SLKone Growth Data Foundation

This plan turns the website, referral activity, future paid media, and CRM pipeline into one reportable operating dataset. The first phase is data quality: tagging, tracking, lead capture, and storage before media spend.

1. UTM Parameter Standards

Every external campaign link should use the same naming convention so traffic can be traced to the source that created it.

Parameter	Required	Standard	Example
`utm_source`	Yes	Platform, partner, or sender in lowercase kebab case	`linkedin`, `google`, `amalgam-capital`, `partner-name`
`utm_medium`	Yes	Channel type	`organic-social`, `paid-search`, `email`, `referral`, `event`
`utm_campaign`	Yes	Initiative or campaign name	`pe-value-creation-q3-2026`
`utm_content`	Recommended	Creative, post, CTA, or placement	`case-study-card`, `partner-email-link`
`utm_term`	Paid search only	Keyword or audience label	`private-equity-consulting`
`utm_id`	Recommended	Stable campaign ID shared with ad/CRM data	`2026-q3-pe-vc`

Rules:

Use lowercase kebab case.
Do not use spaces, dates with slashes, or partner initials that will be unclear later.
Keep campaign names stable across channels when they support the same initiative.
Preserve UTMs on handoff links from partner emails, event follow-ups, QR codes, and future paid campaigns.

2. GA4 Event Tracking Through Google Tag Manager

The site now exposes a dataLayer foundation for Google Tag Manager. Once the GTM container ID is added in _config.yml, configure GA4 tags around these events:

Event	Trigger	Primary parameters
`site_context`	Every page load	`site_name`, `page_title`, `page_path`, `page_collection`
`page_view_enriched`	DOM ready	`page_path`, `first_touch_source`, `last_touch_source`
`lead_form_submit`	Contact form submit	`form_name`, `form_type`, `page_path`
`contact_intent_click`	Contact, email, or phone link click	`link_url`, `link_text`, `page_path`
`content_download_click`	PDF/document/file link click	`link_url`, `link_text`, `page_path`
`scroll_depth`	25%, 50%, 75%, 90% scroll	`percent_scrolled`, `page_path`
`engaged_time`	30, 60, 120 seconds on page	`seconds`, `page_path`

Recommended GA4 conversions:

lead_form_submit
High-intent contact_intent_click
Selected content_download_click events for case studies, articles, or gated assets if gating is added later

3. BigQuery Data Warehouse

Connect GA4 to BigQuery export before investing in media. This makes the raw event stream a durable company asset outside GA4’s reporting UI.

Minimum datasets:

ga4_events: native GA4 export tables.
crm_leads: lead records from the CRM.
campaign_costs: future paid media cost and impression/click data.
campaign_taxonomy: canonical UTM/campaign naming lookup table.

Minimum modeled views:

web_sessions_by_source
lead_attribution_first_touch
lead_attribution_last_touch
content_engagement_by_account_or_domain
pipeline_by_source_medium_campaign

4. CRM Lead Capture

The contact form now stores first-touch and last-touch attribution fields as hidden inputs before submission. The CRM should map those fields onto lead/contact records.

Fields to create or map:

First-touch source, medium, campaign, content, term, campaign ID
First-touch landing page, referrer, capture timestamp
Last-touch source, medium, campaign, content, term, campaign ID
Last-touch landing page, referrer, capture timestamp
Current page and current path
Lead source category: website, event, partner referral, warm intro, direct outreach
Deal status, owner, notes, next step, qualified status

Operational rule: warm intros and event leads should still be entered into the CRM with source and relationship context, even when the website was not the first touch.

5. Unifying Layer And Reporting

Use BigQuery as the unifying layer, then build Looker dashboards on top.

Leadership dashboard:

Inbound leads by source, medium, and campaign
Qualified opportunities by source
Pipeline created by relationship source versus website source
Case study/article engagement before form submission
Referral partner and event activity
Website pages that precede contact intent

Marketing/BD operating dashboard:

UTM compliance
Broken or untagged campaign traffic
Contact form submissions and contact intent clicks
Content downloads and engagement depth
Campaign cost, clicks, leads, qualified leads, and pipeline once media begins

Phasing

Data foundation: GTM, GA4 events, UTM standards, contact attribution, CRM field mapping, BigQuery export.
Reporting: Looker dashboards for leadership and BD operating review.
SEO/GEO optimization: use the baseline data to prioritize content and technical search work.
Media investment: only begin meaningful paid spend once attribution, conversion tracking, and reporting are trusted.

External Setup Checklist

Create or confirm the Google Tag Manager container.
Add the production GTM container ID to google_tag_manager_id in _config.yml.
Create GA4 tags and conversion events in GTM.
Link GA4 to BigQuery with daily export enabled.
Create CRM fields for first-touch and last-touch attribution.
Map Web3Forms submissions into the CRM or replace Web3Forms with a CRM-native form endpoint.
Build the first Looker dashboard against BigQuery after events and lead records are flowing.