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The GA4 Question: Ditch Your Universal Analytics Addiction?

Macro photo of various rules to associate measurement with a discussion on Google Analytics 4.

While adapting to new tools can be challenging, Google Analytics 4 offers significant benefits for digital marketers. Its focus on privacy-centric data collection and machine learning capabilities position it as the future of web analytics. Just like embracing mobile-first design, transitioning to GA4 might require a learning curve, but it’s necessary to gain deeper user insights in today’s evolving landscape.Some iIndustry leaders are recommending this migration, but let’s explore if this transition to GA4 is worth it?

The Demise of the Familiar

For over a decade, Universal Analytics (UA) has reigned supreme as the dominant web analytics platform trusted by millions. Its page-based data model tracked typical engagement metrics like pageviews, sessions, bounce rates and more. It met the mark…for a simpler time.

As digital experiences have evolved into omnichannel journeys spanning websites, apps, smart devices and beyond, UA’s gaps became more apparent. Its inability to properly stitch together app and web user paths created blindspots. Maxing out at laughably low thresholds like 10 million hits per data stream became a tired meme.

No matter how skilled you were at shoehorning diverse data into UA’s antiquated paradigm, something had to give. And Google responded with the opportunity to go cold turkey on your outdated Universal Analytics addiction.

GA4’s Promise for True Cross-Experience 

Google Analytics 4’s foundation is built upon an event-based model designed for our current omnichannel reality where users glide through an endless array of touchpoints. This unified experience enables previously-impossible capabilities:

  • Getting a true 360-degree view of the customer by stitching their app and web activities together chronologically rather than siloing channels.
  • Conforming to sophisticated offline and IoT user journeys like smart home and digital installations.
  • Never hearing smug chuckles about your analytics setup being severely bottlenecked by thresholds ever again.

Rather than antiquated page-based tracking, GA4 treats integrated user interactions across platforms as distinct events that tell a more cohesive story about engagement. It’s analytics rehab for the circumstances we operate in.

Unlocking Deeper Engagement Signals

Speaking of cohesive stories, Universal Analytics left plenty of critical narrative details on the cutting room floor. Google Analytics 4 picks up those lost threads with expanded data streams capturing signals like:

  • Scroll tracking to measure true engagement and attention rather than wonky pageview volumetrics. Did the user actually consume content or bounce immediately? Now you’ll know.
  • File engagement events around PDF downloads and video players, giving you insight into which supportive content generates interest.
  • Refined ecommerce funnels and purchase data, with added dimensions like affiliate sources, coupons, and comprehensive checkout behavior analytics.
  • Cross-device user journey visualizations illuminating seamless paths like online research followed by in-store purchases.
  • Enhanced measurement of site search as a leading indicator of customer intent, answers delivered (or not) and opportunities to align with questions.

These unlock critical conversion metrics and KPIs like:

  • Scroll depth and weighted engagement scoring to quantify content resonance rather than empty click throughs.
  • In-file activity like PDF open rates and time spent in doc to identify winners over bloat.
  • Cart metrics around product swaps, removals and promotion code usage beyond basic “add/remove” activities.
  • Micro-conversions and multi-channel funnel visualizations for revealing high-impact paths.
  • Search behavior data around common customer queries, which terms drive value, and content gaps to address.

Migrating to a GA4 Mindset

Of course, graduating from Universal Analytics means adopting new best practices. While GA4 helpfully auto-collects some events automatically, marketers must take a more proactive approach to ensure tracking plans capture important behaviors.

This represents a paradigm shift from UA’s passive pageview philosophy to intentional event modeling. Expect to apply greater technical rigor to implementation while evolving analysis skills beyond basic reports to deeper event exploration.

Transitioning also creates additional integration needs, like developing frameworks to unify event data streams into tools like Google Tag Manager and CRMs for holistic activation. And initial migration realities like implementation costs and potential data disruptions bear consideration.

GA4’s Current Blind Spots

While comprehensive, GA4’s capabilities have some room for improvement. Several familiar and expected reports around weighted traffic sources may be missing. Integrating historical data into the new environment for benchmarking purposes presents challenges. And heightened data privacy and compliance practices will need refreshing.

But as with any tool’s evolution, Google will continue enhancing to address outstanding gaps. Early adopters can play a part in shaping future prioritization. After all, we gritted our way through updating UTM parameter tactics and learning Regex – mastery of GA4 is just the next frontier.

The Path Forward

Like it or not, the progression of technology and customer experiences demands analytics platforms to keep up. Marketing is a perpetual cycle of inevitable updates as the world – and our ability to capture nuanced behaviors – advances.

While overcoming inertia never feels good in the moment, staying stuck in bloated, outdated toolsets ultimately hinders our understanding of what truly drives impact. For all its longstanding utility, Universal Analytics’ sun is setting on relevance in an omnichannel world.

Google Analytics 4 represents the path forward, evolving us beyond outdated data limits and modeling. And with its richer engagement metrics, we can uncover deeper insights that power growth rather than relying solely on hollow vanity indicators and data deprivation.

So take the plunge, roll up those sleeves, and dive into Google’s latest analytics trip. Just be mentally prepared for Google Ads to launch certification expiration policies ensuring we all learn its latest evolution…again. After all, the only constant in marketing is change – or needing to drop $175 to prove you understand said change.

The views expressed herein are personal and do not reflect the views of any of my clients, partners or employers.

Photo by William Warby on Unsplash

Original article: https://www.activelinkmedia.co.za/the-ga4-question-ditch-your-universal-analytics-addiction/

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How To Make An Impression

One of my good clients called me last week and asked straight up, “how do I make a good impression?” I was about to suggest that perhaps he should swap his jeans and Chuck Taylor’s for a suit – when Bob continued, “on Twitter right? You know, like when I look at that analytics thingy, it says I have 975 something what-not impressions on one tweet which was retweeted twice. That’s odd right?”

And this was just Twitter. Impressions, page-views, engagements and bounce rates across Google, Facebook and LinkedIn have become commonly used, and often misunderstood, words we come across regularly. How we measure things and activities have taken on a whole new life digitally, and now my clients want to know that they are getting bang for their buck. Up to the minute.

“Well sure, an impression is counted whenever your tweet appears in a timeline. It could be anyone’s…“ -“Wait, what? What about my followers, didn’t they see it?” Bob interjected.

“Ah ok Bob, think of it this way: remember when we went to that art gallery in Brixton to see the sculpture exhibition, and you remarked on all the people who stuck their head in the door and immediately turned on their heels and walked out – that’s what we’d call a high ‘bounce rate’. An ‘impression’ is everyone who walked through the gallery. Some people would linger, viewing a piece for a while adding a ‘page-view’ if you would. Those who placed a bidding sticker on the display case, showed it as a ‘favorite’, and definitely an intent to purchase. It’d be hard to say how many people saw each sculpture, but the owner told me she collected 127 email addresses on the opening night from the 600 or so people who came to see.”

“Those who posted their photo’s on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtags, and were reposted on the gallery’s website, well those she counted as ‘conversions’ to her Exposure Goal on Analytics. The actual sales orders she got online, from the email she sent to all of those people who expressed interest, topped out at 43 orders. Those were her ‘eCommerce conversions’ paying off.”

“So how many followers do I have to get before I should buy a suit?” asked Bob.

#contentmarathon

The views expressed herein are personal and do not reflect the views of any of my clients or employers.