Amanda, the CEO of Bestest Books, an upcoming online bookstore, is looking for an analytics platform to increase her online sales. She wants a tool that tracks and studies website traffic, sales, and customer behavior. Amanda shortlisted Adobe Analytics and Google Analytics (GA4) but cannot decide which one to choose.
Both platforms will give her analytical data, but there are some differences between the two platforms.
Adobe Analytics: A powerful tool to track customer journeys
Adobe Analytics (AA) is a powerful and feature-rich tool. It will allow Amanda to track and examine her customers’ journeys in real time to understand their behavior. Data comes from various sources, including website traffic, customer purchase data, and social media data. Its advanced features let it gather information from all sources and hold them in a central location. It uses AI/ML in the form of Adobe Sensei, to make sense of this data and provide insights. The advanced customization offered by AA will enable Amanda to generate specific insights to help her make better marketing decisions.
With Adobe Analytics, Amanda can
- Track customer data in real-time
- Collect data from various sources
- Use Adobe Sensei, the AI engine, with Machine Learning (ML)
- Generate query-based reports from the AA dashboard
- Measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns
Google Analytics 4: A tool to track website traffic
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is a web reporting tool that can help Amanda see how people interact with her eCommerce website and app. GA4 is suitable for small and mid-sized companies. It uses event-based data, tracking every action on the website. This gives detailed insights into how a user interacts with the website. The data shows how people found the website, how many visited it, where they came from, and what they liked. With this data, Amanda can better manage the website, track marketing campaigns, and improve her customers’ online shopping experience.
With GA4, she can
- Track website traffic
- See where website visitors come from
- Understand what pages they look at
- See how long they stay on your website
- Track conversions
- Create reports and dashboards
Comparison of Adobe Analytics and GA4
Amanda digs deeper into the features of Adobe Analytics and GA4.
Data collection
Both platforms offer Amanda robust data collection abilities but differ in their approaches. Adobe Analytics has session-based data collection, while GA4 has event-based data collection. AA collects real-time data from various sources, including website traffic, customer purchases, and social media. Adobe Analytics adopts a hierarchical data organization system, enabling different user group studies. GA4’s event-based data also tracks what users do on her website, such as clicking buttons/links or buying products. It uses a user-centric model, understanding individual users and their behavior across different devices. Amanda is spoilt for choice here.
Security features
This is a top priority for Amanda. Both platforms offer strong security features. Adobe Analytics uses advanced security, such as encryption and data access control based on user roles, and handles cookies securely. At the same time, GA4, a Google product, is aligned with evolving privacy standards. Adobe Analytics probably has the edge here.
Integration with other tools
Amanda wants a seamless workflow. AA and GA4 offer integration with other tools in different ways. Adobe Analytics lets her create user segments and share them with other products in the Adobe Suite and Adobe Experience Cloud. For a complete solution, AA is a good option. GA4 also integrates with Google Marketing Platform. It is an affordable and effective option. The better choice for her will vary based on which suite of services she is already using or intends to use.
Scalability
Amanda has big plans for Bestest Books! Adobe Analytics is a mature platform. Its features and capabilities are suitable for large organizations. AA is highly scalable to meet future business needs. GA4 is also scalable, but not as well-suited to large businesses. While it can handle increasing data volumes, it has fewer features. It is more suited for small to medium-sized companies. Adobe Analytics is the clear winner here.
User experience and interface
Amanda wants to engage with a good user experience and interface. Adobe Analytics has a clean drag-and-drop interface and flexible tables. It is also highly customizable. This advanced customization, however, might make it complex for her as a new user, as she is not used to advanced analytics platforms. GA4 outrivals in this feature with its straightforward, user-friendly interface and simplified reporting structure. Since Amanda isn’t an expert, she may be better off with GA4.
Segmentation
Amanda wants to categorize her users for personalized marketing campaigns. Adobe Analytics provides unlimited real-time segmentation and behavior visualizations. It also offers personalized customer analysis (both online and offline), audience clustering, and integration with Adobe Target. With GA4, on the other hand, she can create user, session, and event segments. She can create custom segments based on some criteria. However, GA4’s segmentation options are not as comprehensive as Adobe Analytics, giving AA the advantage.
Customization, reporting, and analysis
With the Adobe Analytics Business Intelligence (BI) tool, Amanda can create highly tailored query-based reports from her dashboards. She can visualize the data in real time with graphs, charts, tables, and more. She can also assess the impact of her marketing campaigns and seamlessly integrate with Adobe Experience Cloud. Meanwhile, GA4 offers limited customization capabilities and falls behind Adobe Analytics in real-time data visualizations. However, it allows her to create custom dashboards to track her key metrics, giving her a holistic view of her real-time data. GA4 offers ready-made reports and graphs but lacks Adobe Analytics’ customization options. Thanks to its advanced features, AA wins this round.
Machine Learning
As AI grows in popularity, Amanda wants to use machine learning tools to improve her business. AA uses Adobe Sensei and AI/ML technologies to deliver advanced analytics and actionable insights. As a result, it predicts the future behavior of her customers. It can identify which products or pages are likely to be popular in the future and which marketing campaigns are likely to succeed. GA4 also uses machine learning on its platform, but is not as advanced as Adobe Analytics. For example, she can use GA4 to predict which users are more likely to buy something. She can see which products or pages will be popular later and which marketing campaigns will succeed. Since Adobe Analytics has used this technology for longer, it has the edge.
Marketing campaign tracking
Amanda needs to monitor and measure her marketing campaigns. GA4 uses UTM codes to track digital marketing campaigns. When someone clicks on the link with the UTM code, GA4 tracks their click and records it in the reports. Meanwhile, Adobe Analytics has a more complicated setup process. She will have to configure the Javascript plugin and create additional classification rules. GA4 is a good option as it is easy to setup and use. However, AA is a better option for advanced tracking.
Pricing
Cost and availability are key factors. Adobe Analytics is a paid tool that offers different pricing plans tailored to her eCommerce needs. This will give her access to advanced features and complete data analysis. On the other hand, GA4 is free to use, though it has certain limitations. Google offers a paid version called Google Analytics 360, an advanced analytics solution. If her budget permits, Adobe Analytics is the best option.
So which platform is right for Amanda – and for you? Adobe Analytics is a more mature platform, with a wide range of features. It is expensive, as it is a paid subscription, and she’ll need experienced people to use it. GA4, however, is a newer platform, and is always being updated with the latest features. Though free, she may need to purchase other paid applications for advanced analytics.
After weighing the features of the two platforms, Amanda chooses Adobe Analytics for her own enterprise, as it was better suited to her needs. If you also want to make data-driven decisions to enhance your ROI, connect with our team at Ziffity and let us help you implement Adobe Analytics.
