Google Analytics 4: from web to customer analytics
Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
By João Lee
CEO of Simplex
The countdown has begun. As of July 1, Google Analytics Universal will be discontinued, being replaced definitively by Google Analytics 4 (GA4). Since the launch of the new version in October 2020, some companies have slowly started to migrate. However, it was only with the announcement of the end of Universal Analytics, in March 2022, that this process was intensified. Still, many have left the migration to the final stretch of the service. But why is this transition so important?
GA4 addresses a major market issue: the ability to measure App, Mobile and Website data on the same platform. Five years ago this task was Herculean for most companies, requiring large investment in analytics and processing. In addition to the usual traffic analysis tools in Universal, in this new version we will finally have a unified view of the different platforms (App and Website) in a single journey, and user monitoring in a non-intrusive way, in compliance with data processing laws, such as the Brazilian LGPD.
By simplifying the process, GA4 will make App and Site metrics comparable. This will be reflected in greater accuracy in behavior and attribution analysis and a view of data that is closer to reality. In a world where App and SuperApp are watchwords, unified data represents competitive advantage.
The adoption of GA4 by marketers marks a paradigm shift: from web analytics (analysis of data from web page visits) to customer analytics (analysis of consumer behavior on a brand's digital platforms). This new paradigm accompanies the market change. And understanding this changeability of the digital landscape is a key point to ensure a successful migration, as every new technology brings the inherent risk of adaptation.
Universal Analytics has become, in recent years, the dominant market tool for bringing data about the navigation and searches made by users on websites. From Urchin Analytics (the first name of the tool) to Universal Analytics, a lot of time has passed and many people have gotten used to reporting the same way. Now we are faced with a new way of collecting and storing data, with a different interface.
Brazilian teams are used to the old version and the change may present difficulties for the construction of reports and day-to-day decision making, which will be remedied by time and necessity. A less visible risk is also the breakdown of automated processes for building company indicators. Many cross-reference analytics and internal data to build a more accurate view of their business. These reports will need to be reviewed, as will the processes that build them.
The implementation process can be as long as the complexity of each platform. Complex sites, with a high degree of customization, will tend to require more effort and therefore more time. In this sense, a smart strategy is to modularize the implementation in steps and plan metric by metric what should be implemented. This is what we call a metrics map.
In a practical sense, companies can adopt the following process: ensure that the implementation is accurate, create a DE-PARA of reports vital to the organization, map the main reports used and train the teams.
But beyond training teams, it is essential to disseminate this change at all levels of companies. It is easier to communicate this transformation to the board of directors than to try to explain, a few months from now, why the metrics have changed.
*JoãoLee is CEO of Simplex, a French-Brazilian startup that pioneered the technological approach of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to increase qualified traffic, conversion and online sales. Specialist in digital Analytics and CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platforms, he was responsible for the Web Analytics area of Cnova, of the Casino Group.
