Tealium is a tag management system (TMS) that allows organizations to manage and deploy marketing and analytics tags on their website or mobile app without requiring manual code changes.
In other words, Tealium helps digital marketers and website owners manage the various third-party tags (such as Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, etc.) placed on their website or mobile app that collect data on user behavior and track marketing campaigns.
With Tealium, users can manage and deploy tags from a central interface, ensuring consistency and accuracy across all their digital channels. Tealium also provides data management and customer data platform (CDP) capabilities, allowing businesses to unify their customer data across all touchpoints and leverage that data to drive better customer experiences.
Tealium’s platform is built on a modular architecture, allowing users to customize their implementation based on their needs. The main components of the platform include:
- Tag Management: Tealium’s Tag Management System allows users to manage third-party tags across their digital channels. Users can create rules to control when and where tags are fired, and have access to a wide range of built-in integrations with the most commonly used marketing and analytics platforms.
- AudienceStream: Tealium’s AudienceStream is a Customer Data Platform (CDP) that allows businesses to consolidate their customer data from multiple sources, including website, mobile app, CRM, and offline channels. Users can create audiences based on specific attributes, or behaviors and activate those audiences in real-time across all their digital channels.
- DataAccess: Tealium’s DataAccess provides a unified view of all customer data collected by Tealium and other sources, allowing users to analyze and report on customer behavior and marketing performance quickly.
- Tealium EventStream: Tealium EventStream is a real-time data streaming solution allowing businesses to capture and send data from their digital channels to any destination. This enables businesses to act immediately on customer data and create personalized customer experiences in real-time.
Tealium’s platform also includes several features and capabilities that make it a popular choice among digital marketers and businesses:
- Flexibility and Scalability: Tealium’s modular architecture allows users to customize and scale their implementation based on their specific needs, making it a flexible and scalable solution for businesses of all sizes.
- Ease of Use: Tealium’s user-friendly interface and drag-and-drop functionality make it easy for users to create and manage tag deployments and data integrations.
- Data Governance and Security: Tealium’s platform includes robust data governance and security features, including data access controls, data encryption, and compliance with industry regulations like GDPR and CCPA.
- Integration Capabilities: Tealium provides pre-built integrations with over 1,000 marketing and analytics platforms, making it easy for users to integrate their data and analytics with their existing tools and workflows.
Tealium VS. Google Tag Manager
Tealium and Google Tag Manager (GTM) are both tag management systems and while there are similarities between the two platforms, there are also several differences that businesses should be aware of when evaluating which tool to use.
- Ease of Use: Tealium and GTM both offer user-friendly interfaces and drag-and-drop functionality, but Tealium’s interface can be more complex and require a steeper learning curve. At the same time, GTM is known for being more straightforward and intuitive.
- Flexibility and Customization: Tealium’s modular architecture allows for greater flexibility and customization, enabling businesses to tailor their implementation to their specific needs. GTM, on the other hand, has a simpler architecture that may be less customizable.
- Integration Capabilities: Tealium has pre-built integrations with over 1,000 marketing and analytics platforms, making it easy for businesses to integrate their data with existing tools and workflows. GTM, while it also has a wide range of pre-built integrations, may require custom coding for some integrations.
- Data Governance and Security: Both platforms offer robust data governance and security features. However, Tealium’s platform includes additional features like data access controls and data encryption, which may be necessary for businesses with strict data security requirements.
- Pricing: Tealium’s pricing model is typically based on the number of data sources and users, while GTM is free. However, businesses using GTM may need to pay for additional features or integrations through other platforms.
- Real-Time Data Activation: Tealium’s real-time data streaming capabilities allow businesses to act immediately on customer data.. GTM, while it has real-time tag firing, may need to be skilled to use its real-time data activation capabilities.
- Customer Data Platform (CDP) capabilities: Tealium’s AudienceStream provides customer data platform (CDP) capabilities, allowing businesses to unify and enrich customer data from multiple sources and activate that data in real-time. GTM does not have a built-in CDP capability.
- Support and Training: Tealium provides dedicated support and training resources for their platform, which may be helpful for businesses that are new to tag management or data management. GTM, while it has a large user community and online resources, may have a lower level of dedicated support and training.
In summary, Tealium and GTM are robust tag management systems that can help businesses manage and activate customer data. Businesses should carefully evaluate their needs and priorities when choosing between the two platforms. Tealium’s focus on flexibility, customization, real-time data activation, and CDP capabilities may make it a better fit for businesses with complex data management needs. GTM’s ease of use and integration with other Google products may make it a better fit for smaller businesses or those with more specific data management needs.