Another Google Analytics product may seem unnecessary at first glance, but the latest version of Analytics—Google Analytics 4 (GA4)—has advantages that cannot be ignored. Universal Analytics (UA) has become increasingly out of step with changes in the online world, and GA4 has been created to contend not only with changes that have already occurred, but with anything the future may bring. This is the most flexible and versatile version of Google Analytics yet.
GA4 is Future Proof
Universal Analytics has been increasingly hamstrung by privacy laws, as it relies heavily on cookies. Google Analytics 4 on the other hand utilizes a more adaptive approach to data measurement, and has been built with a cookie-less future in mind.
With the new Analytics, cookies play a less important role than they do in Universal Analytics. But Google has promised that it will go further than reducing GA4's reliance on cookies. Eventually GA4 will be updated to include modeling that allows it to fill in gaps and flesh out incomplete data, meaning that it won't need to use cookies at all. This is vitally important and incredibly useful, due to the ever-changing privacy laws surrounding the use of cookies.
Machine Learning Provides Customer Insights
Google Analytics 4 uses machine learning to give a fuller picture of customer behavior. It can also highlight trends in your data, showing you which products are receiving a surge in demand and what customer needs may be responsible for that increased interest.
Google Analytic's advanced machine learning can even predict your customers future behavior, warning you about churn probability so that you can take the necessary actions to retain customers. It can also identify niche groups of customers that have the potential to be big spenders.
GA4 Offers Cross-Platform Analysis
Google Analytics 4 is more thoroughly integrated with Google Ads than its predecessor, allowing you to reach customers with a tailor-made advertising strategy built to target their interests, while also measuring the combined effectiveness of your campaign.
This new version of Analytics can quantify activity from both web and app interactions, allowing you to see the impact of your marketing strategies across email, social, Google Search, YouTube and more.
GA4 is Customer-Centric
Google Analytics uses Google signals and marketer-provided User ID's to create a cohesive, customer-centric picture of how your customers interact with your business. You will be able to track where your customers first encounter your business (from an ad they see on social media, for example) as well as the actions they take afterwards, such as visiting your website or downloading your app. You will be able to track the behavior of your clientele through every step of their relationship to your business, from the very moment they discover your products.
While UA is still available to view, GA4 is now the default option when setting up a new Analytics account. If you’re setting up a new site, we recommend that you create both a GA4 and UA property. If you already have UA, we encourage you to also create GA4 as it’s the future of Google Analytics, and provides a more complete cross-channel view of your customer’s journey and path to purchase, and more predictive measures of their behaviors.
If you would like to learn more about GA4 and how analytics can help your business grow, simply contact us here!