{"id":114753,"date":"2017-10-30T18:58:00","date_gmt":"2017-10-30T23:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dacgroup.com\/data-connection-google-analytics\/"},"modified":"2024-12-23T00:37:00","modified_gmt":"2024-12-23T05:37:00","slug":"data-connection-google-analytics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dacgroup.com\/en-gb\/insights\/blog\/analytics\/data-connection-google-analytics\/","title":{"rendered":"Data connection in Google Analytics: Solving the mystery"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the second blog post in the “Talk data to me” series presented by the Analytics and Research<\/a> team at DAC. Last week’s post was about the use of Enhanced Ecommerce in Google Tag Manager<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Scenario 1: Marco owns a travel agency that has both physical agencies and an online platform to sell holiday packages. He wonders how he can see all the transactions in one place to be able to assess how each channel performs.<\/em><\/p>\n

Scenario 2: Julie is the manager at an education business that operates across different regions in the world. She is interested in evaluating how the investment in different regions translates into actual enrolment in different colleges. All of this could help her see which campaigns are more successful or which students are more likely to convert depending on the enquiries on the website.<\/em><\/p>\n

These two scenarios are just a sample of a larger range of lead generation businesses that face these same challenges. This is especially relevant in the age we live in, where companies must respond to changes in customer behaviour not only offline but also online .<\/p>\n

Thus, the possibility of connecting offline information on transactions to online campaigns and behaviour can represent a true gold mine. It will mean having all the relevant data for your business in one place. And \u00a0will enable you to extract insights from this using visualisations and dashboards.<\/p>\n

This blog post aims at covering a part of this data connection scheme. Specifically, we will talk about the 2 features offered by Google Analytics (GA) for transferring offline data from internal databases (e.g. CRM). These are da<\/strong>ta import<\/strong> and measurement protocol<\/strong>. Then, I will provide you with 4 tips when deploying these tools. Finally, I’ll state some recommended next steps in the data connection journey.<\/p>\n

\"analytics<\/p>\n

1. Data Import<\/h2>\n

GA allows users to import files (.csv or other file formats) to expand the details of the information tracked using different sources (CRM, internal database, etc) (see google support for more information<\/a>). This could prove to be useful for specific information like further detail on product description (e.g. product weight, cost, etc.) or user description (e.g. first purchase, preferred products, etc.). All of this would be tracked using custom\/built-in dimensions in GA (see an example from google support<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Data import, although it can be automated, is seen as a more rigid tool. It requires creating a .csv file and make sure the right headings are applied so that GA can read it properly.<\/p>\n

2. Measurement protocol<\/h2>\n

Measurement Protocol<\/a>,\u00a0like data import, helps transfer data from very diverse sources into GA. This feature is only available for the latest version of Google Analytics \u2013 Universal Analytics \u2013 which was launched in 2013 by Google and introduced a new tracking code system.<\/p>\n

It works is by sending all the data through an HTTPS request, which is basically URL that is read by GA. This HTTPS request is made up by all the data parameters (which can be related to transactions, users or products) that are relevant for your business (separated by the ampersand sign) (See parameter reference guide<\/a>). All the data parameters should be collected in GA using custom\/built-in dimensions\/metrics. An essential part for the Measurement Protocol to make sense is to have a unique key that matches all the records from the sources transferring the data and the GA account records.<\/p>\n

Both features have different benefits and drawbacks. For instance, data import may be used for a more one-kind of upload, due to the need for file creation. However, the decision to choose one or the other is entirely dependent on the needs of the business.<\/p>\n

\"data\"<\/p>\n

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