In February, we announced support for Google Analytics 4. This is a significant improvement providing new reports, moving to an event based system and improved user tracking among other improvements. In July 2023, Google Analytics stopped processing data for its old universal analytics system. This means all users must use Google Analytics 4. If you haven’t upgraded to GA4 and added it to your RunSignup events, check out this blog!
We have now added additional upgrades to RunSignup’s Google Analytics 4 integration to support Multi-Event Reporting in Google Analytics. This gives better GA4 reporting for customers that have multiple events using the same Google Analytics account.
Single and Multi-Event Reporting for Google Analytics 4
Navigate to Promotions >> Google Analytics 4. Whether you are enabling for the first time or have already added your GA4 Measurement ID, there is a new option for Single Event versus Multi Event reporting. If you plan to only connect one event to your Google Analytics account, select the Single Event option. This allows you to easily use e-commerce purchases report.
Here you will see each of the items in our system’s cart listed as individual items, including how many items were purchased, and the revenue from those particular items.
Multi-Event Reporting
If you have multiple events connected to a single Google Analytics account, you will have a hard time determining which of your events sold this item if they have similar names, like “5K” or “Donation”.
In these instances, select the “Multi Event Reporting” option. Instead of reporting each individual item sold, the name of the items will be the names of the event, which will look something like the example below. This allows your top level line item to represent each of your different events, allowing you to better track which of your events are producing ticket sales instead of intermixing the purchased items among the different events.
In either case, you can use the plus icon to add a new dimension to the report, and view the source of traffic for these purchases.
It is worth noting that the “direct” source represents a visitor who comes to your website without any referral sources. For example, someone who typed the URL directly into the browser, used a bookmark, or a method that Google is unable to track. In real reports, these sources will include referring websites and Google Analytics tagged links giving you a quick and easy view of what is driving your ticket sales.
Take Google Analytics 4 Reporting to the Next Level
In addition, GA4 has a new “Explore” option that allows you to create your own custom reports. Within the Explore option, you can add more dimensions and metrics to analyze individual items, transactions, and many other types of data. This report is important for multi event reporting when you wish to see the item breakdown within a single event’s sales. For help creating and using these exploration reports, you can check out Google support.
The Nuts and Bolts of Single vs. Multi-Event Reporting
In order to support the different views for single and multi event reporting we send slightly different information. The specific items depending on your report type are as follows:
The transaction information included is the same regardless of single versus multi events.
Transaction Information
Transaction ID: TicketSignup Transaction ID, allowing you to match specific transactions.
Affiliation: Name of the event
Value: The base cost of the transaction.
Single Event Item Information
Item Name: Name of the item as it appears in the system’s cart.
Price: The price per purchased item
Quantity: The number of items purchased.
Multi Event Item Information
Item ID: The event’s ID
Item Name: Name of the event
Category: Name of the item as it appears in the system’s cart.
Price: Price per purchased item
Quantity: The number of items purchased
RunSignup continues to add integrations that enhance events’ marketing capabilities. In addition to integrations like Google Analytics 4, features like RaceInsights and custom source tracking deliver enhanced and purpose-built analytics for events.