Post Updated: 25/08/2022
Have you met Google Analytics 4?
Google Analytics 4 is designed to give you essential insights in order to be ready for what might be coming next. This in turn allows you to create the perfect customer journey, in order to maximise success.
You can access the new Google Analytics experience by setting up a Google Analytics 4 property, formerly known as “App + Web” property. If you need any help or advice with setting up your Google Analytics 4 account, please get in touch with Tony or Scott.
When will Universal Analytics stop working?
- You will be able to use Universal Analytics (UA) until 1st July 2023
- From 1st July 2023, you will only be able to view collected data on Universal Analytics for six months
- Businesses are expected to have switched to GA4 by 1st October 2023
What are the Key Features of GA4?
NEW: Insights and predictions powered by artificial intelligence
What this means:
Insights powered by machine learning have been in analytics for a while, however GA4 is now able to highlight data trends such as increasing demand for a product or service.
This technology can be used to predict outcomes, such as churn rates and the potential revenue a business could earn from a particular segment of customers. Those insights can then help you anticipate the actions your customers might take in the future. Enabling you to focus on higher-value audiences.
Deeper audience integration with Google Ads
What this means:
You can now build and maintain audience lists in greater depth, with increased return on investment. How? If a user has qualified for you Google Ads audience list because of an action they took while browsing a webpage or app, they can be automatically removed from that remarking list once they have reached the set goal for that particular campaign. This will essentially reduce unnecessary ad spend.
Customer lifecycle-framed reporting
What this means:
One of the most noticeable differences between Analytics 4 and Universal Analytics is how reports are organised. GA4 aims to give a complete view of how customers are engaging with your business across devices and channels. In addition, you can now allocate user with an ID, or enable Google signals to deduplicate users across devices, for better reporting and ad targeting.
More granular user data controls
What this means:
Analytics 4 also includes options to help you comply with data regulations such as GDPR and CCPA.
Analytics in a cookie-less future
What this means:
With the phasing out of third-party cookies, Google predicts that sparse data will become a norm. For this reason GA4 will rely on machine learning to fill in the data gaps. This will help maintain reporting accuracy for better insights.
Why you should make the switch
The new Google Analytics 4 property will provide you with a more complete cross-channel view of your customer lifecycle and will put that information to use with predictive marketing features. This will give you even more information as well as efficient ways to act on those insights.
Google Analytics 4 will be the default option when you set up a new property.
The previous system, Universal Analytics, will continue to be available. However, Google recommends that site owners set up both property types and run them in parallel. This is because all new feature developments will primarily focus on GA4.
Want to find out more about setting up Google Analytics 4?
Call, email or request a call back for more help and advice on GA4.
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