Since the introduction of Google Analytics 4 (GA4), marketers have been experiencing increasing challenges with the reliability of their data. Missing or deviating data, such as traffic being incorrectly attributed, leads to confusion and doubt about the figures. This makes it difficult to accurately assign actual results, such as revenue and customer value, to your marketing efforts, directly impacting the efficiency of your campaigns. In this blog, we explore why these issues arise, the negative impact they can have on your results, and provide tips on how to improve the accuracy of your data.
Why Do You See Deviating and Missing Data in GA4?
The missing or deviating data in GA4 can have various causes:
- Cookie banners and legislation: Due to stricter legislation, such as the GDPR, visitors must explicitly consent to the placement of cookies. If they do not, their behavior is not recorded in GA4.
- Ad blockers: Visitors using ad blockers block tracking requests, leading to incomplete data.
- Third-party cookies: Browsers like Safari and Firefox block third-party cookies by default, causing a large portion of traffic to be incorrectly measured.
These factors ensure that the data you see in GA4 is often incomplete or inaccurate, making it difficult to make reliable decisions about your marketing budget.
Impact of Missing and Deviating Data on Your Results
When data is missing or not correctly recorded in GA4, it directly affects how your marketing performance is assessed. The main negative consequences of this are:
- Incorrect Attribution of Results: If channels are incorrectly recorded, it appears as if certain marketing efforts are less effective, leading to wrong decisions about budgets. This can, for example, lead to investing more money in less successful campaigns, while the more profitable campaigns are undervalued.
- Loss of Insight into Customer Behavior: By analyzing incomplete customer behavior, you miss valuable insights into how customers actually interact with your brand. This can lead to missed opportunities in optimizing the customer journey or creating targeted campaigns.
- Inefficient Campaign Optimization: Without the right data, it is difficult to optimize campaigns. This not only leads to lower returns but also to suboptimal marketing strategies that do not fully benefit from available budgets.
How Do Different Marketing Channels Affect Your Data in GA4?
Different marketing channels use different methods for assigning conversions, which can lead to differences between the data you see in GA4 and the reports from the channels themselves. Below, we discuss some important channels and how they affect your data in GA4.
- Social Media Channels
Meta (Facebook and Instagram) uses a combination of click-through and view-through conversions. However, GA4 only records direct clicks from these channels, which can lead to underreporting of the number of conversions.
Tip: Compare Meta reports with your GA4 data to get a more realistic picture of your conversions. - Search Engine Advertising
Google Ads uses a data-driven attribution model, while GA4 may apply last-click attribution. This can cause differences in how results are attributed. To check which model GA4 uses, go to the attribution model settings in your GA4 property and adjust if necessary to a data-driven model.
Tip: Go to your GA4 admin settings > Property settings > Attribution model to see which model is set and choose a model that better aligns with your Google Ads strategy if needed. - Email Marketing
Email tools like Deployteq often attribute conversions over a longer period, while GA4 usually only records direct clicks from emails. This can lead to underreporting in GA4. It is important to consider these differences in the analysis of your email campaigns to get a more complete picture of the performance. - Affiliate Marketing and Display Advertising
Affiliates often work with a last-click model, while display advertising usually attributes value to impressions. GA4, on the other hand, mainly looks at clicks, which again can cause a difference in how conversions are attributed.
The Importance of Accurate Result Attribution
One of the biggest consequences of missing or deviating data in GA4 is the incorrect attribution of results to marketing channels. When this happens, it may seem as if some campaigns have much less impact than they actually do, leading to inefficient use of your marketing budgets. This results in a distorted view of which channels generate the most revenue, directly affecting the profitability of your campaigns. It is therefore essential to measure your data accurately and correct it where necessary, so you can see exactly which channels generate the most revenue and customer value.
How to Deal with Missing Data and Incorrect Result Attribution
Although GA4 has limitations, there are ways to minimize the impact of missing and deviating data and accurately attribute your results:
- Server-side Tracking: With server-side tracking, you can bypass tracking losses due to, for example, ad blockers, ensuring a more reliable data stream. This is an essential step to make your data more complete and accurate.
- Compare Data Between Channels: By comparing your GA4 data with reports from other platforms, such as Google Ads and Facebook Ads Manager, you can get a more complete picture of your marketing performance. This helps you identify and correct discrepancies.
- Optimize Attribution Models: Ensure that the attribution model in GA4 matches the models of your main marketing channels to minimize discrepancies. This can help you gain a more accurate insight into the actual performance of your campaigns.
Conclusion: How to Improve the Reliability of Your Data and Result Attribution?
Missing and deviating data in GA4 can have significant consequences for the reliability of your insights and the efficiency of your marketing campaigns. By making GA4 data as reliable as possible and comparing it with the data from your other marketing channels, you can improve the accuracy of your data and ensure better attribution of results to the right channels. This enables you to make better decisions, allocate your budget more effectively, and elevate your marketing strategy to a higher level.
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