Erik Bratt, VP of Marketing at Tealium

As more organizations tackle mobile measurement in 2013, the ability to manage tags and data across multiple devices and touch points from the same solution will become increasingly important. In the case of mobile apps, using tag management means companies don’t have to recertify their app through the platform operator (Apple, Google) every time they want to add or change a tag within the app itself.

We’ll also see the continued adoption of tag management as a solution for digital marketers and not a content management system for editing JavaScript code. That means turnkey integration with hundreds of different major online vendors. Finally, another important trend we’ll see this year is the emergence of tag management as a trusted platform for managing and exchanging all types of digital data. This focus on ‘data-centric tag management’ will be a key evolutionary step in the industry.

Phillip Klien, CEO of SiteApps

Companies have to realize that tag management technology goes way beyond simplifying implementation of tracking pixels for campaigns – this technology empowers marketing departments to update websites in real time with minimal IT intervention; bringing a whole new benefit for real-time optimization.

Ari Paparo, independent media consultant

When Google announced its free and full-featured tag management product the stakes for this segment went up substantially. No longer would it be enough to offer a container tag and simplistic attribution logic.

Expect some vendors with real tech to thrive, while the smaller, single-market vendors to fall by the wayside. The good news is that the category is coming into it’s own as a required part of the marketer’s tech stack.

Wolf Allisat, Chief Revenue Officer at TagMan 

The year ahead will undoubtedly see more businesses reaching their consumers through mobile and tablet devices. Although tracking on mobile can be tricky, good tag management should be able to derive and use data from both mobile, tablet web and in-app channels. 

Strangely, in-app tracking is often forgotten by marketers despite the growing interest in app creation by retailers and the surge in customer activity coming from these devices, but in future these important channels will be impossible for tracking services to discount. Tag management that includes mobile will continue to become a must-have for marketers with any mobile presence.

Dax Hamman, Chango

Hopefully it will grow and grow and grow! We had a case recently where a client told us they couldn’t place a conversion pixel because their web development company will charge them $6,000 to do so…

Des Cahill, VP marketing, Ensighten

2012 was the year that tag management was validated by the market as an essential part of any website’s infrastructure and digital marketing process. Early adopters of tag management technology have proven that de-coupling the website marketing operations cycle from the website development cycle brings myriad benefits, ranging from a boost in website performance, to improved marketing efficiency, to more effective use of analytics, optimization and re-targeting services.

Looking ahead for 2013, we think there will be continued acceleration in the adoption of tag management technologies across the entire spectrum of the market. At the low end, for sites with fewer and simpler tags, the growth will be driven by adoption of free services like Google Tag Manager. For more sophisticated websites, adoption of advanced tag management solutions will become an essential element of success. Multichannel marketing is driving increased interaction between brands and consumers in channels beyond just the web, so support for tag management on multiple platforms (e.g., iOS, Android, video, social, etc.) and multiple devices (e.g., kiosk, ATM, tablet, phone, etc.) will be a key factor for buyers of tag management systems to consider.