Meta - Sending story events to Google Analytics 4

Sending story events to Google Analytics 4

This article walks through connecting a story to Google Analytics 4, so you can see how many people started a story, where they dropped off, what they answered and how many clicked through.

Read Story events with Google Tag Manager first if you haven't — it explains the data layer events this article builds on.

💡 In one sentence: you create a handful of variables and triggers in Tag Manager, point them at your Analytics measurement ID, and then register the extra details in Analytics so they show up in reports.

Before you start

What you need	Looks like	Where to find it
Tag Manager container ID	`GTM-XXXXXXX`	Tag Manager, top right of the workspace. Already pasted into Project settings.
Analytics measurement ID	`G-XXXXXXXXXX`	Analytics → Admin → Data streams → your web stream

On the data stream screen you'll also see a Google tag ID starting with GT-. Both work, but take the one starting with G- — that's what the steps below expect.

If no Analytics property exists yet, create one first: Analytics → Admin → Create property, then add a Web data stream for web.intractive.app. Set the time zone and currency to the client's, not the default.

Step 1 — Add the Google tag

This is the tag that loads Analytics on the page. Everything else depends on it.

In Tag Manager, go to Tags → New
Tag type: Google tag
Tag ID: your G-XXXXXXXXXX
Trigger: Initialization - All Pages
Name it GA4 - Config and save

💡 The Tag ID field is the single point where Tag Manager and Analytics meet. Everything else in the container decides when to send something; this decides where it goes.

Step 2 — Create the variables

Variables pull the details out of each story event so you can use them. Create these under Variables → New → Data Layer Variable, leaving the version at its default.

Name it	Data layer variable name	What it gives you
`DLV - storyId`	`storyId`	Which story
`DLV - sessionId`	`sessionId`	Ties one visitor's run together
`DLV - progress`	`progress`	Percentage complete
`DLV - depth`	`depth`	Which block they're on
`DLV - total`	`total`	How long the story is
`DLV - outboundUrl`	`url`	Which link was clicked

The right-hand column must match the story's field names exactly, including capital letters. storyid will not work where storyId is expected. A variable that comes back empty in testing is almost always a capitalisation slip here.

To capture a specific answer, add one more Data Layer Variable per answer you care about, using the variable name from your story with variables. in front of it — for example variables.timeline for a story variable called timeline.

Step 3 — Create the triggers

Triggers decide when a tag fires. All of these are Custom Event triggers, created under Triggers → New.

Name it	Event name	Condition
`CE - Story Progress`	`intractiveStoryProgress`	All custom events
`CE - Story Start`	`intractiveStoryProgress`	`DLV - depth` equals `1`
`CE - Story Halfway`	`intractiveStoryProgress`	`DLV - progress` greater than or equal to `50`
`CE - Story Complete`	`intractiveStoryProgress`	`DLV - progress` equals `100`
`CE - Variables Updated`	`intractiveVariablesUpdated`	All custom events
`CE - Outbound Link`	`intractiveOutboundLink`	All custom events

⚠️ This one setting prevents inflated numbers. The halfway and complete triggers use conditions that keep matching on every later progress message. On any tag using them, open Advanced Settings → Tag firing options and choose Once per page. A story is one page load, so once per page means once per story. Without it you'll record a completion for every remaining block, and your conversion count will be several times too high.

Step 4 — Create the event tags

One tag per event you want in Analytics. All are type Google Analytics: GA4 Event, with the measurement ID set to your G- ID.

Event name to send	Details to include	Trigger	Once per page?
`intractive_story_start`	story_id, session_id, total_blocks	`CE - Story Start`	No
`intractive_block_view`	story_id, session_id, block_index, total_blocks, progress	`CE - Story Progress`	No
`intractive_progress_50`	story_id, session_id	`CE - Story Halfway`	Yes
`intractive_story_complete`	story_id, session_id, total_blocks	`CE - Story Complete`	Yes
`intractive_answer`	story_id, session_id, plus the answers you chose	`CE - Variables Updated`	No
`intractive_outbound_click`	story_id, session_id, link_url	`CE - Outbound Link`	No
Each detail is added under Event Parameters as a name and a value, where the value is the matching variable from step 2 — for example parameter `story_id` with value `{{DLV - storyId}}`.

intractive_block_view fires once per content block, so roughly 12 to 20 events for a completed story. That volume is what makes drop-off analysis possible — "we lose 40% of viewers at block 4" — and it's well inside Analytics' free limits. If a client's reports feel noisy, this is the first tag to switch off.

Step 5 — Register the details in Analytics

This step is easy to skip and nothing works properly without it. Analytics collects your extra details but will not report on them until you register each one by hand.

Go to Analytics → Admin → Custom definitions and add these, all event-scoped:

Register as	Name	Event parameter
Custom dimension	Story ID	`story_id`
Custom dimension	Session ID	`session_id`
Custom dimension	Link URL	`link_url`
Custom metric (integer)	Block index	`block_index`
Custom metric (integer)	Total blocks	`total_blocks`
Custom metric (integer)	Progress	`progress`

Then go to Admin → Events → Key events and mark intractive_story_complete as a key event, so it counts as a conversion and can be imported into Google Ads.

Step 6 — Test, then publish

In Tag Manager click Preview and enter a published story link
Tap through the story. You should see intractiveStoryProgress once per block, then intractiveVariablesUpdated when you answer, then intractiveOutboundLink if you click out
Click an event and check the Variables tab: your DLV - variables should have values, not undefined
Finish the story and confirm the complete tag fired once, not once per remaining block
In Analytics, open Admin → DebugView to watch the same events arrive with their details
Back in Tag Manager, click Submit to publish. Nothing reaches real visitors until you do

⚠️ After publishing, your own browser may keep serving the previous version of the container for up to 15 minutes. If your changes don't seem to be live, do a hard refresh before assuming something is broken. See Troubleshooting story tracking.

Reading the results

With the events flowing, the two reports worth living in are:

Reports → Engagement → Events for volumes per event
Explore for a free-form drop-off view: put block_index against event count to see exactly which block loses people

That drop-off curve is the single most useful thing this setup gives you. The block where the curve flattens is the point where viewers commit — everyone past it tends to finish.

✅ Quick checklist

Take the G- ID, not the GT- one.
Data layer variable names are case-sensitive.
Set Once per page on the halfway and complete tags.
Register custom definitions in Analytics, or your details stay invisible.
Mark the completion event as a key event.
Test in Preview, then Submit. Allow 15 minutes for the cache.

Updated on: 24/09/2026

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