Google Analytics should sound familiar to most affiliate marketers who own blogs or ecommerce websites. GA4 is Google’s latest attribution model with more intelligent tracking capabilities. Unlike Google Analytics, GA4 uses event-based data instead of session-based, collecting event-based data from both websites and apps.
In this blog post, we will discuss the changes that come with GA4, and how they may impact your ways of measuring affiliate activity.
A new way to validate your sales using GA4
Traditionally, businesses and marketers would use data from Google Analytics to validate their internal sales data. This should no longer be the case anymore.
With the new attribution model, the data you collect from GA4 should be used as insights to inform your overall business advertising strategy and assess the effectiveness of all of your marketing channels.
It’s important to monitor duplicate conversions and validate at the point of conversion. We do not recommend using GA4 data to validate sales or approve payments. If you’re also leveraging channels that get paid based on clicks and not actual conversions, GA4 will not give you accurate results since its tracking is not last-click based.
Benefits of GA4 for affiliate marketing
With Google Analytics 4, you can pinpoint and define your audience using standard segmentation categories like gender, demographics, geolocation, or behavior. This allows you to create more captivating content tailored to your target audience.
GA4 also empowers you to stay abreast of the latest trends in your niche by identifying and analyzing changes within your core user group, and providing valuable insights into the optimal timing and audience for your campaigns.
GA4’s enhanced ecommerce tracking is a game-changer for affiliate marketers. By enabling this feature, you gain access to a wealth of data, including product impressions, clicks, and conversions.
Machine learning and predictive metrics
GA4 incorporates machine learning and predictive metrics to offer insights into future user behavior. This can help affiliate marketers make data-driven decisions and optimize their strategies proactively.
Getting started with GA4, what you need to know
Like any analytics platform, there is a learning curve with GA4, especially for those accustomed to the traditional Google Analytics interface. Familiarizing yourself with the new features and functionalities may take some time, but it’s worth getting used to.
Transitioning from Universal Analytics to GA4 can present challenges, and it’s essential to plan the migration carefully. While GA4 offers several advantages, not all features available in Universal Analytics are fully replicated in GA4. Affiliate marketers may need to assess whether GA4 meets all their specific requirements.