A data tracking plan <\/em>(usually referred to as just tracking plan<\/em>) is a document that acts as the source of truth for your customer data. In other words, it is a living document that contains all the information related to the data you gather about your customers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This guide covers the process and the best practices of creating a tracking plan and offers a tracking plan template that took many iterations and 100+ hours to create. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In practice, the tracking plan is updated every time you wish to do any of the following: <\/p>\n\n\n\n In essence, any piece of data that is not in your tracking plan should not be tracked or stored. Conducting regular audits of your tracking plan can prevent costly mistakes like: <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Besides avoiding critical issues, there are many other benefits of keeping an up-to-date tracking plan; below are some of the main ones:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gathering data is a continuous effort that requires various teams to coordinate and execute new tasks regularly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The tracking plan not only maintains a repository of what data needs to be tracked, but also specifies where the data comes from (data source), the tools and systems the data needs to be sent to (data destinations), as well as who is responsible for the implementation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When working with multiple stakeholders, mentioning the purpose of each event or property can expedite the implementation process, especially when one or more people need to approve the tracking of each event or property. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After the implementation, different teams begin to utilize the data on the various destinations \u2014 the tools and systems where customer data is sent. An updated tracking plan enables those teams to know the meaning and purpose of each event or property, making it easy for them to act upon that data. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For instance, when the product team wants to conduct funnel analysis, somebody from the team has to create the funnels based on the events being tracked. Or when the growth team wants to run a new email experiment targeting a particular segment of users, one can refer to the tracking plan to easily set up the segment based on events and user properties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Albeit high in importance, knowledge transfer is usually an afterthought for most companies, especially in the earlier stages of setting up event tracking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, by maintaining a proper and updated tracking plan, companies can avoid many challenges that come with project hand-offs or employee onboarding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Enabling new team members to get to speed with everything that has been implemented in regard to event tracking can save weeks, maybe even months (depending on the amount of data being tracked) of to and fro between new and existing team members. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Enough has been said about the contents of a tracking plan; now let\u2019s focus on what a tracking plan should look like. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The tracking plan template below is a Google Sheets spreadsheet that was created after a lot of research and many iterations to suit almost every industry. It also comes with some sample events and properties to give you a head start.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Benefits of Creating a Tracking Plan<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\nEase of Implementation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Quick Reference<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Knowledge Transfer<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Best Practices for Creating a Tracking Plan<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Ultimate Tracking Plan Template<\/h3>\n\n\n\n