Upgrade to GA4: A Quick Introduction to Google Analytics 4

October 28, 2020

If you’ve looked at your Google Analytics property settings recently, you may see a new option: Upgrade to GA4. As noted in a recent update from the Google Analytics blog, Google Analytics “will give you the essential insights you need to be ready for what’s next.” These new features/insights include:

Smarter insights to improve your marketing decisions and get better ROI
A more complete understanding of how customers interact with your business
Built for the long term with adaptable data controls

Smarter insights to improve your marketing decisions and get better ROI

By applying Google’s advanced machine learning models, the new Analytics can automatically alert you to significant trends in your data – like products seeing rising demand because of new customer needs. It even helps you anticipate future actions your customers may take. For example, it calculates churn probability so you can more efficiently invest in retaining customers at a time when marketing budgets are under pressure.

With new integrations across Google’s marketing products, it’s easy to use what you learn to improve the ROI of your marketing. A deeper integration with Google Ads, for example, lets you create audiences that can reach your customers with more relevant, helpful experiences, wherever they choose to engage with your business.

A more complete understanding of how customers interact with your business

The new Analytics gives you customer-centric measurement, instead of measurement fragmented by device or by platform. It uses multiple identity spaces, including marketer-provided User IDs and unique Google signals from users opted into ads personalization, to give you a more complete view of how your customers interact with your business. For example, you can see if customers first discover your business from an ad on the web, then later install your app and make purchases there. You’ll also get a better understanding of your customers across their entire lifecycle, from acquisition to conversion and retention.

Built for the long term

Now is the time to invest in your digital marketing basics, like smarter analytics, so you can be ready for what comes next. This will also help you respond to rising consumer expectations, regulatory developments, and changing technology standards for user privacy. With a new approach to data controls, you can better manage how you collect, retain and use your Analytics data. More granular controls for ads personalization let you choose when to use your data to optimize your ads and when to limit your data use to measurement.

Because the technology landscape continues to evolve, the new Analytics is designed to adapt to a future with or without cookies or identifiers. It uses a flexible approach to measurement, and in the future, will include modeling to fill in the gaps where the data may be incomplete. This means that you can rely on Google Analytics to help you measure your marketing results and meet customer needs now as you navigate the recovery and as you face uncertainty in the future.

The future of Google Analytics

The new Google Analytics is now the default experience for new properties and is where Google is investing in future improvements. Google is encouraging users to create a new Google Analytics 4 property (previously called an App + Web property) alongside your existing properties.

Getting started with the Google Analytics 4 Property

Additional Resources

Based in Austin, TX, Bound By offers a variety of digital marketing services, including Search Engine Optimization (SEO), to our clients. We offer a free consultation and can discuss the best plan of action based on your individual business needs. Let’s talk about your project!