4 Considerations why reporting the results of digital campaigns only with Google Analytics is no longer enough.
Google Analytics is the analytical tool recommended by all marketers to report the results of digital campaigns, mainly because it is free and because the historical information it provides allows making decisions, but it is important to understand that it is no longer enough.
First consideration: update frequency and data volume
The first consideration is that Google Analytics is updated between every 24 and every 48 hours, the frequency depends on the site traffic. For sites with high traffic where Google must process a lot of data, the update is only every 24 hours, so any important data used to make decisions must be analyzed for two or three days to be certain that it is reflected in the data. On sites with many visitors, it may be insufficient to report the results of digital campaigns only with Google Analytics as the volume of data may require a paid tool. If your site generated more than 10 million hits per month, the excess hits will likely not be processed. Consider that a hit is an interaction that can be (without being limited to) pageview, screenview, event, click,
Second consideration: correct configuration
The second consideration is Google Analytics works very well, but it must be super well configured and even so, there could be channels that it cannot report making comparative data from various sources not achievable. It seems obvious, but unless you are certified inGoogle Analyticsor work intensively with the tool, it is not very likely that you will know how to configure everything you need to get the most out of it.
Third consideration: without attributions, the customer journey is not understood
The third consideration is that conversions on a website are no longer so immediate and the “attribution” settings are very important. It is no longer the case that someone simply comes to the site, buys and leaves, or that they arrive, convert and leave; many visitors go to make several stops at other sites and search engines before converting or buying and all that route that the prospect follows, which we have also called ”customer journey” In other blog posts, it should be mapped and understood. Reporting the results of digital campaigns requires a good configuration of “attributions” and Google Analytics has an engine to track the customer journey and correctly “attribute” the conversion to all the sites that the prospect visited before deciding to leave their data. But again, setting attributions is a topic to ask a Google Analytics expert.
There are manyGoogle Analytics alternativesto report the results of digital campaigns, some of the metric platforms are comparatively ranked by users, but with a huge disadvantage, almost none are free.
If you hire an agency that uses Google Analytics and you would like it to use an alternative Analytics software, take into consideration that the price of its services may go up, not only because the user license must be paid, but because the talent known to those others tools may be more scarce and therefore expensive.
Fourth consideration: multichannel
Fourth consideration, the multichannel. One of the challenges when it comes to analytical platforms is their variety, and putting data from all of them in one place is not so easy. Reporting the results of digital campaigns now means reading data from many different places and putting it together in one place.
Fortunately, there is a free tool that allows you to collect data from various sources for free, and it also comes from Google. It’s calledGoogle Data Studio.
If you do not know Google Data Studio, it is time to do it, it is the best tool to report the results of digital campaigns in a single dashboard. If you hire an agency that does not use it, it is time to demand it because it is one of the most elegant solutions to multi-channel reporting and, in addition, it is free. But not only that, it allows you to consult your reports online at any time which helps to make better decisions.
Google Data Studio allows you to have all your data in one place and consult them online, the tool allows you to configure a “dashboard” where all the data from your digital campaigns is emptied and you can make several versions for the different groups interested in consuming data on these results as well as an executive dashboard for managers with the most important parameters.And everyone can check it online.Do not use reports that you have to be distilling from different sources, Google Data Studio does it for you.
It is better with professionals
Well configured, it can show you the data of your search campaigns and your social media campaigns in a single URL and a single glance. Facebook campaigns can be reported in Google Data Studio, it is required to buy a component to achieve the connection but it is low cost.
In summary, if you want to report the results of digital campaigns including more data, from more sources, in an access that allows you to have structured information online, it is time for you to complement what you have been doing with Google Analytics and start using at least Google Data Studio.
