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A few months ago, Google announced that as of July 1, 2023, it will no longer process data using standard Universal Analytics properties. Instead, the data flows through Google Analytics 4.
With this shift in analytics properties, a significant change is sure to be felt in the way of collecting, storing, and filtering data.
So now all eyes are on GA4.
What is it and how will this change affect your business?
Related: Harness the Power of Analytics for a Brighter Future for Your Business
What is Google Analytics 4?
According to Google, GA4 is a brand new data model that will start measuring data in July. However, like other analytics properties before that, GA4 will draw on the components of the Google ecosystem to help improve current marketing efforts.
Here’s a taste of what’s new with Google Analytics 4.
- At its core is machine learning, which allows it to deliver reliable reports and make predictive analytics.
- It collects data from websites and apps using logged in data, leading to a better understanding of the customer experience across channels.
- It prioritizes customer privacy and works with or without cookies.
- It will be event based rather than session based data.
- It includes improved measurements of user actions such as downloads, video views, scrolling, site search, outbound clicks and pageviews, minus website tag updates.
- Custom channel groupings no longer work in GA4, so marketers must have a disciplined strategy for measuring channel performance.
With these details, we can safely say that GA4 is not just an update, but a brand new model for collecting, storing and filtering data. And companies need to be ready for the changes.
Related: Harness the Power of Analytics for a Brighter Future for Your Business
How does GA4 affect your business?
Because GA4 is a brand new model, companies need to start preserving historical data before Google implements the shift in analytics properties in 2023.
Fortunately, there is plenty of time to study the new analytic properties and collect data. And companies can do this easily by setting up a new GA4 property and running it in parallel with Universal Analytics – a step that requires double tagging. It is worth noting that this action does not harm data.
Thus, this process allows companies to store historical data and learn more about the new data model at the same time. It will also help smooth transition from Universal Analytics to GA4, so businesses can easily use it to improve their marketing strategies and turn customer journeys into something better.
What are the benefits of GA4?
Being one step ahead of GA4 implementation next year will certainly help marketers feel more comfortable when it comes time for Google to make it the default option.
With all the new things it brings, here are the specific benefits businesses can gain:
It provides more privacy for customers.
If there’s one thing consumers want to protect more, it’s their privacy. And GA4 lets them have it. So when companies move to this new model, customers will find it more secure and believe that a company is compliant with privacy rules. However, this doesn’t mean that companies will miss out on the data for better marketing strategies, as GA4 has intelligent tracking features.
Related: 10 Questions to Ask When Collecting Customer Data
It provides better visualization of the customer journey.
With the way GA4 focuses on interactions across websites across platforms, it makes it easier for companies to see the events and analyze data for a better and more accurate understanding of customer journeys.
It allows marketers to see user-centric reports.
Because GA4 focuses on user engagement and offers new “Lifecycle” and “User” sections, companies can dig deeper into the customer journey and analyze data based on their acquisition, engagement, revenue and retention, as well as demographics and technology.
Plus, you don’t have to worry about bounce rate anymore as it is replaced by user-based metrics that can more accurately predict customer actions.
It will lead to more relevant target groups for marketing campaigns.
The new suite of analytics features provides robust metrics, leading to relevant audiences for corporate advertising campaigns. It is important to mention that collecting data across platforms can complete a customer journey, resulting in better returns, especially with regard to a company’s return on investment.
On another note, GA4 reports the potential revenue that companies can derive from a group of customers through predictive statistics. This way they can easily optimize for that group and achieve better results.
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It is easy to set up and use.
It won’t take businesses long to set it up and familiarize yourself with the new metrics due to the lack of complex code requirements. This feature helps companies that use third-party sites for transactional purposes by making the process more manageable. Setting up for tracking is also a lot easier with GA4.
Ultimately, businesses will benefit significantly from GA4’s new analytics capabilities to improve marketing performance and optimize customer experience. So getting ready and getting used to it before it comes into full play is the best business decision today.