Marketing tracking audit checklist: what to check in a running setup

A marketing tracking audit checks whether a running setup measures what the business needs and whether the numbers agree across the tools that report them. Work through the setup in order: tags and destinations, consent, GA4 configuration, campaign tags, ad platform conversions, the CRM handoff, and one period of reconciled counts. Record each finding with an owner and a fix.

What is a marketing tracking audit?

An audit looks at the setup as it is today. Tags added years ago, settings changed by a previous agency, and conversions that were never reviewed all show up here. It is different from the tracking QA checklist before launch, which tests one release. It is also different from an attribution audit scope of work, which describes the commercial terms and deliverables of an engagement. This post is the checklist itself.

How do you inventory tags and destinations?

Start with a complete list of where data goes. Most problems in a running setup come from tags that were added outside the tag manager, or from one event that reaches the same platform twice.

1. 1Export every container in the tag manager, and list each tag, trigger, and variable with its status.
2. 2Search page templates and the website builder for hardcoded analytics or ad tags that bypass the container.
3. 3Look for duplicate GA4 configuration tags and duplicate ad conversion tags, which double count when they fire together.
4. 4Write down every destination: GA4 properties, each ad account, Meta, the CRM, and any other endpoint.
5. 5Mark any tag with no current owner or purpose for removal after the audit, not before.

How do you check consent?

Test the banner in both directions. Load the site in a clean browser session, record which tags fire before any choice is made, then accept, then reject, and compare the results each time. The default state and the reject path matter as much as the accept path. For how Google’s consent signals should work with tags, read the Consent Mode v2 explainer.

Check that the consent choice is applied on every page and that a visitor who rejects does not later trigger a tag that ignores the choice. Write down what each choice enables so that the next release can be checked against the same list.

How do you check the GA4 configuration?

GA4 has a handful of settings that quietly change reported numbers. Check each one in the admin area of the property, and keep a dated record of what was set.

Google’s documentation on marking events as key events explains how key events are set and the limit on how many a property can have. For the referral list, the unwanted referrals help page explains how the setting affects attribution. Google’s guidance on personally identifiable information applies to every URL and title the audit sees.

How do you check campaign tags and click IDs?

Click one ad from each platform and follow it to the landing page and then to the form. Check that the click ID and the campaign values survive the trip. Auto-tagging is the setting that appends the Google Ads click ID to landing page URLs. The Google Ads auto-tagging help page explains how to confirm it is on in the account settings.

Common findings: a redirect on the website strips query parameters before the landing page loads, UTM values differ in case or spelling across ad sets, and one platform uses a manual UTM where another relies on auto-tagging. For a naming scheme that stays consistent, see the dynamic UTM parameters guide.

How do you check ad platform conversions?

Each ad account has its own list of conversion actions, and the settings decide what the bidding system learns from. In Google Ads, a primary action in a standard goal is used for bidding when the campaign bids on that goal, and a secondary action in a standard goal is reported but not used for bidding. Custom goals are the exception: their actions are used for bidding whether they are primary or secondary. The primary and secondary conversion actions help page describes the rules. Check each campaign’s selected standard and custom goals as well as each action’s status, and make sure duplicate actions for the same event cannot both feed bidding.

Meta needs its own check. A Pixel and the Conversions API can both send the same event, and Meta counts them once only when the event name and event ID match. Meta’s deduplication guide says events are deduplicated only when received within 48 hours. Check that the server and browser sides send the same ID. For the Google side, see the Enhanced Conversions guide, and for Meta, the deduplication post.

How do you check forms and the CRM handoff?

Submit a test lead through each form, then find that lead in the CRM. Check that the campaign values and click IDs are stored on the record, not only on the page URL. Hidden form fields are the usual place where they are kept. Then check the path from the CRM back to the platforms. If offline conversions are imported, confirm that each imported stage matches a record in the CRM and that the click ID is the one that was captured at submit. The offline conversions guide covers the import side, and the GoHighLevel offline conversions guide shows the same handoff in one CRM.

How do you reconcile one period?

Pick a closed period, such as the last full calendar month, and pull the counts for the same conversion from each source: ad platform, GA4, and the CRM. Decide before you look what gap you will accept, then investigate every difference above it. Expect the numbers to differ, since each system counts differently. A difference that moves with a known cause, such as attribution windows or consent, is different from one that nobody can explain. The guide to why Google Ads and GA4 conversions differ covers the most common causes.

Server-side tagging can change which fields reach each platform, so record that setup alongside the rest. The beginner’s guide to server-side tag management introduces the approach, and tracking mistakes in server-side GTM setups shows how to trace one event through it.

How do you document and monitor the result?

An audit is only useful if the next person can see what was checked and what changed. Keep one log with the date, the check, the expected result, the actual result, the owner, and the fix. Repeat the same reconciliation each month so that a drift shows up as a trend rather than a surprise.

1. 1Inventory of tags, destinations, and owners, dated.
2. 2Consent behaviour recorded for accept, reject, and no choice.
3. 3GA4 key events, domains, filters, retention, and PII findings logged.
4. 4Click IDs and campaign values confirmed on the form and CRM record.
5. 5Conversion actions and each campaign’s selected goals confirmed in every ad account.
6. 6One closed period reconciled, with each gap explained or assigned.
7. 7Next review date set, and a trigger list for re-running the audit.

Start with the Free Tracking Scan if you want a first look at the visible tags on your website. It covers only the public site, so the CRM, ad accounts, and reconciliation still need a review of their own. For a full audit that includes those systems, contact MetricMaven and bring the list of destinations, forms, and conversion actions you already use.