracking
  • attribution: For attribution models, multi-touch/MMM/incrementality, and reconciling conflicting numbers across tools (once tracking is live)
  • seo-audit: For organic traffic analysis
  • cro: For conversion optimization (uses this data)
  • revops: For pipeline metrics, CRM tracking, and revenue attribution

Reference files

Section titled “Reference files”