News Analysis
The Gist
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GA4 renames Conversions. Google changes the name of "Conversions" to "Key Events "in Google Analytics.
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Attribution evolution. The change reflects how attribution and measurement has changed to include more variety in marketing campaigns.
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Learning imperative. Marketers must learn the terms to keep their analysis clear for stakeholders.
It took marketing managers a long time to adopt the language of analytics — website visits, time on page and conversion rates. Every once in a while, vendors in a market make changes that upset everyone who had universally adopted the original name.
One of the most interesting instances involves the word "conversions." The change comes from a major digital marketing player — Google, no less! In this case, GA4 renames "Conversions" to “Key Events.”
The Impact as GA4 Renames 'Conversions'
Google has changed the name of conversions in its venerable measurement suite. Conversions in Google Analytics reporting will now be called Key Events in the Google Analytics reports.
The change will not significantly alter the workflow for marketers who review analytics, check digital ads and run attribution analysis — all of which rely on the terms "conversions" and "conversion rate." Yet, the change serves as a reminder that while terminology for any technical solution never really stagnates, the ability to communicate key information remains.
Related Article: New Google Analytics Reports Unveil Customer Retail Experience
Background on Defining ‘Conversions’
To understand why the name of “conversions” is important, you have to consider how conversions and events are defined. Conversions have long been the goal for marketers in enhancing an online customer experience. Initially, conversions were simple to define — measure the number or percentage of visits that resulted in a click on a button to download a white paper or play a video.
As more advertising media emerged to engage customers digitally, analytics became more elaborate in expressing sales and branding performance. Consequently, marketers had to be savvier about what they deemed a conversion.
Today, conversions are more closely defined through events. Events are app or website page activities such as a button click or landing on a specific page.
Conversions are a percentage of events deemed valuable, rather than a percentage of full-size page elements. With this alignment now in every analytics platform, Google deemed it more accurate to rename conversions by tracking specific valuable actions. Thus, Key Events were born.
What is important in distinguishing the difference between events and conversions is understanding what is being tracked on an app or website page. Conversions map to page elements that are deemed essential to a business or an organization's objectives. For example, a button click to download a white paper is a vital page element if the content represents a step toward an objective. The visitor's decision to click on that button indicates interest in the paper, so it is considered a conversion activity.
Related Article: How to Analyze Conversion Paths in Google Analytics GA4
Understanding the Change to 'Key Events' and Its Impact on Analytics
Google made the name change to maintain consistency in analytics reporting. Google has been updating many of its report suites with an emphasis on the word "events." For example, the Attribution Paths report was originally called the Conversion Paths report. Despite the name change, the purpose remains the same — to highlight customer interaction steps that lead to triggering events marketers consider significant.
Related Article: Event Analytics: Forecasting Big Tent Conversion Lift Events
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No Stranger to Feature Updates
Google is no stranger to feature updates that aid users in managing the administration of Google Analytics reports. It issues updates periodically, such as the administration page and an email scheduler redesign, which I covered here.
It’s noteworthy that Google is not alone in this type of change. Adobe Analytics also uses slightly different terminology, employing the term "success events" in its explanations and reporting.
Related Article: AI in Analytics: 3 Key Tips to Keep Your Workflow up to Date
The Significance of the Change
What makes the conversion change significant is its impact on data storytelling. Maintaining consistent terms affects how analysts communicate their work to stakeholders. A good team reliant on data and metrics will show stakeholders and associated team members issues and insights using the terms that appear in visualizations.
Related Article: New Google Analytics Reports Unveil Customer Retail Experience
The Impact on Data Storytelling
The change also alters data storytelling about the significance of a conversion. Conversions were traditionally expressed as a ratio or percentage of website traffic — a conversion rate. Since most traffic visitors come to a webpage for various reasons, rates have usually been low percentages. Gaining management interest in a low percentage metric has always been challenging in generating excitement and support.
Presenting it was not always “sexy” for a data story — yet increased conversions are linked to increased revenue generation. Indicating actions with Key Events can better relay trends and insights in data stories with KPIs in mind — a metric to which good management consistently pays attention.
How Digital Ads and Attribution Reports Are Impacted
Despite its "new" name, Key Events serve the same function in Google Analytics as conversions have always had in digital analytics — to measure the interactions most important to your business. For example, you could mark an important on-page action, such as a product purchase or newsletter subscription, as a Key Event, just as you would for a conversion.
The Trickle Down Effect
Like conversions, Key Events will trickle down into other analytic reporting. Google Ads reporting will continue to use the conversions terminology. Conversion metrics in Google Ads will be based on a Google Analytics Key Event, ensuring consistent measurement of important actions across both platforms. Daily spend has always been compared through conversions, and most practitioners are accustomed to examining the conversion rate — the percentage of conversions — when determining campaign ROI.
Marketers will be able to manage terms so that the measurement context in digital ad campaigns aligns with the desired context for describing ad spend and campaign success against KPIs.
Understanding the Labeling
Understanding Key Events labeling will be crucial for appreciating advanced reports such as the Attribution Paths report. This report is designed to map your customers' paths on a GA4-supported website or app where Key Events are triggered. Such understanding yields insights into customer behavior online. Marketers will be able to analyze Pathing and Attribution reports to understand how attribution credit is assigned to different touchpoints along a user's path that lead to triggering Key Events.
Historically, conversions have been used to compare the value of one campaign versus another; Key Events will now enable a comparison of attribution models designed to identify which touchpoints along a path most influence conversion activity.
Investigate Your Settings
The timing of this GA4 name change aligns with best practices for investigating the settings in your Google Analytics account, especially as the transition from cookies-based measurement is being implemented. Marketers should conduct a thorough review of settings. Inspecting which events are considered Key Events is a natural part of that review.
GA4 Renames Conversions: Final Thoughts
Shakespeare once penned "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet" in “Romeo and Juliet.” As long as marketers can discern the means to measure improved sales, leads, or KPIs, the name Key Events will be Shakespeare’s fictional rose...and likely smell sweeter.
