Embrace the change! GA4 Is Here!

New year, new you right?  Get ahead of the changes coming in the way of digital marketing. You may be hearing the buzz that Google is making big changes in Analytics, specifically a new version of Google Analytics, GA4 is already available for use. Have you checked it out yet?

You may be asking yourself why, what’s different and do I have to make the change? Let us help you ease your mind and feel good about the reasons behind the changes and how it will actually help you and your business. If you need help migrating to G4 analytics, contact us for help.

So, what’s different in the new Google Analytics, GA4? 

  • BUILT FOR PRIVACY: Digital Marketing is going through a privacy crisis right now. Google Analytics quite literally had to make changes or just no longer be useful and relevant in today’s world. GA4 will be prepared for cookieless browsing, like the updates with IOS14 & Apple and will be based on machine learning and modeling.
  • EVENT BASED TRACKING: GA4 is event-based tracking as opposed to session based like Universal Analytics, which means it is listening to events all the time unlike in Universal where it was tracking specific sessions happening from specific people.  Also, now your data is collected across websites and apps all in one property.
  • PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS & ANNOMALY DETECTION: Once only accessible by additional fees, it is now free to have these important stats. Predictive Analytics refers to the use of statistics and modeling techniques to make predictions about future outcomes and performance. Anomaly detection is a statistical technique that Analytics Intelligence uses to identify anomalies in time-series data for a given metric and anomalies within a segment at the same point of time.
  • NEW DATA STRUCTURE: The biggest change, in both collection and storing, is how your data is collected. GA4 will not be compatible with Universal and therefore will completely replace it all together by July 1, 2023.  The good news here…you have time right now to get started with GA4 and you should. It’s important to understand that until you get started in GA4, you will not have data that works with GA4 and when it is replaced in July, you will find yourself starting from scratch. It’s a lot better to have the data before you need it, as opposed to when you actually need it. You will have the ability to access your historic data in Universal analytics through the end of 2023, but it will only be viewable and have no compatibility to GA4.

If you need help analyzing your data, contact us for a consultation to learn how we can help your business. We have implemented strategies from firms across the US, Europe, and Asia. Stop wasting marketing dollars on efforts that don’t work and align your dollars with proven strategies that work. Let’s talk.