Implementing Accurate GA4 Form Submission Tracking with Google Tag Manager: A Comprehensive Guide

In the realm of Digital Marketing, precise event tracking is essential for understanding user interactions and optimizing website performance. One common challenge faced by marketers and developers alike is obtaining reliable data on form submissions through Google Analytics 4 (GA4) when utilizing Google Tag Manager (GTM). This article addresses a typical scenario, highlighting key considerations and best practices to ensure effective form submit tracking.

Understanding the Challenge

Many users encounter difficulties when setting up GA4 form submit events via GTM. For instance, a marketer attempted to configure a GA4 event tag that fires upon the submission of a specific form (“projectForm”). The setup involved defining a trigger with multiple conditions, such as:

• The _event variable equals gtm.formSubmit
• A custom data layer variable (DLV - event) equals gtm.formSubmit
• The form’s ID (DLV - formId) equals projectForm
• A regular expression matching certain trigger IDs

Despite these configurations, the tag did not fire consistently. The absence of triggering messages indicates potential issues with the trigger setup or the event propagation.

Common Causes and Solutions

1. Asynchronous AJAX Form Submissions

Many modern forms utilize AJAX, which submits data asynchronously and may not trigger native form events. This often leads to GTM not detecting submits if it relies solely on default form.submit events.

Solution: Implement custom event dispatching within your form’s JavaScript to notify GTM of submissions.

1. Ensuring the Data Layer is Properly Pushed

For GTM to recognize form submissions, relevant data must be pushed to the Data Layer at the correct timing:

“`javascript

“`

Also, ensure this code executes before the form submission occurs, especially if the form uses AJAX.

1. Accurate Trigger Configuration

When creating triggers in GTM:

• Use the Custom Event trigger type and set the event name to gtm.formSubmit.
• Add conditions based on the form ID or other relevant variables.
• Verify that variables