Week 4: User Properties & Audiences (7-Week Google Analytics Tutorial)

Objective: Understand how to define user properties and build audiences for advanced reporting, personalized marketing, and targeting.

1. What Are User Properties?

User properties in Google Analytics 4 (GA4) are attributes or characteristics that you can assign to users who interact with your website or app. These properties help you segment your audience and gain insights into how different types of users behave. GA4 tracks default user properties, like language and device, but you can also set up custom user properties based on your specific needs.

Default User Properties:

Some of the default user properties GA4 collects automatically include:

• Device category: Desktop, mobile, tablet, etc.
• Browser: Chrome, Safari, Firefox, etc.
• Operating system: iOS, Android, Windows, etc.
• Geolocation: User’s country, region, and city.
• Language: The language setting of the user’s device or browser.

These default properties help you understand your users’ basic attributes without additional setup.

2. Setting Up Custom User Properties

In addition to the default properties, GA4 allows you to create custom user properties to track attributes that are specific to your business. For example, you might want to track a user’s subscription level (free or premium) or their preferred product category.

Steps to Set Up Custom User Properties:

Navigate to the Configure Section:

• In the GA4 interface, go to the Configure menu on the left-hand side.
• Click on Custom Definitions and select User Properties.

Create a New User Property:

• Click Create User Property and give your custom property a name (e.g., subscription_level, preferred_category).
• Provide a description for the user property so that you and your team know what it tracks.

Assign Values to the User Property:

• You’ll need to send this user property data to GA4 via your tracking code. For example, if you want to track a user’s subscription level, you would modify your website’s code to send this data whenever a user logs in or subscribes.
• Use the gtag.js code or Google Tag Manager to send the user property to GA4:

gtag('set', 'user_properties', { 'subscription_level': 'premium' });

Analyze User Property Data:

• Once the data is sent to GA4, you’ll start seeing it in your reports. You can use user properties to segment your audience in reports or create audiences for remarketing.

Example:

Let’s say you run a news website with different subscription levels: free and premium. You can create a user property called subscription_level and assign values based on whether the user is free or premium. You can then analyze how premium users behave differently from free users, such as which articles they engage with or how long they stay on the site.

3. What Are Audiences?

Audiences in GA4 allow you to group users based on specific conditions and behaviors. Once an audience is created, you can use it for analysis, remarketing, and targeting within Google Ads. Audiences help you segment users who share common traits or who have taken similar actions, which allows for more personalized marketing and reporting.

GA4 provides pre-built audience templates, but you can also create custom audiences that align with your business goals.

4. How to Build Custom Audiences in GA4

Custom audiences allow you to group users based on conditions like their user properties, events, or session data. This enables more tailored reporting and marketing efforts.

Steps to Build Custom Audiences:

Navigate to the Audiences Section:

• Go to the Audiences tab under the Configure menu.

Create a New Audience:

• Click the New Audience button.
• You can start with a Template or build a custom audience from scratch.

Define Audience Conditions:

• Step 1: Choose the Include Users When option and select the conditions for including users in this audience. For example, you could include users who visited your website's pricing page but didn’t convert.
• Step 2: You can further refine the audience by adding conditions like specific user properties or events. For instance, you can segment users who are located in a specific country and who completed a purchase.
• Step 3: Add as many conditions as necessary to build a detailed audience. You can use AND/OR logic to combine multiple criteria.

Set Audience Duration:

• Define how long users should remain in the audience. For example, if you want to create a remarketing audience for users who viewed a product but didn’t purchase, you might set the audience duration to 30 days.

Save and Analyze the Audience:

• Once you’ve set the conditions and duration, save your audience. GA4 will start populating it with users who meet the defined criteria. You can view and analyze the audience within the Audiences report.

Example:

Let’s say you want to build an audience of users who added items to their cart but didn’t complete a purchase. You would create an audience that includes users who triggered the add_to_cart event but did not trigger the purchase event within the last 30 days. You can then use this audience for a remarketing campaign in Google Ads to target users with personalized offers or discounts.

5. Use Cases for Audiences

Audiences are a powerful tool in GA4 and can be used for a variety of purposes. Here are some common use cases:

• Remarketing: Create audiences of users who visited your site but didn’t convert, then retarget them with personalized ads.
• Behavior Analysis: Group users who engaged with specific content or features and analyze how their behavior differs from other users.
• User Segmentation: Segment users based on demographics, interests, or purchase history to provide more personalized experiences.
• Retention Marketing: Target users who haven’t returned to your site in a while with win-back campaigns.

6. Building Predictive Audiences with GA4’s AI-Powered Insights

One of the standout features of GA4 is the ability to build predictive audiences using Google’s machine learning models. These predictive audiences are based on user behaviors and patterns that suggest future actions, such as the likelihood of a user making a purchase or churning.

Steps to Build Predictive Audiences:

Enable Predictive Metrics:

• GA4 uses machine learning to calculate predictive metrics like Purchase Probability and Churn Probability. These predictions are based on user behaviors, such as recent interactions, frequency of visits, and engagement with your site or app.
• To access predictive metrics, you need a sufficient amount of historical data. GA4 typically requires a minimum of 1,000 returning users who have completed a relevant event (e.g., purchase) in the last 28 days.

Create a Predictive Audience:

• In the Audiences section, click New Audience and choose a Predictive Audience Template.
• For example, you could create an audience of users with a high probability of making a purchase in the next 7 days.
• Set conditions based on predictive metrics like purchase_probability > 0.7.

Use Predictive Audiences in Marketing:

• Once your predictive audience is created, use it for remarketing or personalized campaigns. For example, you can target users who are likely to make a purchase soon with a promotional offer or discount to encourage them to convert.

Example:

If you run an e-commerce store, GA4’s predictive audience feature could help you identify users who have a high probability of purchasing within the next 7 days. You could create a marketing campaign targeting these users with personalized discounts, increasing the chances of conversion.

Action Steps for Week 4

Set Up Custom User Properties:

• Create at least one custom user property based on an important user attribute for your business (e.g., subscription level, preferred category). Set it up and start sending data to GA4.

Build a Custom Audience:

• Create a custom audience in GA4 based on user behaviors or conditions that are relevant to your business. For example, build an audience of users who visited your product pages but did not complete a purchase.

Analyze Audience Data:

• Once your audience is set up, explore the Audiences report to analyze the behavior of users in that audience. See how they compare to your broader user base.

Experiment with Predictive Audiences:

• If you have enough historical data, set up a predictive audience using Google’s machine learning models. Target users with a high probability of converting or users at risk of churning with specific marketing campaigns.

Conclusion for Week 4

By the end of Week 4, you will be able to create custom user properties and build targeted audiences in GA4. These tools will allow you to segment your users effectively, personalize marketing efforts, and gain deeper insights into user behavior. You’ll also have the foundation to leverage GA4’s predictive audience features for advanced targeting. Next week, we’ll dive into user engagement and retention reports to understand how engaged and loyal your users are.