Drift Chat GTM Event Listener

Track 18 Drift chat interactions in Google Tag Manager including meeting bookings, email captures, playbook firings, and GDPR clicks. Complete dataLayer reference.

driftchatsalesgtmga4conversational-marketingmeetings

Event fired

driftchat_action

Drift Chat

Overview

Drift is a conversational marketing and sales platform. This listener is one of the most comprehensive chat listeners available, capturing 18 distinct interactions including meeting bookings, email captures, playbook firings, campaign interactions, GDPR consent clicks, and phone number provision.

Event fired: driftchat_action Primary variable: chatAction (interaction description)

Why Use This Listener

Drift is often the critical conversion point in a B2B buying journey. Meeting bookings and email captures from Drift are high-intent signals that should be tracked as primary conversions, not just engagement events.

Common Use Cases

Track Drift meeting bookings as pipeline conversions in GA4 and Google Ads
Fire Meta Lead events on email capture
Build audiences of users who engaged with Drift playbooks
Track GDPR consent as a compliance event
Measure bot campaign effectiveness by tracking playbook firings
Correlate chat engagement with downstream revenue

Tracked Events (18 Total)

Event	chatAction Value
Conversation started	`user started conversation`
Campaign opened	`user opened campaign`
Campaign clicked	`user clicked campaign`
Campaign dismissed	`user dismissed campaign`
Campaign submitted	`user submitted campaign`
Widget opened	`chat widget opened`
Widget closed	`chat widget closed`
Playbook fired	`playbook fired`
Playbook clicked	`playbook clicked`
Playbook dismissed	`playbook dismissed`
Meeting requested	`meeting request initiated`
Meeting booked	`meeting booked`
Phone provided	`phone number provided`
First interaction	`first interaction in conversation`
Welcome opened	`welcome message opened`
Welcome closed	`welcome message closed`
Button clicked	`button clicked in chat`
Email captured	`email captured`
GDPR clicked	`gdpr clicked`

Installation

html

<!-- GTM Custom HTML Tag: Drift Chat Listener -->
<script>
(function() {
  var driftEvents = [
    ['startConversation', 'user started conversation'],
    ['campaign:open', 'user opened campaign'],
    ['campaign:click', 'user clicked campaign'],
    ['campaign:dismiss', 'user dismissed campaign'],
    ['campaign:submit', 'user submitted campaign'],
    ['sidebarOpen', 'chat widget opened'],
    ['sidebarClose', 'chat widget closed'],
    ['conversation:playbookFired', 'playbook fired'],
    ['conversation:playbookClicked', 'playbook clicked'],
    ['conversation:playbookDismissed', 'playbook dismissed'],
    ['scheduling:requestMeeting', 'meeting request initiated'],
    ['scheduling:meetingBooked', 'meeting booked'],
    ['phoneCapture:phoneNumberProvided', 'phone number provided'],
    ['conversation:firstInteraction', 'first interaction in conversation'],
    ['welcomeMessage:open', 'welcome message opened'],
    ['welcomeMessage:close', 'welcome message closed'],
    ['conversation:buttonClicked', 'button clicked in chat'],
    ['emailCapture:emailCaptured', 'email captured'],
    ['gdpr:clicked', 'gdpr clicked']
  ];
  
  function driftReady() {
    driftEvents.forEach(function(eventDef) {
      drift.on(eventDef[0], function(data) {
        var push = {
          'event': 'driftchat_action',
          'chatAction': eventDef[1],
          'chatWidgetID': drift.config && drift.config.appId,
          'chatSessionID': data && data.sessionId
        };
        
        if (data) {
          if (data.conversationId) push.chatConversationID = data.conversationId;
          if (data.playbookId) push.chatPlaybookID = data.playbookId;
          if (data.campaignId) push.chatCampaignID = data.campaignId;
          if (data.email) push.chatVisitorEmail = data.email;
          if (data.teamMemberId) push.chatTeamMemberID = data.teamMemberId;
          if (data.buttonText) push.chatButtonText = data.buttonText;
          if (eventDef[0] === 'scheduling:meetingBooked') {
            push.chatMeetingTime = data.meetingTime;
            push.chatMeetingDuration = data.duration;
            push.chatMeetingTimeZone = data.timeZone;
            push.chatTeamMemberName = data.teamMemberName;
          }
        }
        
        window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
        window.dataLayer.push(push);
      });
    });
  }
  
  if (window.drift) {
    drift.on('ready', driftReady);
  } else {
    window.addEventListener('load', function() {
      if (window.drift) drift.on('ready', driftReady);
    });
  }
})();
</script>

Data Layer Output

Meeting Booked (High-Value Conversion)

json

{
  "event": "driftchat_action",
  "chatAction": "meeting booked",
  "chatWidgetID": "abc123",
  "chatSessionID": "session_xyz",
  "chatConversationID": "conv_456",
  "chatTeamMemberID": "agent_789",
  "chatTeamMemberName": "Sarah Johnson",
  "chatMeetingTime": "2024-02-15T14:00:00Z",
  "chatMeetingDuration": 30,
  "chatMeetingTimeZone": "America/New_York"
}

Email Captured

json

{
  "event": "driftchat_action",
  "chatAction": "email captured",
  "chatVisitorEmail": "prospect@company.com",
  "chatWidgetID": "abc123"
}

Trigger Strategy

Priority	Action	Trigger	Tags
🔴 High	Meeting Booked	chatAction = "meeting booked"	GA4 conversion, Google Ads, Meta Lead
🟠 Medium	Email Captured	chatAction = "email captured"	GA4 generate_lead
🟡 Medium	Conversation Started	chatAction = "user started conversation"	GA4 engagement
🟢 Low	Widget Opened	chatAction = "chat widget opened"	GA4 engagement

Variables to Capture

Variable Name	DL Key	Example
DLV – Drift Action	`chatAction`	`"meeting booked"`
DLV – Drift Widget ID	`chatWidgetID`	`"abc123"`
DLV – Drift Session ID	`chatSessionID`	`"session_xyz"`
DLV – Drift Email	`chatVisitorEmail`	`"user@company.com"`
DLV – Drift Playbook ID	`chatPlaybookID`	`"playbook_123"`
DLV – Drift Meeting Time	`chatMeetingTime`	`"2024-02-15T14:00"`

GA4 Mapping

GA4 Event	Trigger	Parameters
`book_appointment`	meeting booked	chat_platform, team_member, meeting_time
`generate_lead`	email captured	chat_platform, email
`chat_widget_open`	widget opened	chat_platform

Debugging

Problem	Cause	Fix
`drift is not defined`	Drift not loaded	Use Window Loaded trigger + check
Events not firing	Drift API version mismatch	Check Drift's event name documentation
Meeting booked not tracking	Drift scheduling not enabled	Enable Drift Meetings in settings

Best Practices

Prioritize meeting bookings, this is the primary B2B conversion signal from Drift
Gate email captured events by consent status before pushing to GA4
Use Drift's visitor API to enrich pushes with company/email data when available
A/B test playbooks, use chatPlaybookID to compare playbook performance in GA4

Related Listeners

More Chat Widgets

Artibot AI

artibot_event

Chaport Chat

chaport_Action

ChatBot

chatBot_Interaction

← All Chat Widgets GTM Cookbook →