tracking-plan

Files (6)

• SKILL.md
• cdp-implementation.md · references/
• event-taxonomy.md · references/
• framework-notes.md · references/
• check-output.py · scripts/
• output-template.md · templates/

SKILL.md (first lines)

# Analytics Tracking Plan

## Overview

Most companies have tracking — they just don't have a plan. Events fire into
the void. Pixels fire twice (or never). Marketing attributes credit to the
wrong channel. Product doesn't know what marketing tracks. Nobody trusts the
data. The mistake: adding tracking ad-hoc without a unified plan. This skill
covers the complete analytics tracking architecture for PLG and B2B SaaS:
event taxonomy, pixel strategy, attribution architecture, CDP implementation,
and the analytics stack that makes it all work together.

## Authoritative Foundations

- **Segment** — Customer Data Platform (CDP) and Tracking Plan spec
- **Amplitude** — Product analytics and behavioral cohorts
- **PostHog** — Open-source product analytics
- **Mixpanel** — Event-based analytics
- **Google Analytics 4 (GA4)** — Web analytics and conversions
- **Elena Verna (Reforge/Amplitude)** — PLG analytics models
- **Brian Balfour (Reforge) — Growth models and tracking** — Growth loops — acquisition/retention loops, not funnel-only thinking.
- **OpenView — PLG benchmarks and metrics** — Expansion SaaS benchmarks — PLG, sales-assist, and GTM efficiency.
- **Avo** — Tracking plan governance and code generation

## When to Use

Trigger phrases: "tracking plan", "analytics plan", "analytics architecture",
"event tracking strategy", "pixel strategy", "CDP implementation", "analytics
for PLG", "SaaS analytics stack", "unified tracking plan", "marketing tracking",
"product analytics implementation", "analytics audit"

## The Unified Tracking Architecture

```
                    ┌─────────────────────────────────┐
                    │        YOUR SAAS PRODUCT          │
                    │  (Web App, API, Backend, Email)  │
                    └──────────┬──────────────────────┘
                               │
                    ┌──────────▼──────────────────────┐
                    │   CDP LAYER (Segment/Rudderstack) │
                    │   Event Collection + Routing      │
                    └──────┬───────────┬───────────────┘
                           │           │
         ┌─────────────────▼──┐   ┌───▼──────────────────┐
         │ PRODUCT ANALYTICS   │   │ MARKETING ANALYTICS   │
         │ Amplitude/Mixpanel  │   │ GA4 / Ads Pixels      │
         │ PostHog             │   │ Attribution Tools      │
         └─────────────────────┘   └───────────────────────┘
                           │           │
         ┌─────────────────▼──┐   ┌───▼──────────────────┐
         │ CRM + CS ANALYTICS  │   │ DATA WAREHOUSE        │
         │ HubSpot/Salesforce  │   │ Snowflake/BigQuery     │
         │ Intercom/Zendesk    │   │ + BI (Metabase/Looker) │
         └─────────────────────┘   └───────────────────────┘
```

## Step-by-Step Process

### Phase 1: The Tracking Plan Document

**What it is:** A single source of truth for every event, property, and
destination in your analytics infrastructure. Every developer, marketer,
and analyst references the same document.

**The Tracking Plan template (Google Sheets / Notion / Avo):**

```
TRACKING PLAN — [Company]

SHEET 1: EVENT CATALOG
| Event Name | Category | Trigger | Properties | Destinations | Owner | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Signed Up | Account | POST /auth/signup | plan, source, referrer, utm_* | Segment→GA4,Amplitude,HubSpot | Eng | Live |
| Feature Used | Usage | Client-side click | feature_name, context | Segment→Amplitude | Product | Live |
| ... | | | | | | |

SHEET 2: PROPERTY CATALOG
| Property Name | Type | Example Values | Events Using | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plan | string | starter, growth, enterprise | Signed Up, Upgraded, Downgraded | Customer's subscription plan |
| source | string | google_ads, linkedin, referral | Signed Up | Acquisition channel |
| ... | | | | |

SHEET 3: DESTINATIONS
| Destination | Purpose | Events Routed | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amplitude | Product analytics — retention, funnels, cohorts | All usage + account events | Product |
| GA4 | Web analytics — traffic, conversions, ad attribution | Page views, signups, conversions | Marketing |
| HubSpot | CRM — lead scoring, lifecycle stages | Account events, email events | RevOps |
| Intercom | Event-triggered messaging | All usage + milestone events | CS |
| Data Warehouse | BI — cross-functional reporting | All events | Data |

SHEET 4: IDENTITIES
| Identity Type | How It's Set | When | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| anonymous_id | Auto-generated (cookie/localStorage) | First visit | uuid |
| user_id | Backend generates on signup | After authentication | user_abc123 |
| group_id | Workspace/account ID | After login (B2B) | ws_xyz789 |
| email | identify() call | After signup/login | person@example.com |

SHEET 5: UTM / ATTRIBUTION
| Parameter | Required | Example | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| utm_source | Yes | google, linkedin, newsletter | Acquisition source |
| utm_medium | Yes | cpc, organic, email, social | Channel type |
| utm_campaign | Yes | q1_launch, black_friday | Campaign name |
| utm_content | Optional | variant_a, cta_hero | Creative variant |
| utm_term | Optional | cold+email+tool | Keyword (paid search) |
| referrer | Auto | document.referrer | Referring URL |
| landing_page | Auto | window.location.pathname | First page visited |
| gclid | Auto | Google Ads auto-tagging | Google Click ID |
| fbclid | Auto | Facebook auto-tagging | Facebook Click ID |
```

### Phase 2: Event Taxonomy for PLG and SaaS

Build the event taxonomy in `references/event-taxonomy.md` when the task needs the full PLG/SaaS event library. In SKILL.md, capture only the chosen event groups, naming rules, owners, and QA gates.

From LeadMagic/gtm-skills, MIT.

More from LeadMagic/gtm-skills