Key Differences, Concepts & Reporting Strategies

A Marketer's Guide to Mastering GA4

What's included:

How AdOps became the foundation of modern marketing teams
Powerful AdOps tools and their use cases
Striking the right balance between agency and in-house services
How to tackle day-to-day AdOps challenges

Struggling with GA4? You're not alone.

Ever since the sunset of Universal Analytics, marketers have been struggling to fully adopt and set up Google Analytics 4.

GA4 is notorious for its high learning curve and underwhelming user interface that requires a ton of configuration. Reporting metrics that we are all too familiar with have vanished, and companies are having to hire external consultants to get their reporting up to standard as before.

If you have yet to set up GA4, or are struggling to get the most out of the platform, we’re here to help.

In this playbook, we give you a complete roadmap to master GA4 – from understanding the basic concepts to creating reports.

Comparing UA and GA4:What's Changed and Why It Matters

GA4 brings significant changes to Google's analytics suite compared to its predecessor, UA, primarily through its shift from a session-based to an event-based model. Now, every user interaction, not just clicks or form submissions, are treated as events, offering a more holistic view of user behavior.

The chapter book lays out what has changed in three main categories:

Key Concepts to Understand
When Switching to GA4

Although Google is making it easy for marketers to switch over to GA4, it's helpful to understand the basics so you can successfully transition without any roadblocks. The chapter book includes detailed guides to 4 main parts:

Part 1

Setting up Tracking in GA4

To collect data, a GA4 tag needs to be implemented on your website. Find out:

how to implement tags for website and app tracking
specific tag examples
tracking setup
how to create custom dimensions and metrics

Part 2

Setting up the GA4 platform

Get everything you need to know about how to set up GA4 the right way. Includes:

Understanding the structure of GA4 accounts
Setting up roll-up properties
Reporting features
Reporting identity

Part 3

Connecting GA4 with other platforms

Link GA4 to other Google platforms like Google Ads andBigQuery to enhance campaign targeting and perform deeper data analysis.Also, find out how to manage your connections.

Part 4

Advanced Features

Uncover powerful advanced features that allow you to tie offline behaviorto online and import external data, such as:

Measurement protocols
Data import

How to Create GA4 Reports like a Pro

Learn how to access GA4 reports through 4 main sections:

1. Home

The Home section is mainly composed of cards and is further divided into 4 parts.

2. Reports

The Reports section contains all the main predefined reports about various subjects, such as acquisition, engagement, and more.

3. Explore

Here, you can freely create customized reports by selecting custom dimensions and metrics in the same way as a pivot table.

4. Advertising

The Advertising section is made up of 4 parts and shows reports about acquisition, including cost or attribution data.