What is changing in GA4?

Google Analytics 4(GA4) is Google's next-generation analytics solution, and it's replacing the much adored Universal Analytics.

On July 1, 2023, standard Universal Analytics properties will stop processing new hits. If you still rely on Universal Analytics, we recommend that you migrate to another solution. Website analytics are the linchpin to any growing web based business.

Understanding how potential customers interact with your website, consume your content and ultimately convert is a hugely important growth factor. Marketing and sales rely on analytics to optimise content, optimise customer engagements and build paths to conversion.

Without a solid analytics tool, your team is flying blind, burning resources and ultimately not understanding your customer.

Is Google Analytics 4 the for the right fit for me?

‍Granted GA4 seems like a very powerful analytics tool but only in the right hands and with the right resources.

It takes the same data from GA but forces the consumer to build their own dashboards, reports and engagement funnels.

It’s a bit like asking an F1 fan to understand the mechanics of a car before they can watch the sport. Some people are fanatical enough about motor racing  to get there but the majority of people don’t have the available time or energy to dive in

It sounds a bit over the top but let’s take a look at the kind of teams(or even lack of teams) who consider the current GA a great analytics tool and why GA4 is considered too much effort to implement.

Who is Google Analytics 4 suited to?

Let’s keep it simple. GA was a great tool to implement. Easy installation, simple enough to understand straight out of the box and not obnoxiously complicated to build a custom experience around.

Events, conversions, custom segments are all glorious features we will all miss when it’s gone. GA4 offers these features but the barrier to entry is a lot higher. It’s in GA’s simplicity which saw it shine so brightly. The de-facto analytics tool for websites. Why would anyone consider anything else?

If you're a one person pony show or a giant of industry, google analytics delivers in its ability to welcome everyone into the analytics circle. It wasn’t a tool for the great initiated, certified or industry leaders. GA4 however assumes you are coming from the depths of GA knowledge and wish to dive into a more customised experience, tailored to your use case, product or projects.

It’s a fantastic idea. Data platforms are the new thing, why not leverage your own data to present it as you see fit. The barrier to entry, however, is not for every situation. Not for most situations. Simplicity remains key to a lot of organisations.

Why simplicity matters

Flamingo Analytics started many years ago as an idea based around an analytics product which included every stakeholder within an organisation.

So, if you were that one person show, it’s an essential cog for your growth engine - maybe you want to demonstrate to family, investors, bank managers on how well your business is doing.

Maybe you need to reaffirm and understand it yourself. Simplicity works. We want marketing and sales to be able to share Flamingo reports which are simple to understand for the least technical person in your organisation.

Flamingo is a Google Analytics 4 alternative

How incredible would it be to share a one click live link with your CEO and all their questions answered without needing a thesis to underwrite the entire thing. Simple set up, no coding skills required. No customisation needed. Straight out of the box analytics that present your data in the most uncomplicated way possible.

All that simplicity and ethos of the OG Google Analytics plus a ton more features to completely reimagine the greatest GA features.

Flamingo is for teams of any size, it’s built around this notion that even the smallest of websites deserve quality analytics.

It’s built for simple websites like personal portfolios, it’s for agencies with multiples of clients and properties within those clients, it’s tech companies with hundreds of pages. It was built for everyone to consume their data in an easy to understand way, to take actions from events, make changes, optimise and improve, share with others and ultimately understand their customer's journey with simplicity.
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