Google Analytics 4: What you need to know to complete the switch

Google has announced the official timeline for the end of its Universal Analytics service, with the sun due to set on July 1, 2023. Jessica Jacobs, Global Director of Partnerships & Growth at Incubeta, explains why marketers need to act now to ensure they are prepared for Google Analytics 4.

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) has been released in response to rapid changes in the tech industry and the tightening of laws around data protection (spurred on by the EU’s GDPR regulations) with the intention of bringing digital web and app analytics together. With Universal Analytics (UA) sunsetting on July 1, 2023, many businesses have been left wondering how early to make the switch and what changes will come with this new analytics system.

Although the end of third-party cookies has been delayed by Google until 2024, advertisers should not stop preparing for the world of advertising without them. They form a crucial part of our ability to successfully target and remarket to our users and we need to take this additional time given by Google to fully prepare for the post-cookie era. Despite the delay undoubtedly giving the industry more time to prepare, the deprecation of third-party cookies is still very much on the horizon and it’s more important now than ever before to prepare your infrastructure for a privacy-first world.

The one thing that has become evident is that marketers need to move away from any reliance on third-party cookies and expand strategies built on first-party data instead. With GA4 providing several new features to assist in this, such as cookieless measurement, built-in predictive audiences and event-based trackers, there are substantial reasons to move on from UA (as well as it also being inevitable) but the questions remain as to how, and when to make this transition.

Start making the transition now, with access to third-party cookies

Third-party cookies are still around for the time being, and it’s worth making the switch whilst you still have access to them. If you make the change while cookies are still present, you can make a head start in using and gaining insights from first-party data and making comparisons – for example, by running UA and GA4 at the same time.

For several years, the marketing industry has been reliant on third-party data, as it’s been easy to access and use, but this doesn’t make it the most effective. The removal of these datasets will force the industry to re-examine its strategies and develop stronger first-party audiences to the benefit of both the organisation and the consumer.

“GA4 comes with a completely new data model, meaning a completely new strategy is required for collecting data,” comments Camila Ramos Mori, Head of Data & Analytics, in a conversation about preparations needed for the switch “This gives marketers an incredible opportunity to get involved right from the start and ensure they are tracking all the information they need to build those first-party audiences.”

What should you plan before making the switch?

Following the change, historic data will only be stored for six months, and you can’t directly migrate your account. Although the end of UA is over a year away, which may seem like a long time, if the switch to GA4 isn’t made soon organisations risk losing the option of building year-on-year data to compare when UA stops running.

Businesses will also need to review what expertise and resources are needed for the transition, which might include working with a specialist – particularly when dealing with reporting and attribution frameworks, as well as the features around data-science.

The benefits of GA4 explained

Designed with privacy in mind, GA4 includes all the privacy features present in Universal Analytics but goes one step further in protecting the data of the consumer.

One of the biggest benefits of GA4 is the inclusion of data-driven attribution and improved insight prediction, powered by machine learning. This helps fill in the data gaps that come along with increased privacy, providing useful insights into customer behaviour, trends, and anomalies, useful for predicting potential ‘churn’ or optimal times for customer engagement.

“That change gives marketers and advertisers access to advanced AI, allowing them to spend less time trawling through data, and instead take action and develop changes that work for their business,” says Jade Arenstein, Global Service Lead for Data, BI & Analytics at Incubeta. “For example, the data can go further than just predicting churn, by spotlighting the potential lifetime value of a customer, the likelihood of conversion and changes to buying habits. Measurement teams will quickly be alerted to trends and changes, easily identify areas of weakness, and respond to results of marketing or ad campaigns.”

Working alongside Google Tag Manager’s consent mode, GA4 will allow us to access the directional data of a consumer, even after opting out of being tracked on a website. This will be done through machine learning and modelling data based on historic behaviour and trends. On top of this, with privacy at the forefront of GA4’s offerings, the manual processes such as hiding a user’s IP address is performed in advance.

Act now

The benefits of moving to GA4 are evident, providing numerous measurement options and adaptations for a cookieless world, allowing you to track the success of your marketing campaigns and consumer satisfaction in a whole new way.

Making an early start will give you the extra time to prepare for the switch and to extensively test this new platform. Test GA4 against your strategies across the business, from sales and marketing to data and technology. While July 2023, seems like it’s still some time away, it will come along sooner than you realise – so get in early and seize this new opportunity.