I had 3 great marketing questions posed to me last week and I thought I’d share my responses.

Question 1: Is there a way to show the Full URL of pages being shown in GA4 Realtime reports?

Unfortunately there is no way to modify the Realtime reports. What you see is what you get in those. There is a way in the standard Pages and Screens report to add hostname as a secondary dimension or to customize the report to show Page Location. I’ve made a quick video to demo that.

Question 2: We have quite a cluttered homepage, how do we know if people are navigating to deeper sections?

Here are two ways to look at the performance of various sections or categories on your site, and how to use Explore > Path Analysis to understand the most common ways people are getting to or from a particular page, including the homepage. 

Question 3: I heard you are incorporating AI into your work and I tried it for a presentation I had to give. It was ok but not great. What are you using it for?

First, the results are dependent on how you prompt the AI. And second, I want to note that I use the paid version of my AI tools so that I can ensure the privacy settings disable the AI from using any of the input or output in its training. 

Now, when am I using AI? I frequently give presentations and webinars, and my process involves combining tools for a streamlined workflow. 

1. I record my ad-libbed thoughts using Circleback, which generates a transcript and summarized version of what I’ve said. This step helps me quickly capture my initial ideas without worrying about structure. 
2. Then I turn to ChatGPT or Claude to assist with the structure and key messages. When prompting AI, explicit structure guidance is important. Here’s an example prompt: You are an expert marketer presenting to early-career professionals interested in GA4 and how it can be used to improving marketing and ad performance. Organize the following transcript into:
   1. An engaging hook
   2. Three main points, each with examples or anecdotes
   3. A conclusion with actionable takeaways. Keep the tone friendly and accessible.

I find AI can reliably reflect my own thoughts and performs well when asked to summarize or organize those thoughts into categories or themes. This approach works for me because if there are errors or the AI misses things, then I’m able to catch those issues easily.

Bonus question: Can I track my offline Black Friday Sales in GA4?

Yes, if you use UTM parameters.

If you have posters, flyers, or other printed material then use a QR code and include UTMs in the related URL. Example:

• utm_medium=offline
• utm_source=print
• utm_campaign=2024_black_friday

If you have URLs on print material or call-outs in podcast ads, then use short, memorable URLs that redirect to full UTM-tagged URLs. Eg. yoursite.com/blackfriday

Like above, ensure the traffic is tagged appropriately. Dana DiTomaso has a great mini course on using UTMs.

Have an analytics question? Get in touch.