A big change in online marketing land: the forced switch from Google Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4. How many hospitality companies have already switched? What are the benefits? We conducted research and share the answers to these questions in this blog.
On 1 July 2023, Google Universal Analytics officially ceased support. This means that website owners and marketers in all industries, including the hospitality industry, will have to change their analytics tools should update to the newer version: Google Analytics 4. This new version offers more advanced data collection and analysis capabilities, enabling valuable insights about users' online behaviour. And that is indispensable information for hospitality entrepreneurs!
We wanted to know what percentage of hospitality websites had already adopted Google Analytics 4 and took a sample to measure the current rate of adoption in the hospitality industry. In nearly 1,200 randomly selected hospitality websites, ranging from restaurants and cafes to hotels and food delivery services, we checked whether they had already implemented Google Analytics 4.
Our research showed that at the time of our analysis (1 - 5 July 2023), only 39% of the surveyed hospitality websites had completed the switch to Google Analytics 4. This is a nice but cautious start. Above all, it indicates that the majority have not yet switched over and are not yet using this latest tool. As a hospitality business, if you want to be responsive to the needs of your target audience (and you want to be), you cannot be left behind and the insights this tool offers you are indispensable. Several hospitality professionals have chosen to switch to Google Analytics 4 in time. We list a few reasons:
- "The end date of Universal Analytics was approaching and we wanted to be able to continue measuring the results of our marketing activities."
- "With Google Analytics 4, we are ready for the future, hopefully there will still be the ability to load historical data."
- "Because we have been over to Google Analytics 4 for a while, we are ahead of our competitors."
Haven't switched to Google Analytics 4 yet? Based on our research and findings so far, we recommend hospitality professionals to do so as soon as possible. This analytics tool will help you better understand online audience behaviour, improve user experience and develop more effective marketing strategies. This will give you a competitive advantage and keep you successful in the industry.
Do you have any questions about our survey or can we help you transition to Google Analytics 4? We'd love to hear from you!
