We have one rule when it comes to building websites and developing marketing plans for clients: follow your data. Having spent 10 years in the non-profit trenches, I know that what seems like a lot of charts is actually the strategic backbone of a solid sponsorship ask, targeted appeal or branded campaign. Regardless of the size of your organization, your data matters - and a lot of your data resides within your Google Analytics account.
Back in the Wild West of 2020, Google announced that it was transitioning its Universal Analytics (UA) framework to something called Google Analytics 4 (Or, just GA4 because it sounds cooler).
Inboxes everywhere were sent somewhat cryptic messages about upgrading, or risk losing your historical data by July 1, 2023. Since then, these emails have increased in frequency, meaning that the emails in OUR inboxes look something like:
“Uhhhhh guys, what the heck does this mean? Can we hop on a call ASAP?”
Then for funsies, Google recently sent out another email saying “We’ll soon configure Google Analytics 4 for you.”
**Cue forwarded emails flooding our inboxes.
Reading past the first few sentences of the Google email, the initial promise of “…we’ll configure this for you” is contradicted with “…we’ll set up certain things” but also, “…it’s different if you’re using Google Tag Manager.” This has caused most of our clients’ eyes to glaze over and ask, “Huh? I thought Google was going to do it?”
So, here we are. July 1 is looming. What do you need to know?
What’s the difference between Universal Google Analytics and GA4 and why should I care?
What kind of data are we talking about?
Your website analytics tell a story about the people that visit your website: the device they visit from, their age and gender, where they live, how long they stay on your website, which pages are most visited and more. Your data is a toolbox waiting to be utilized.
We have UA and want to tackle the migration - what’s next?
Follow Google’s step-by-step guide on how to export data, configure your new GA4 account and hopefully create seamless transitions for your tracking events and important data points. We recommend doing a full audit of your Google Analytics prior to starting to determine what is valuable data.
Get familiar with the new GA4 dashboard - it’s a doozy! We recommend the Google Analytics for Beginners course to learn the new framework.
I’m lost!
If, among your multiple hats, you’re not interested in wearing the “web support” hat, you can always call on the experts. Perhaps you have a web developer or SEO expert in your network that you can lean on? But, make sure you know what you’re asking for, and what KPIs matter to you before you reach out.
Follow your data and find the right people to help you track it strategically, so that you can leverage it in your sponsorship conversations, campaign targeting and more.
Melissa Bennett is the CEO and Director of Marketing for Ctrl + F, a digital studio based in Hamilton, ON. Melissa spent 10 years in an animal welfare nonprofit before shifting her career into digital marketing. Ctrl + F is ready to help if you have questions, need guidance or want an SEO partner to help you make the GA4 transition. Reach out to hello@ctrlf.ca to schedule a free discovery call.
