Over the last two decades, rapid advancements in big data and IoT have led to a substantial increase in the number of analytics solutions available in the market today.

Initially, larger enterprises and organisations opted for a tech stack that was made up of various analytics software that each served different purposes. However, as the world began to recognise the importance of wider integration and preventing data silos, holistic analytics platforms became infinitely more desirable.

These days, migrations to or between these analytics platforms have become more prevalent than ever before. Whether it’s a new ERP solution being adopted or a switch in analytics platforms to facilitate higher-scale operations, data migration projects are central to business development and streamlining operations.

What is Tag Migration?

Tag migration, also known as analytics migration, refers to the process of switching over to a new analytics tracking platform. This involves transferring all the components of your current data layer (centralised tag and tacking management) over to the new platform.

If your organisation doesn’t have an existing platform, the tag migration process involves consolidating all your site tags and setting up a centralised tag management system.

Both forms of tag migration require extensive planning, organisation and most importantly a final vision for how the tag landscape will look once it is fully set up.

Migrating to a Tag Management System: Is it Necessary?

Once your online operations reach a certain scale, a tag management system is essential for the streamlined deployment of tags at scale. In turn, the efficient deployment and management of tags allow for the extraction of valuable and meaningful insights from your website and user data.

If your answer to any of the following questions is yes, chances are you may need to migrate to a TMS sooner than you think.

• Are you looking to expand your digital marketing solutions and track a larger volume and variety of data?
• Are you already using several different digital marketing solutions (half a dozen or more)
• Do you need your Marketing and Analytics teams to be more independent of IT?
• Do you need a more dynamic marketing solution because your current solutions are too limited?

Why Migrate to a Different Tag Manager?

Today’s businesses have dozens, if not hundreds of analytics platform options, from big players like Google and Adobe to popular emerging tools like Looker and Amplitude. 

Which means if your current platform is struggling to meet your needs, there’s bound to be a more suitable analytics platform out there for your enterprise or organisation. If your organisation has a primary need that is going unchecked by your current solution, it’s never a good idea to leave your tag migration planning until the last minute.

The Importance of a Tag Migration Plan

Here’s a sobering statistic: more than 50% of data tag migration projects go over budget or cause business damage.

Does that mean migration is more trouble than it’s worth? 

Not at all. With the right approach, you can get all the benefits of a new analytics platform without breaking the bank or compromising your data integrity. In fact, the potential risks associated with tag migration are completely avoidable as long as you take the time to plan, test, and train your team on the new system. 

Download Tag Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide

At DataTrue, we understand that carrying out a tag migration (especially the initial stages of planning) can be a laborious and confusing process.

That’s why our comprehensive tag migration checklist takes you through a detailed breakdown of the simple 5-step process we use with our clients — download it FREE today.

5 Steps for Successful Tag Migration

We believe that a stress-free tag migration can be achieved through 5 simple steps. 

Our free downloadable checklist covers these 5 steps in greater detail, as well as key questions you should be asking yourself throughout each step. 

Step 1. Audit Your Existing Solution

Make sure you have a clear understanding of your current solution. Assess the key offerings that are essential to your business and the current limitations that you need to overcome. 

Evaluate your needs by breaking down and highlighting the functions that are important to your overall analytics strategy. 

Step 2. Make a Plan For Your Historical Data

Before you close off your old analytics setup, you’ll need a clear plan for how to organise, export and store the data that you’ve collected until now. 

At the very least, you should look to invest in a storage solution that makes it easy for the appropriate groups in your organisation to access, query, and visualize your historical data.

Step 3. Implement and Test (And Then Test Again)

As obvious as it may sound, testing is the most important step to achieving a successful migration. Your tests must ensure that the new analytics configuration is performing as expected and also confirm that the new code hasn’t broken any existing functionality.

It’s highly likely that your configuration will need to be tweaked several times before it’s firing on all cylinders. In other words, persistent testing is key.

Step 4. Trial the New Platform

Once you have finalised your testing, you’ll need to trial the new platform alongside your existing before switching over completely. That way you can ensure that you haven’t missed a tick along the way.

Step 5. Bring Your Team Up To Speed on the Changes

Even the most powerful solution will ultimately be meaningless if your team hasn’t been brought up to scratch on how it works. Educating your team will be just as crucial to the overall migration process as getting the technical details right.

Ideally, this process should start as soon as possible and the earlier you begin the training, the earlier you will reap the benefits of the new platform.