GTM Triggers for Parse.ly Conversions

Google Tag Manager (GTM) triggers determine when your Parse.ly conversion tag fires. When you set up a conversion tag in GTM, you configure the conversion label and type in the tag itself, and then assign a trigger to tell GTM when to send that conversion event to Parse.ly.

If you are already familiar with GTM triggers, you can return to our GTM Conversions page and complete your setup. This page is for those who need guidance choosing and configuring the right trigger for their conversion.

Before you begin

Before creating triggers, ensure you have completed these steps:

1. Installed the Parse.ly tracker and verified that it is working.
2. Enabled GTM’s built-in Click and Form variables. In your GTM container, navigate to Variables > Configure and enable all variables under the Clicks and Forms sections. These variables (such as Click URL, Click Text, Form ID, and Form Classes) will help you create precise trigger conditions.

How GTM triggers relate to Parse.ly conversion events

Parse.ly supports three types of conversion events: Click, Submit, and Load. Each maps naturally to one or more GTM trigger types:

The sections below explain how to configure each trigger type for Parse.ly conversions.

Triggers for link clicks

Use a click trigger when you want to track a visitor clicking a link or button as a Parse.ly conversion. This is the most common trigger type for conversions labeled as Link Click in Parse.ly.

Choosing between “Just Links” and “All Elements”

GTM provides two click trigger types:

• Just Links – Fires only when an HTML link (<a>) element is clicked. Use this trigger if the element you want to track is a standard link.
• All Elements – Fires when any element on the page is clicked (links, buttons, images, divs, etc.). Use this trigger if the element you want to track is a button or another non-link element.

Example: Track affiliate link clicks

This example tracks clicks on links that point to an affiliate partner’s domain.

1. In your GTM container, go to Triggers > New.
2. Choose Click – Just Links as the trigger type.
3. Select Some Link Clicks.
4. Set the condition: Click URL contains affiliatepartner.com.
5. Name the trigger (for example, “Link Click – Affiliate partner”) and save.
6. Assign this trigger to your Parse.ly Conversion tracking tag. In the tag, set the Conversion type to Link Click and the Conversion label to a descriptive name (for example, “Affiliate partner link”).

Example: Track a call-to-action button

This example tracks clicks on a “Subscribe Now” button that is not a standard link.

1. In your GTM container, go to Triggers > New.
2. Choose Click – All Elements as the trigger type.
3. Select Some Clicks.
4. Set the condition: Click ID equals subscribe-cta (or use Click Text equals Subscribe Now if the button has no unique ID).
5. Name the trigger and save.
6. Assign this trigger to your Parse.ly Conversion tracking tag.

How to identify the right click condition

Use GTM’s Preview mode to inspect what data is available when you click the target element:

1. In the GTM interface, click Preview.
2. Navigate to the page with the element you want to track and click it.
3. In the Preview panel, click the Link Click or Click event that appeared.
4. Go to the Variables tab and look for a unique identifier: Click ID, Click URL, Click Classes, or Click Text.
5. Use the most specific identifier as the condition in your trigger.

Triggers for form submissions

Use a form submission trigger when you want to track a visitor submitting a form as a Parse.ly conversion. This is the most common trigger type for conversions labeled as Newsletter Signup, Lead Capture, Subscription, or Purchase in Parse.ly.

GTM’s built-in Form Submission trigger

GTM includes a built-in Form Submission trigger type. This trigger listens for the browser’s native submit event on <form> elements.

Important: Not all forms trigger the native submit event. Many modern forms use JavaScript (such as AJAX) to submit data without a standard form submission. If the built-in Form Submission trigger does not work with your form, see Alternative methods below.

Example: Track a newsletter signup form

1. First, test whether the built-in trigger works with your form:
   • In your GTM container, go to Triggers > New.
   • Choose Form Submission as the trigger type.
   • Leave it set to All Forms for now.
   • Enable the Check Validation checkbox. This ensures the trigger only fires on successful submissions, not when a visitor submits a form with validation errors.
   • When you enable Check Validation, an additional field appears. Set it to: Page URL matches RegEx .* (this enables the listener on all pages).
   • Save the trigger and open Preview mode.
2. Navigate to your form, fill it in, and submit it. Check whether a Form Submit event appears in the Preview panel.
   • If yes, click the Form Submit event and go to the Variables tab. Find a unique form identifier, such as Form ID or Form Classes.
   • If no, the built-in trigger will not work with this form. See Alternative methods below.
3. If the trigger works, update it to target only your specific form:
   • Edit the trigger and change it from All Forms to Some Forms.
   • Add a condition: Form ID equals newsletter-form (use whatever identifier you found in the Preview panel).
   • Save the trigger.
4. Assign this trigger to your Parse.ly Conversion tracking tag. Set the Conversion type to Newsletter Signup and the Conversion label to a descriptive name (for example, “Newsletter signup form”).

Alternative methods for form tracking

If GTM’s built-in Form Submission trigger does not fire for your form, try one of these alternatives:

• “Thank you” page redirect – If your form redirects visitors to a confirmation page after a successful submission, you can use a Page View trigger instead.
• Element Visibility trigger – If your form displays a success message (such as “Thank you for subscribing!”) without reloading the page, you can use an Element Visibility trigger to detect when the message appears.
• Custom Event trigger – If your development team can add a dataLayer.push() call after a successful form submission, you can create a Custom Event trigger in GTM to listen for that event. This is the most reliable method for modern forms. See Custom event triggers below.

Triggers for page loads

Use a Page View trigger when you want to track a page load as a Parse.ly conversion. This is the most common trigger type for conversions tied to the Parse.ly Load event — typically used for confirmation or “thank you” pages that follow a successful signup, purchase, or other action.

Example: Track a “thank you” page

After a visitor completes a purchase or submits a form, your site may redirect them to a confirmation page (for example, https://example.com/thank-you/). You can fire a Parse.ly conversion when that page loads.

1. In your GTM container, go to Triggers > New.
2. Choose Page View as the trigger type.
3. Select Some Page Views.
4. Set the condition: Page Path equals /thank-you/.
   • Be as specific as possible. Avoid broad matches like contains thank because other pages on your site could match unintentionally.
   • If your site has multiple “thank you” pages (for example, /newsletter/thank-you/ and /purchase/thank-you/), create separate triggers for each so you can assign distinct conversion labels in Parse.ly.
5. Name the trigger (for example, “Page View – Purchase confirmation”) and save.
6. Assign this trigger to your Parse.ly Conversion tracking tag. Set the Conversion type to the appropriate type (such as Purchase or Subscription) and the Conversion label to a descriptive name (for example, “Completed purchase”).

When to use Page View vs. DOM Ready vs. Window Loaded

GTM offers several page-load-related trigger types. In most cases, the standard Page View trigger is the right choice for Parse.ly conversions because the Parse.ly tracker needs to load before the conversion fires. However:

• Use DOM Ready if your trigger condition depends on an element’s text or attributes being available in the page.
• Use Window Loaded if you need the entire page (including third-party scripts) to finish loading before the trigger fires.

Custom event triggers

A Custom Event trigger fires when a specific event is pushed to the GTM data layer (dataLayer). This is the most reliable method for tracking conversions tied to complex interactions — especially forms that do not work with GTM’s built-in Form Submission trigger.

How it works

Your development team adds a dataLayer.push() call to the site’s code that fires after a successful action:

dataLayer.push({
  'event': 'formSubmission',
  'formType': 'newsletter'
});

You then create a Custom Event trigger in GTM to listen for formSubmission:

1. In your GTM container, go to Triggers > New.
2. Choose Custom Event as the trigger type.
3. In the Event name field, enter the event name exactly as it appears in the dataLayer.push() call (for example, formSubmission).
4. (Optional) Select Some Custom Events and add conditions to narrow the trigger. For example: create a Data Layer Variable for formType, then set a condition of formType equals newsletter.
5. Save the trigger and assign it to your Parse.ly Conversion tracking tag.

If your development team is unfamiliar with the data layer, review Google’s developer guide to dataLayer.push.

Tips for building reliable triggers

• Always test with Preview mode. Before publishing any trigger, verify it fires as expected in GTM’s Preview and Debug mode. Then verify the Parse.ly conversion event appears in the Network tab of your browser’s DevTools (filter for action=conversion). See our testing instructions for details.
• Use your sandbox. Consider using your Parse.ly sandbox environment to test conversions without affecting production data. Setting up a Site ID variable sends your test data to the sandbox.
• Be specific with conditions. Broad triggers can fire on unintended interactions. Use the most specific identifier available (such as Click ID or Form ID) rather than generic ones (such as Click Text) whenever possible.
• Name your triggers clearly. Use a descriptive naming convention so your team can understand the trigger’s purpose at a glance. For example: “Link Click – Affiliate partner” or “Form Submit – Newsletter signup”.
• Document your conversions. Keep an internal record of what each conversion label tracks, what trigger fires it, and what pages it applies to. This documentation is invaluable when team members change or your site undergoes a redesign.
• One conversion per trigger. Assign each Parse.ly Conversion tracking tag its own trigger. This keeps your setup clean and makes troubleshooting easier.

Additional resources

GTM triggering is a broad topic with many advanced techniques beyond what we’ve covered here. The following external resources offer deeper guidance on specific trigger types and edge cases:

• Google’s official trigger documentation – Reference for all available trigger types and settings.
• Analytics Mania: Click tracking in GTM – Detailed walkthrough of link and button click triggers.
• Analytics Mania: Form tracking in GTM – Seven methods for tracking forms, including AJAX forms, Element Visibility triggers, and dataLayer events.
• Analytics Mania: “Thank you” page tracking – Step-by-step guide for Page View triggers on confirmation pages.

When you have completed your trigger setup, return to GTM Conversions to finish configuring your conversion tag and publish your container.