Leveraging Google Analytics 4

After attending the Google Analytics 4 (GA4) livestream focused on advanced features & opportunities, our team wanted to share some of the insights we gained, so that you can leverage them in your account. To kick it off, let’s dive into some context on GA4 and where the platform stands today.

The time has come (and gone) for the great migration – Universal Analytics standard properties stopped processing hits on July 1st of this year. By now, most properties have been converted over to GA4, whether done manually or automatically. That being said, if you’re frustrated on how your GA4 migration is going….you’re not alone. Many users have been met with a learning curve for new features, technical difficulties, missing features, and GDPR compliance. Regardless of this, we are here to highlight some of the good amongst the storm of technical nuances found within the platform. So to help you navigate the right way – here is what Net Conversion found most important from the Google Analytics webinar centered around advanced features and opportunities…

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Predictive Metrics and Audiences

Within the audiences section of GA4 you can find troves of valuable data regarding user behavior as well as stitch together interactions into one unified cross-device user journey. In GA4’s exploration mode, you can also use predictive metrics like purchase probability and churn probability within the user lifetime technique. For example, Employing AI-driven audience segmentation utilizing platforms like Google Ads to target audiences that are likely to churn, with the aim of re-engagement. Overall, GA4 helps to build more advanced audiences through a wealth of dimensions and metrics.

Outside of GA4, creating and using predictive solutions takes extra effort from marketers and developers. The process involves cleaning and managing client data input, building machine learning product predictions using Cloud ML App Engine and compute engine, configuring the audience in Audience Builder, and exporting it to Google Ads or other bidding channels. In GA4, using predictive analytics doesn’t require intermediary work from product developers or data science teams to optimize data.

Conversions and Adding Values:

This section from Google’s webinar covered how to optimize campaigns and increase ROI through conversion values. Let’s dive in.

You can assign conversion values to any event in GA4 by adding value and currency parameters. This applies to events without these parameters, including automatically collected ones. Here are the quick steps to import GA4 conversions from the SA360 UI:

• Go to Tools and Settings under the Measurement Header.
• Choose the Conversions page.
• Click the Import button in the list of eligible GA4 conversions.
• Select relevant conversion actions to import.

After a successful import, you can export GA4 conversions to DV360 for custom bidding algorithms. When GA4 and DV360 accounts are linked, GA4 goals can be used as convergent activities in impression scoring within DV360’s predictive models. This optimization maximizes impression values in your campaign budget through a tailored bidding algorithm.

Insights and Anomaly Detection:

This is where Google talked about how to use GA4’s Analytics Intelligence offerings and how to really leverage these to identify interesting learnings from your data.

Analytics Intelligence uses anomaly detection, a statistical technique using past data to find unusual patterns in time series metrics. It automatically scans your data for anomalies, like sudden spikes in conversion volume, and presents these insights within the GA4 interface. It also performs contribution analysis, pinpointing specific user segments that might be causing these anomalies. For instance, Analytics Intelligence might identify two user segments behind a conversion spike. These segments can be turned into audiences with criteria from the insights, allowing for further analysis or export for targeted ad campaigns. This tool is incredibly helpful for overall data quality and performance checks.

The webinar included a variety of additional tips and tricks, but we found these the most useful for our partners and everyday users. Nonetheless, if you’re a frustrated user of GA4, we’re here to help!

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