Google Analytics is used by millions of website owners and businesses across the world. Over the years, Google has consistently upgraded this platform to help marketers better analyze their website data. On 14th October 2020, Google released a blog post to introduce an updated version of the platform, known as Google Analytics 4 or GA4.
The update made the previous “App+Web Property,” introduced in 2019, the default property type for the analytics account. A host of new features were also introduced with the upgrade to keep up with the changing consumer behaviour, stringent data privacy regulations, and the rising need for efficient use of website analytics.
3 features of GA4 every marketer should know about are discussed below-
1. ML-Powered Marketing Insights
Google Analytics has been using Machine Learning (ML) for a long time now. But it has been made far more valuable and useful in GA4. The tool can now use your data to find trends and also send you notifications about the same. Its ability to predict consumer behaviour and action has been improved significantly to make it easier for marketers to plan in advance.
For instance, GA4 is capable of predicting revenue from a specific user group. This will allow marketers to build groups and analyze why a particular group of users have a higher probability of conversion compared to others.
2. Improved Google Ads Integration
Businesses and marketers who use Google Ads will appreciate the deeper integration of analytics and ads in GA4. Data from the analytics account can be used for building custom audience from users who visit your website and app. Moreover, it will also add or remove users to and from the new lists based on the actions they perform on the website automatically.
Advertisers have also been requesting a feature for tracking YouTube conversions for some time now. With GA4, marketers can view YouTube conversions (web+app), along with a host of other channels like organic search, paid search, email, social, and more.
3. Customer-Focused Measurements
Unlike Universal Analytics, which still measures fragmented data based on platform or device, GA4 has a more customer-focused measurement approach. This enables marketers and businesses to better understand how audiences engage and interact with the website.
For this, GA4 uses an extensive range of identity spaces, including Google signals from people who have opted for personalized ads and user IDs provided by marketers. To give you an example, let us assume that a customer purchased a product from your website or app. With GA4, you can check their entire journey or the steps they took before completing the purchase.
For instance, they might have seen your ad in Google search or YouTube before landing on your website/app and making the purchase. With this information, you can focus more on the channels that are bringing in the customers.
Boost Your Marketing Efforts with GA4
Google will continue adding more features to GA4 to provide marketers and businesses more opportunities to improve their marketing initiatives. As Google has already mentioned that GA4 will be the future of analytics, this can be an excellent time for marketers to switch from Universal Analytics to GA4 and experience all of these great features.
Businesses can consider working with reputed digital marketing companies to make the best use of this upgrade and boost their digital growth.
