GA4 Audience Setup & Management

Learn how to create and manage custom audiences in GA4 for precise remarketing and personalized marketing strategies.

中级

25 minutes

Lesson 7 of 7

Tutorial Overview: GA4 Era Audience Revolution

In GA4, audiences are no longer static lists, but dynamic intelligent groups that meet specific conditions. Mastering audience setup will bring unprecedented precision and efficiency to your digital marketing.

Part 1: Understanding Core Value of GA4 Audiences

Four Core Values of Audiences

Dynamic Smart Grouping

Audiences are no longer static lists, but intelligent systems that dynamically group users based on characteristics, behaviors, or sources.

In-depth Comparative Analysis

Discover behavioral path differences between purchasing and non-purchasing users through side-by-side comparison of different audience groups.

Precision Remarketing

Create high-intent user groups and sync to Google Ads for precise remarketing campaigns.

Content Personalization

Combine with tools like Google Optimize to display personalized website content for different audiences.

Why Use Audiences?

Audiences allow you to precisely identify and track specific user groups, enabling personalized marketing, improving conversion rates, and optimizing overall marketing strategies through data-driven insights.

Part 2: Practical Case 1 - High-Potential Buyer Audience

Scenario Objective

Identify users who added items to cart but didn't complete purchase. These users have high purchase intent and are prime targets for remarketing.

Enter Audience Management Center

In the left navigation, click the "Admin" gear icon at the bottom. In the Data Display column, find and click "Audiences".

Create New Audience

Click the blue "New audience" button, select "Create a custom audience".

Configure Inclusion Conditions

Set audience name to "Carts_Abandoned_7d". First condition: select "Events" -> "add_to_cart", representing all users who added to cart.

Configure Exclusion Conditions

Click "Group to exclude", in exclusion conditions select "Events" -> "purchase", excluding users who have already purchased from the add-to-cart group.

Set Membership Duration

Set to 7 days. Users stay in audience if they don't purchase within 7 days after adding to cart, automatically leave after purchase or after 7 days.

Configuration Example

Include

add_to_cart event

Exclude

purchase event

Duration

7 days

Part 3: Practical Case 2 - High-Value Content Lovers

Scenario Objective

Identify users who have read at least 3 blog articles. These users are highly interested in your content and are important for cultivating loyal customers.

Create Content Lovers Audience

Enter new custom audience interface, set audience name to "Blog_Readers_3_Plus".

Configure Page View Event

Condition: select "Events" -> "page_view". Click "Add parameter" -> "Other" -> "page_location".

Set URL Matching Conditions

Matching type: select "contains", value: enter "/blog/" (assuming all blog article URLs contain /blog/).

Set Event Count Threshold

In the top right of page_view event, set "Event count" to "> 2" (greater than 2 times, meaning at least 3 times).

Advanced Configuration Tips

URL Matching Patterns

• Contains: /blog/
• Begins with: https://example.com/blog
• Exact match: specific pages

Event Count Options

• Greater than: > 2
• Equals: = 5
• Range: 3-10

Part 4: Applying and Analyzing Audiences in Reports

After creating audiences, the greatest value lies in application. Through comparative analysis, you can discover behavioral patterns of different user groups, providing data support for marketing decisions.

Add Comparison in Standard Reports

Open "Reports" -> "Traffic acquisition", click "Add comparison" at the top of the report.

Select Audience Dimension

In the right builder, dimension: select "Audience name", dimension value: select created audience and "Purchasers".

Analyze Comparison Results

The report will display traffic sources for different audiences side by side, intuitively comparing characteristics of high-conversion channels.

Audience Comparison Analysis Example

Cart Abandoners

• Main source: Paid search (45%)
• Device preference: Mobile (70%)
• Visit time: 8-10 PM

Purchasers

• Main source: Organic search (35%)
• Device preference: Desktop (60%)
• Visit time: Weekend afternoons

Part 5: Advanced Features & Best Practices

Audience Triggers

Automatically trigger events when users first become audience members, enabling automated tracking.

Practical Application Example:

Set trigger "reached_loyal_reader" for "Blog_Readers_3_Plus", can directly analyze this event or mark as conversion.

Predictive Audiences

Intelligent audiences automatically created by GA4 based on machine learning, predicting future user behavior.

Practical Application Example:

"Likely 7-day purchasers" and "Likely 7-day churning users", can be directly used for efficient remarketing.

Audience Evaluation & Management

Regularly monitor audience size and quality, optimize analysis environment.

Practical Application Example:

View current user count in audience list, delete unused or under-populated audiences.

Audience Management Best Practices

Regularly check audience size to ensure sufficient users for effective analysis
Use clear naming conventions for team collaboration and long-term maintenance
Delete unused audiences promptly to maintain a clean analysis environment
Use predictive audiences to improve remarketing effectiveness, but minimum data requirements must be met

Chapter Summary

Through this chapter, you have mastered the complete process of GA4 audience setup. From understanding the core value of audiences, to creating practical audience groups, to applying and analyzing them in reports, each step provides strong data support for your digital marketing strategy.

Key Points Review:

GA4 audiences are dynamic intelligent groups, not static lists
High-potential buyer audiences are prime targets for remarketing
Content lover audiences help cultivate loyal customers
Audience comparison analysis reveals user behavior differences
Predictive audiences based on machine learning show significant results

You have now completed the GA4 tutorial series. From basic setup to advanced analysis, from ad reports to audience management, you now have the ability to fully master GA4. Continue practicing and exploring, let data provide stronger driving force for your business growth!