Google’s newest version of Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is replacing the long-standing Universal Analytics (UA) platform to provide a complete view of user behavior across the web and app by leveraging first-party data.
Here are the top benefits of GA4 that will enable you to remain relevant and future-proof your strategy for good.
Enhanced measurements like scrolls, video engagement, and file downloads show user interaction. These provide valuable information on a post – whether it is engaging enough to grab the user’s attention. Unlike the UA platform that uses custom coding for tracking, GA4 provides positive data on user engagement instead of giving you information on the bounce rate. For example, the GA4 users metric enables you to understand your audience by showing the unique users who interacted with your webpage.
Previously, website and app tracking were done separately before GA 4. With GA4, these two can now be combined in one property – Firebase for app tracking and Google analytics for websites. This fosters a complete view of engagement across platforms.
GA4 is aligned with heightened privacy expectations with its built-in compliance with regulatory developments like General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), thereby eradicating the worry about compromising customers’ privacy. For example, GA4 anonymizes a user’s IP address automatically, which GDPR considers as personal data.
Advanced analysis is now easy with GA4 as it allows you to identify the most common paths taken by customers. For example, heat maps add a new dimension to your analysis and the user explorer report gives a closer look at specific user segments that is most relevant to your analysis.
Life Cycle reporting helps you understand the stages of the customer journey – Acquisition, Engagement, Monetization, and Retention. It is now easy to get a holistic view of user behavior and get valuable insights on where marketers should focus or change their strategy.
Many new visualizations and reporting functions come with GA4. For example, ‘Real Time’ visualization has been enhanced and made more engaging and the ‘Analysis Hub’ helps to simplify complex cross-dimensional metric reporting.
Highly insightful analytics reports help to plan your ad campaigns better and reach your target audience within the stipulated timeframe. If you plan strategically, you should be able to create successful marketing campaigns to derive ROI.
GA4 allows you to create your custom metrics – create comparisons and build myriad segments to look at your data from different angles. All these combined with AI-powered predictions can help you delve deeper to understand your target audience and thereby enhance your marketing strategies.
The GA4 platform is very new and so it may take time to explore and see how it works. While we are not suggesting you abandon your existing Universal Analytics property, you should start with Google Analytics 4 now as it is replacing UA soon – to enjoy an enhanced experience. As a result, the standard UA properties will stop processing new hits, and the new version of “privacy-centric by design” will come in. Here are some key things to keep in mind to ease your decision-making:
Now that you know the implications, take the plunge and gear up for a new era of analytics.
Contact us to know more about how we can extend our expertise to help you in your GA4 transition.
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