GA4 Zero to Hero: 6 Things to Do Now You've Migrated

Congratulations on successfully migrating to Google Analytics 4 (GA4)! Now that you've made the transition, it's time to take full advantage of GA4's capabilities and maximise your data insights. Here are six steps to propel you (and your business) from GA4 zero to GA4 hero:

1. Lay a Solid GA4 Foundation

Decide how you want GA4 to work for your business, then make sure that it is applied consistently across the board (web, app, iOT... all GA4 instances).

Where possible, have data from all your platforms feed into a single GA4 property, and enable cross-domain tracking and app-to-web tracking to maximise data connectivity.

Consider how you want GA4 to associate events with users via altering the reporting identity settings. The primary consideration is around 'thresholding' - restrictions applied to prevent inferring the identity of individual users.

Linked considerations are whether to implement user_id, and whether you want to use GA4's consent mode (and, if so, whether to use modelled behavioural data and conversion data). You will also want to decide whether to enable Google Signals.

You should look at your data retention settings, to ensure reporting works in the way you would like (360 customers have more options).

You may want to turn on enhanced measurement (though you'll need to perform due diligence to ensure that works how you expect and doesn't collect anything you don't want it to), and consider setting up some key conversion events to enhance your reporting.

Lastly, consider enabling some of the marketing integrations available - for example, Google Ads. If you're a 360 customer, there's an even wider range of integrations available. This will augment your GA4 reporting and give you the opportunity to leverage your GA4 data directly in these platforms.  

If you'd like to talk to us about leveraging your digital data as part of your first-party data marketing strategy, don't hesitate to reach out.

2. Tailor Data Collection to Your Business Needs

A key strength of GA4 is that it is event driven, and that Google have pre-defined a range of key events that apply to most businesses (at the very least, as a base to build upon).

Consider using these as the underpinning for your data layer schema, to open up a wide range of key reports in GA4, including ecommerce tracking.

Here at Loop Horizon, we're very experienced in reviewing business requirements to create data layer schemas; implementing automated schema validation; working with your development team to implement, and integrating it with GA4 to supercharge your reporting.

3. Track and Attribute the Customer Journey

Work with your marketing teams to standardise your GA4 marketing tracking by agreeing where you'll leverage integrations with GA4 vs standardising your approach to URL parameters. You should create an easy-to-use mechanism for generating standardised UIRL parameters for your marketing team to make it as easy-as-possible to get this right consistently.

Decide if you want to use GA4's default channel grouping, or if you want to create your own.

Think about whether you want to change your attribution settings to tweak how conversions are attributed, and alter the look-back window.

By doing this, you'll have a comprehensive view of how different channels contribute to conversions and be empowered to optimise your marketing strategies accordingly.

4. Export and Integrate Data

GA4 now gives easy access to data export via its BiqQuery integration. Build a robust data-orchestration-foundation-layer by integrating GA4 with other data sources in an environment of your choice.

With a solid data orchestration foundation layer, you can directly activate your data as part of your first-party data marketing strategy and improve reporting, analysis and visualisation to unlock valuable insights to drive data-informed decision-making.

5. Unify User Identities Across Devices

In today's multi-device landscape, understanding user behaviour across platforms is essential. The ability to join digital and offline data sets together, and have that data contain identifiers that enable activation via a range of marketing platforms, is key to any first-party data marketing strategy.

Maximise identifiability and connectivity within your digital data by implementing an ID resolution project. Audit your platforms to identify opportunities to collect hashed authenticated IDs alongside your digital data. Identify the offline data systems that can utilise these match keys. Identify the match-key requirements for the various marketing platforms you use.

By unifying user identities, you can personalise experiences, optimise marketing campaigns, and deliver consistent messaging across multiple touch points.

6. Activate Your Data

Finally, leverage the power of GA4 or a CDP to drive personalised and targeted marketing campaigns.

Identify use cases for your joined digital and offline data set and then apply modelling to the data to meet those use cases; for example, identify high-value segments in your user base and then activate the data across your various marketing platforms (via your CDP for example; or you can even import the model outputs to GA4 and build audiences to share with your GA4 linked marketing platforms).

In Summary

By following these six essential steps, you'll transform your GA4 implementation from simply being something you had to do before Universal Analytics switched off, to being a powerful tool that propels your business forward. Embrace the possibilities of GA4, unlock actionable insights, and stay ahead of the competition.

Are you ready to unlock the full potential of GA4 and take your analytics to the next level? At Loop Horizon, we specialise in helping businesses like yours navigate the intricacies of GA4 and maximise its benefits. Our team of experts is ready to provide customised solutions tailored to your specific needs.

Contact us today to schedule a consultation and let us guide you on the path to GA4 success. Together, we‚ ensure that your GA4 implementation is seamless, data-driven, and optimised for growth. Don‚Äôt miss out on the opportunities GA4 offers - get in touch!