Answer · Conversion Engineering
How Do I Set Up GA4 Events?
The short answer
Install Google Tag Manager on your site, connect it to GA4, then create GTM tags that fire GA4 events on specific triggers (clicks, form submits, scroll depth). The standard mid-market B2B event spec has 15-25 events. Setup time: 4-8 hours for a competent person.
№ 01The longer answer
Step 1: Install GTM. Create a GTM container, add the container snippet to your site’s head and body (most CMSes have a plugin or built-in GTM field). Verify install with GTM’s Preview mode.
Step 2: Connect GA4 to GTM. In GTM, create a “Google Analytics: GA4 Configuration” tag using your GA4 measurement ID. Fire it on All Pages. This replaces hardcoded gtag.js calls and lets GTM manage everything from now on.
Step 3: Create event tags. For each event in your spec (cta_click, form_submit, scroll_75, etc.), create a GTM “Google Analytics: GA4 Event” tag. Configure the event name and any custom parameters. Wire it to a GTM trigger (click on element matching selector, scroll past threshold, etc.).
Step 4: Mark conversions in GA4. In GA4 > Admin > Events, toggle “Mark as conversion” for the 3-7 macroconversion events (form_submit, calendar_book, tel_click). Don’t mark microconversions — they should be events but not conversions.
№ 02Can I do this without a developer?
Most of it, yes — GTM is designed for marketers. The exceptions: form_field_complete events on multi-step forms (might need devs to expose form state to the dataLayer) and custom dataLayer events from your app/CMS. Budget 4-8 hours of work.
№ 03Do I need to update consent settings?
Yes — GA4 + GTM both honor Google’s Consent Mode. If you have GDPR or CCPA exposure, integrate a consent banner (Cookiebot, Iubenda) with GTM’s consent triggers. Most mid-market B2B sites in the US default to allow-by-default; check with legal.
№ 04How do I verify events are firing?
Use GTM’s Preview mode and GA4’s DebugView. Preview mode shows you which tags fire on which actions in real time. DebugView shows events arriving in GA4. Both should be set up before marking events as conversions.
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