Have you ever wished there was an easy way to measure your Marketing Cloud campaign performance in Google Analytics or in Marketing Cloud with built-in dashboards? If the answer is ‘yes’, then you’re in luck.
In this post, we will cover how to connect to Google Analytics with Salesforce Marketing Cloud and enable data flow between two platforms.
Before we start, note that the Google Analytics Integration for Marketing Cloud is a free application and is available to all Marketing Cloud instances. This feature should not be confused with Google Analytics 360 (GA360) integration. Marketing Cloud to GA360 integration is a paid add-on and needs to be provisioned separately by your account manager. If you have already enabled the GA360 integration, it includes both the benefits listed below plus all the added functionality available for GA360 data in Marketing Cloud journeys.
How Salesforce Marketing Cloud Integrates with Google Analytics
The Google Analytics for Marketing Cloud integration allows you to track and measure your email performance by accessing data both in Google Analytics and Marketing Cloud. It surfaces email engagement and conversion data from Google Analytics directly within Marketing Cloud to help marketers quickly identify top-performing content. Marketers can also leverage Marketing Cloud data to create new custom audiences in Google Analytics and serve more customized ads and content.
The setup is straightforward and doesn’t require the creation of any new fields or flows. The user-friendly admin UI in Marketing Cloud helps marketers quickly update tracking parameters for links in emails, update Google Analytics view and properties, and configure the integration.
Pre-enablement: Talk to your project team
As with any other implementation project, make sure you have met and discussed the importance of the integration with other stakeholders in your organization. Organizational buy-in is essential to start a successful integration project. Some of the key stakeholders that you may need to involve to kick off the project include a Project Sponsor, Email Marketing Manager, Analytics Specialist and Marketing Cloud Admin.
Once you have met with the project team, it is important to establish a project plan and a short checklist to review deliverables.
Enable the Google Analytics to Marketing Cloud Integration
Follow these steps to set up the Google Analytics for Marketing Cloud.
- Set up a Google Analytics Integration User
- Link Google Analytics to Marketing Cloud
- Configure access to Google Analytics Views
- Set up Web URL Tracking Parameters
- Test the Integration
Step 1: Set up a Google Analytics Integration User
We recommend creating a dedicated Google Analytics account that has access to all organization properties and views in Google Analytics. This Google Analytics account will be used to authorize Marketing Cloud to access Google Analytics data. Your Analytics specialist may help you to set up a new account.
Step 2: Link Google Analytics to Marketing Cloud
Click your name on the top right into the Setup settings, select Apps and click Google Analytics Integration from the left menu.
Click the Link Account button
Step 3: Configure access to Google Analytics Views
Choose the dedicated Integration user that you have created above and click Allow.
The page will redirect you back to the Google Analytics Integrations Setup page. If the integration is successful, you will see a green checkmark (✅) in front of your username.
Click the Manage button under the Setup Access to Google Analytics Views section and select a property and a view. All Google Analytics Goals set in the selected view will be visible on the Journey builder dashboard.
Step 4: Set up Web URL Tracking Parameters
The last step is to configure the URL link parameters that will be appended to all messaging links. Click the Manage button under the Manager Tracking Parameters section and the page will redirect you to the Parameter Management Setup page.
⚠️ If you are already using the Web Analytics Connector to append UTMs, please make sure to update or deactivate it first. It is also recommended that you consult other Marketing Cloud stakeholders to ensure Web Analytics Connector is not being used with any emails in Marketing Cloud.
Update utm_source and utm_medium parameters, and also decide if utm_campaign should represent Message Name or be set manually for each communication. Then click Save.
You can additionally set GA4 property tracking for Web and App links if your organization is using GA4.
Step 5: Test the Integration
To test the integration we recommend sending a sample via Journey Builder and complete a goal on the website that aligns with one of the Google Analytics goals that are created in your Google Analytics account. Wait for 10-15 minutes after you send the email, and navigate to the Journey Analytics dashboard. If the integration is successful, you will see Goal Completion and Site Usage data populated.
By integrating GA and Marketing Cloud, you will get a more complete picture of your campaign performance across the two platforms.
If you have any questions about the integration, add a comment below and we would be happy to follow up with our thoughts and insights!
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