Google Analytics 4 Review: How To Use GA4 For Your Organisation
B.Duncan, 2022
Google Analytics is a popular platform in the digital space to help businesses understand and manage their website user behaviour and traffic and as such is a vital tool for every digital marketer. After many years known as Universal Analytics, Google has at long last decided to retire its platform, ready for the new world of privacy regulations and cookie limitations.
Google's fourth rendition of Google Analytics (GA4) was officially released in July 2022 with plans to discontinue Universal processing data by 2023, resulting in GA4 becoming your default platform instead. So with that being said, it’s important to understand how to use GA4 most effectively now, to see how differently information will be collected and reported in the future.
What key features of GA4 do you need to know about?
Privacy First Tracking
Internet users and browsers alike are placing harsher guidelines in analytic tracking and rerouting users via cookies. An example being certain browsers requiring visitor consent to be provided and used as the determining factor in what data analytics can track, with some browser companies deciding to look towards blocking any kind of analytics altogether. This is where GA4 comes into play by creating stability in the analytics space, which we now know faces new challenges being governed by new privacy protection laws that enforce these types of complications.
Google Analytics 4 is self explained as the next generation's approach to solving issues surrounding ‘privacy first’ tracking. Through the application of GA4’s advanced AI, the new analytics can fill in any blanks with predictive data to maintain growth, website traffic and reach goals without viral engagement having to act as the backbone of your website's success.
Life Cycle Report
The Life Cycle Report feature appears to be one of the most prominent changes in analytics with a core focus on the user experience from start to finish. The feature includes templated reports for e-commerce funnels, giving digital marketers a new way of visualising data in a way that prior to GA4 was only accessible to Analytics 360 accounts. When summarised, Google’s goal with this initiative is to give you a thorough understanding of the consumer experience across all platforms and to measure consumer analytics from start to finish. Ultimately this will encourage a far more accurate and well rounded depiction of the consumer experience.
Automated Link Click Tracking
This is a feature new to GA4 aimed to dramatically improve efficiency and optimise data collection. A huge step up from versions prior to GA4 as previously your only option was to manually set up customised event tracking through a complex process, now it’s done for you without you even having to worry about it.
Insights Feature
Using the same ‘modelling’ technique mentioned earlier to create predictive data the new AI driven feature ‘Insights’ will automatically highlight any relevant marketing information for you. Another simple yet powerful tool by just having a second set of eyes with the same goal as you. Based on that, the ‘Insights’ feature will only grow more accurate the longer it’s implemented into your digital marketing strategy.
Less Restrictions On Data Sources
Data Import can now include a wide range of data from sources that aren't exclusive to websites (like apps for example) all within one space. This will be incredibly useful given the amount of analytic data collected on applications exclusive to mobile devices and other sources alike. Alongside that this adds another way to automate what would otherwise be an extensive manual process in the digital marketing space.
With so much more to discover regarding the extensive toolset GA4 provides digital marketers in present time, Google is also planning to ‘future proof’ the analytic platform rather than just fixing what’s already broken. With an overarching goal to eliminate the need for cookies or identifying data all together, GA4 will be developing some of the most practical and intuitive AI based tools available at the click of a button.
So How Do You Get Started?
With a lot of exciting new technology to navigate as AI begins to centre the digital marketing space it's easy to be unsure where to start and what’s best for your business. Take the stress out of it and reach out to our digital agency Melbourne team today and let us help you build the perfect digital marketing strategy for your business!
