What is Benchmarking in Google Analytics 4 + How to Use It
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Google recently launched a new benchmarking feature in Google Analytics 4 (GA4), providing metrics that allow you to compare your business’s performance with others in your industry. This new tool gives valuable insights into how your business stacks up against industry peers, helping you identify strengths and areas for improvement. But what exactly is benchmarking in GA4, and how can it help you make more strategic digital marketing decisions?
What is Benchmarking in GA4?
Benchmarking is a new feature released in Google Analytics 4 that lets you see how your website’s performance stacks up against your peers in specified industries. The industries are also known as peer groups, which are cohorts of businesses that are similar to yours, broken down by percentiles (median, 25th, and 75th).
For example, as a digital marketing agency, we can choose the category path: Business & Industrial > Advertising & Marketing > All Advertising & Marketing. However, this broader category also includes areas like Promotional Products & Corporate Gifts, which may not be as relevant. Instead, selecting Search Engine Optimization & Marketing may provide more targeted insights for Workshop Digital. You’ll be able to play around with the cohorts to find which best fits your business.
Additionally, there are a few things to be aware of before enabling benchmarking:
Properties must meet minimum user volume and data generation thresholds to be included in a peer group and to access available benchmarks. The minimum requirements are not disclosed.
If you’re concerned about data privacy, Google assures that your information is encrypted and safeguarded, providing that data protection.
Benchmarking data is refreshed every 24 hours.
Benchmark metrics are only found on the Home report page, currently.
You might not find the perfect peer group for your business, so make sure to review the categories before enabling for your business.
How to Enable Benchmarking in GA4
To enable benchmarking in your GA4 instance, navigate to Admin > Account Details, then scroll down to “Modeling Contributions and Business Insights” and ensure the checkbox is selected. Enabling this setting also activates features like predictions and modeled data in addition to the benchmarking feature.
How to Access Benchmarking Metrics
On your Google Analytics Home dashboard, you'll notice a badge in the first table, highlighted in either blue or gray. If the badge is gray, it indicates that the metric is not available for benchmarking data. To select a benchmarking data point, open the data dropdown menu and switch to an available metric.
For a full list of available metrics and peer groups, check out Google’s documentation.
How Can Benchmarking in GA4 Data Inform Your Digital Marketing Strategy?
Benchmarking data in Google Analytics 4 (GA4) brings transparency and industry context to your metrics, providing valuable insights to refine and elevate your digital marketing strategy. Here’s how:
Assess Competitive Position: By comparing your metrics with your peer's averages, you can identify how well you’re performing relative to your competitors. This helps pinpoint areas where you have a competitive edge and areas where there is room to grow.
Asset Market Trends: Benchmarking allows you to respond and pivot quicker to overall market trends, in addition to the competitive trends.
Set More Informed Data-Driven Goals: Benchmarking allows you to establish goals grounded in industry performance, helping you set realistic and relevant targets based on actual data rather than assumptions. While benchmarking data is valuable, it’s best used in conjunction with your historical data to provide a more comprehensive view.
Optimize Resource Allocation: With a clear understanding of how your metrics stack up against the competition, you can allocate your marketing budget and resources more strategically, focusing on areas that show the highest potential.
Stronger Performance Tracking: Regularly monitoring your performance against your competitors in the space will help you track the impact of your marketing efforts over time.
Benchmarking In Action:
Imagine a manufacturing company specializing in industrial equipment that wants to enhance its digital presence to attract more B2B customers. By using GA4’s benchmarking report, the company can compare its website engagement metrics—such as average session duration and bounce rate—against those of other businesses in the manufacturing industry.
Benchmarking peer group: Business & Industrial > All Manufacturing
Insight: If you notice lower average session duration compared to your peer group…
- Consider marketing tactics to increase engagement:
Build a more robust content strategy including things like product videos, case studies, or industry-specific blog posts to keep visitors interested longer.
Improve site usability by ensuring clear, intuitive navigation and a responsive design to encourage users to explore more pages.
Consider implementing conversion rate optimization (CRO) strategies to improve user experience and encourage the customer to stay longer.
Insight: If you observe a higher bounce rate than your peers…
- Investigate potential causes of high bounce rates and address common issues:
Check your website’s core web vitals using Google Pagespeed Insights. Slow site speed or poor page responsiveness may be driving visitors away. Technical SEO factors may be a cause of high bounce rates.
Optimize landing pages so they match visitor intent more closely, using precise headlines and calls-to-action that resonate with your audience.
By combining benchmarking insights with your own performance data, you can develop a more effective digital marketing strategy and stay competitive within your industry.
Remember, An Effective Marketing Strategy is Always Data-Backed
By leveraging benchmarking insights alongside your performance metrics, you’re equipped to make informed, impactful decisions. This data-driven approach empowers you to refine your strategy, optimize resources, and maintain a competitive edge in your industry.
Ready to enhance your Analytics capabilities to improve your digital presence and stay ahead of the competition? Let’s chat about your analytics configuration to see if we can get more out of it.
