Ideas

Whether you took the plunge into Google Analytics 4 (GA4) by choice or got nudged by necessity, you've officially bid farewell to your old Universal Analytics (UA) account. Congrats! Pat yourself on the back for navigating the switch and leading your organization through this crucial change.

While the mandatory migration served as the initial step, the real journey begins now as you explore the platform more deeply and tailor it to suit your unique needs. If you're still coming to grips with the new system, we’ve got you covered with a comprehensive breakdown of how GA4 stacks up against UA, along with tips for getting the most out of this powerful tool. 

Consider this your 2.0 lesson in becoming a GA4 Jedi.

This summer, the digital marketing world was buzzing as Google sunset Universal Analytics (UA) and officially migrated to Google Analytics 4 (GA4). Many of you embraced the mandatory shift in July and are about to dive headfirst into your inaugural seasons with GA4. 

When you think about digital marketing campaigns, return on investment (ROI) likely comes to mind. But what happens when you’re running an attendance or membership campaign, and purchases largely don’t take place online? Museums and similar types of cultural institutions often find themselves in this predicament. 

At CI, we’re obsessed with measurement, and that includes even those scenarios that seem unmeasurable. Enter: proxy metrics. A proxy metric is something you can measure that represents or approximates the value of your intended metric when data is limited. Let’s look at how we use proxy metrics to measure campaign performance for the museums we work with.

Measuring the success of your organization’s marketing strategies continues to be critically important. It’s also undeniable that privacy policies and government regulations are changing how we collect and analyze data. 

Consumers are holding businesses to higher standards than ever before. According to a Cisco study, 89% of people want more control over how their data is used, and the majority are willing to spend time and money to protect that data.

2023 is bringing another major change in the digital marketing landscape—this time, it impacts website analytics. 

Google announced that Universal Analytics (UA) would be sunsetting faster than previously forecast, and Google Analytics 4 (GA4) would become the website analytics solution starting June 30, 2023. 

This means big changes for your organization. Google Analytics is the go-to web analytics platform for arts organizations (in my 8+ years at Capacity Interactive, I’ve seen just one organization use a different platform). So chances are, you use it—and to keep using it, you have to migrate to the newest version, which is GA4.

Warm weather is just around the corner, which means it’s time for spring cleaning! Now’s the moment to tidy up your CRM, spruce up your emails, and say goodbye to the marketing efforts that haven’t been “sparking joy.” With limited resources at your disposal, though, which projects should you tackle first?

Earlier this month, we released the 2021 Performing Arts Ticket Buyer Usage Study, based on survey responses from over 17,000 ticket buyers at 48 performing arts organizations. Be sure to read the full report when you’ve got the time—and check out the Key Findings Summary for a quick overview—but here, we’ve distilled the findings down to identify the top four investments worth prioritizing, based on ticket buyer behavior today. With this to-do list in hand, you’re on your way to a squeaky-clean digital foundation!

The past two years have brought turmoil to us as individuals, digital marketers, and arts supporters. Our industry has faced an incredible amount of uncertainty and financial strain, while the happenings of the world around us have taken an emotional toll on our hearts. And yet, we’ve stuck to it. We’ve persevered. Why? Because we know the power of our industry. We know that the arts have the ability to change the way people see the world and their place in it, and that is undeniably worth it.

The arts help us heal from our history, even beyond the past two years. The arts help us remember the importance of connection and regain inspiration amidst the turmoil. The arts make this world a better place. So, we push—the world needs us to.

As we rebuild and reimagine the possibilities of our extraordinary sector, abundance is ripe to think big and beyond what we’ve been able to before, to disrupt the status quo, and to see new potential in our digital strategies.

Google Analytics (GA), one of the most powerful free tools to monitor your website. We’ve talked about it in many blog posts and have a bite-size video series dedicated to demystifying this vital tool! GA helps you answer questions like, what types of content are users seeing? How does user behavior differ on mobile vs. desktop? How can we improve that experience?

March 2020 feels like decades ago, but it was just one year ago the U.S. went into lockdown. We released a blog post to help arts marketers navigate these uncharted waters, but it was uncertain where this pandemic would lead us.

Throughout the course of a year, we saw the sheer resilience of arts administrators in the face of crisis. We pivoted to digital programming to bring art into our audiences' homes. We officially want to discard the word ‘pivot’ from our vocabulary. We explored new ways to keep our audiences engaged. But most of all, we were consistently reminded just how passionate and inventive the arts and cultural community can be.

It’s no secret: 2020 has been a challenging year thus far for arts organizations. But we’re collecting market research surrounding arts entities at IMPACTS Experience, and some trends are actually working in organizations’ favor when it comes to establishing new strategies not only to survive this year but also to thrive long into the future.