Fill in the Gaps with First-Party Data
On July 1st, 2023, Universal Analytics will stop tracking data. All of Google’s analytics services will switch over to the latest version, Google Analytics 4 (GA4).
Google Analytics has been regarded as the gold standard for tracking data for over a decade, and that’s expected to continue with GA4. While Google Analytics is a great tool for measuring marketing data, it doesn’t tell the full story.
To really see what’s going on in the buyer’s journey, it’s best to move beyond Google Analytics with technology from fullthrottle.aiTM.
What Google Analytics Can’t Do: Why You Need to Move Beyond GA and GA4
From advertising agencies to in-house marketing departments, Google Analytics is often considered the default data tracking software, but it isn’t enough for modern advertising strategies. Between data privacy and the depreciation of third-party cookies, it’s becoming more challenging to see the steps users are taking.
To be clear, Google Analytics is not useless. Far from it, but it isn’t the end-all be-all either. It just has its limitations. For example, Google Analytics can’t:
Get an Accurate Number of Users
What’s made Google Analytics great is its ability to track how many users are visiting a site, filling out a form, redeeming an offer, etc. Despite how valuable that data is, it’s often inaccurate. That’s because when Google tracks users, what it’s really tracking is browsers.
Things like visiting the same site on a different device, switching to a different browser, or even refreshing the page you were looking at earlier all result in Google Analytics counting you as another user.
Show You Exactly Who’s Searching for Your Product
Between smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktops, and smart TVs, the average home has a lot of devices in it. Every one of these could be counted multiple times by Google Analytics, even though the result may be just one sale. This can lead to a lot of inaccurate data.
Provide a Clear Understanding of How People Shop
The buyer’s journey is no longer linear, and our data needs to account for that. Let’s say you’re texting with a friend or scrolling social media when you see the notification for a marketing email. Most people aren’t going to stop what they’re doing to read an email right away. The majority of consumers will open the email or research your company later.
Whether shopping for a car, clothes, or cat food, most consumers just go straight to the website or mobile app to make their purchases, which makes the visit look organic, as opposed to marketing driven. Due to this, Google is unable to see all the steps that go into that final sale, which is pretty important information that’s slipping through the cracks.
Give You Ownership Over Your Data
Once upon a time, advertisers and marketers could keep track of the keywords and search queries that were bringing consumers to their sites. However, thanks to privacy policies, cookie deprecation, and GA4, that information is all owned by Google now.
That leaves businesses missing the key information that can help improve strategies and campaigns.
fullthrottle.aiTM Fills in the Gaps
fullthrottle.aiTM is the expert in generating and transforming first-party household data. We can help you identify who is buying your products and how they’re shopping for them—without reliance on cookies or mobile ad IDs, by incorporating our patented technology. That means we track full analytics at the household level with full transparency.
To put it another way, our technology transforms your cookie and programmatic audiences into first-party households. Once a user opts-in, our technology collects and shows the true buyer’s journey for a single household. This can tell us:
- How many different devices they use
- What web pages or products they view on your site
- Where they first encounter your advertisement(s)
- How much time passes between seeing the advertisement and making a purchase
- What they purchase
Marketers can then use this data to improve a brand’s marketing tactics and, in-conjunction, their ROI.
You Own Your Data With fullthrottle.aiTM
As a business, agency, or individual, you own the data you gather using fullthrottle.aiTM. You can bring that data onto your own platform, so that you can be more data-independent, or utilize the tools we provide. The data doesn’t even need to live in Google Analytics, providing even more flexibility in how it’s used and when.
Move Beyond Google Analytics with fullthrottle.aiTM
The experts at fullthrottle.aiTM are ready to strategize how you can future-proof your business. To learn more about fullthrottle.ai’s cookieless technology, schedule your demo today!
