June 7, 2023

270: Google Analytics 4 - Update Before July 1, 2023!

Do you know how the upcoming Google Analytics 4 (GA4) update on July 1st, 2023 will impact your private club?
Download a step by step guide here
Are you ready to harness the power of free data to elevate your members' experience?
Join us as we welcome Sean Bleyl from Members First, an industry expert who has worked with high-end clubs and managed high-volume resorts, to guide us through the GA4 update and its implications on the private club industry.

Discover the significance of tracking conversions through events instead of page views and sessions, and how this crucial shift will help clubs uncover valuable insights into member behavior. Learn how to use Google Analytics to understand where members go during the offseason and cultivate relationships with sister clubs. Plus, we'll reveal the secret to developing effective partnerships with real estate agents, photographers, and other external sources driving traffic to your website for an enhanced member experience.

In today's episode, we'll also dive into referral traffic tracking with GA4 and explore how tracking codes can measure the success of platforms like digital newsletters on Flipping Book. Don't miss out on this essential episode as we share valuable tips on using Google Analytics data to optimize your website and effectively engage visitors. With Sean's expert knowledge and our practical advice, you'll be well-equipped to navigate the GA4 update and make data-driven decisions for the success of your private club!

Connect with Sean on Linkedin
Download the GA4 Guide Here

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01:10 - The GA4 Update

12:47 - Google Analytics Update and Benefits

20:14 - Google Analytics and Referral Traffic Tracking

26:48 - Using Google Analytics for Website Optimization

WEBVTT

00:00:01.143 --> 00:00:03.549
Hey everyone, welcome back to Private Club Radio.

00:00:03.549 --> 00:00:05.115
I'm your host, denny Corby.

00:00:05.115 --> 00:00:06.959
Thank you so much for listening in.

00:00:06.959 --> 00:00:09.522
This is a urgent episode.

00:00:09.522 --> 00:00:14.970
No, this is all about the GA4 Update, which is the Google Analytics 4 update.

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That is happening on July 1st 2023, depending on what year you are listening But they are switching up their entire platform.

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They are throwing up a whole playbook, completely redoing how they are doing Google Ads.

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I legitimately thought all the emails and stuff I was getting was like a spam, like a scam they were trying to get me, but it is not.

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It is a real thing that's happening and not just affecting my data, but all of our data for all of our websites, and all of the analytics and all of the behind the scenes stuff, the things that we've been gathering for years and years about clients and customers and all that fun stuff.

00:00:52.979 --> 00:01:02.895
When I was talking to my buddy, sean Blyall, over at Members, first he brought up this and I thought he was joking and then he told me I said, hey, we have to help everybody with this.

00:01:02.895 --> 00:01:17.876
We talk a bit about what the new update is, what it entails and why it's important, and then at the end it only takes a couple minutes, but we walk through exactly how you can do it yourself on your club site to save all of your precious data.

00:01:17.876 --> 00:01:20.385
So let's get right to it.

00:01:20.385 --> 00:01:24.251
Everybody welcome my friend, sean Blyall, from Members First.

00:01:24.251 --> 00:01:27.024
Alright, so we're here.

00:01:27.024 --> 00:01:34.000
We're in the Members First studio, here on Private Club Radio, talking with my man, sean Blyall.

00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:35.001
I might edit that out.

00:01:35.001 --> 00:01:36.525
We'll see how that sounded In my head.

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It sounded good, but I don't think it's going to sound good.

00:01:39.000 --> 00:01:44.168
So we're talking about the Google Analytics 4 GA4 update.

00:01:44.168 --> 00:01:48.394
I'll be honest, i legitimately had no clue about this.

00:01:48.394 --> 00:02:03.829
I got the emails coming in, but anytime I get something from Google, i just assume it's suspicious malware that got through my spam filter and I just don't even open it Because I'm like, oh, they're just hacking, you're trying to get me to log in through their special thing.

00:02:03.829 --> 00:02:05.674
So I just ignored all of this.

00:02:05.674 --> 00:02:08.000
And then last week you told me about it.

00:02:08.199 --> 00:02:12.348
In the very next day I got that email and I was like, oh no, this is wild.

00:02:12.348 --> 00:02:19.473
And I was like we have to do this because I didn't do it And I know I'm not a club, but I was like we got to teach people how to do this.

00:02:19.473 --> 00:02:21.000
And then you were like Dan, we can do it, it's super easy.

00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:24.183
But, more importantly, it's very important.

00:02:24.183 --> 00:02:32.895
So if people who don't know you, you're with Members First, which is a phenomenal organization, and you're from the private club world.

00:02:32.895 --> 00:02:37.527
So you work for Members First doing client development, but you have a private club background.

00:02:37.527 --> 00:02:40.152
Can you give us a quick little update, like the 30,000 foot view?

00:02:41.020 --> 00:02:43.983
Yeah, and certainly thank you, danny, for having me on this morning.

00:02:43.983 --> 00:02:58.757
So, yeah, i spent about 12 years-ish at Members First helping clubs kind of unravel and peel back the onion to help them engage with their members online.

00:02:58.757 --> 00:03:15.429
Everything from kind of website design to social media strategy to anything that goes into your digital experience Yeah, so I spent the last 12 years at Members First helping clubs, you know, enhance their digital experience.

00:03:15.429 --> 00:03:23.806
That could be anything from you know, helping them with their website design, helping them engage with their members online.

00:03:23.806 --> 00:03:34.844
We've actually just introduced a new member onboarding program, which has been super fun to see how members are engaging with their clubs online And it actually saves the membership and marketing directors a ton of time.

00:03:35.986 --> 00:03:46.000
But prior to Members First I did I spent about 10 years in the private club industry working for a Boston-based golf management and real estate development company.

00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:52.987
So the first part of my career was super fun because that company sent me everywhere.

00:03:52.987 --> 00:04:10.955
I got a chance to work at some super high-end clubs that were only doing, you know, 50, 60 rounds a day, which was really interesting, and then also working at some really high-volume resorts where, you know we were pushing through 300 plus rounds a day over 27 holes.

00:04:10.955 --> 00:04:19.163
But the interesting part is that you know the clubs that do less rounds are actually more high touch And you know so.

00:04:19.382 --> 00:04:31.021
I always found that it was more challenging and exciting too, because you were able to really get to know those members that were coming through And you needed to know that.

00:04:31.021 --> 00:04:36.713
You know this member liked, you know, a Budweiser at the term, but he liked a Martini after his round, right.

00:04:36.713 --> 00:04:41.605
So there was a lot of things that you needed to know at those private clubs.

00:04:41.605 --> 00:04:48.615
But there's benefits of both And I enjoyed my time as a club operator.

00:04:48.615 --> 00:04:56.252
I am still a member of the CMA, i'm a member of the New England chapter, so shout out to any of those New Englanders out there.

00:04:57.423 --> 00:05:09.257
But you know you certainly- Can you still hear a mug quick, oh, that's not As you talk about New England being this whole big thing, i love New England.

00:05:09.639 --> 00:05:09.980
So okay.

00:05:10.019 --> 00:05:10.685
New area.

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I'm part of CMA.

00:05:12.012 --> 00:05:13.000
Yeah, let's see your mug Sean.

00:05:13.380 --> 00:05:15.105
Okay, so I have two things here.

00:05:15.105 --> 00:05:18.733
So we've got I drank my coffee out of the Carolinas chapter mug.

00:05:18.733 --> 00:05:21.264
Thank you for calling me out on that one.

00:05:21.264 --> 00:05:24.050
However, guess what?

00:05:24.050 --> 00:05:25.593
I drank a beer out of last night.

00:05:25.593 --> 00:05:32.000
So the New England chapter actually gave us logoed beer mugs as an annual gift.

00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:36.910
So ultimately, i think of the Carolinas in the morning and New England at night.

00:05:39.300 --> 00:05:48.670
But I'm going to have to talk to my friends down in the Carolinas because, you know, we'll be heading down there for the summer conference pretty soon, so we will have to chat about that.

00:05:50.002 --> 00:06:12.788
But you know, as a you know from being in the club industry, it's actually just it's a lot of fun to be able to work on both sides of the industry, because, you know, i do try to take my club operations knowledge from being in the industry for so long and apply that to you know, helping clubs with their digital strategy, because it's it's.

00:06:12.788 --> 00:06:23.050
this is a really, really unique business where, if you don't, if you don't know what the people are going through on the other end of the call, it's really hard to help them.

00:06:23.050 --> 00:06:29.468
And so most of the people luckily at Members First come from the private club industry.

00:06:29.468 --> 00:06:36.829
And for those people on our team that don't have experience in the operations world at private clubs.

00:06:36.829 --> 00:06:48.894
they rely on, you know, people like myself, victoria Burns, kevin Baer, don Taylor and a variety of other people at Members First that have worked in clubs to bring them up to speed.

00:06:48.894 --> 00:06:55.475
So we're kind of all learning from each other as well, in addition to learning from our clients, which kind of keeps us on our toes, that's for sure.

00:06:56.204 --> 00:07:12.211
Yeah, and you know we, we are partners, friends together here in private club radio, members First, and obviously I did some, some stalking before we, you know, sign the papers and all that stuff And it's it's funny that you mentioned, you know, a lot of the people going through club manager.

00:07:12.211 --> 00:07:24.442
You know being in the club world, because that's what I noticed is when I was going through and seeing people who worked at Members First, most people had some weird connection not weird connection, but some connection to a private club.

00:07:24.442 --> 00:07:32.050
I think there was one or two people who maybe they were just a server or some small part, but they are still some connection back to a private club.

00:07:33.473 --> 00:07:39.230
It helps out so much with our projects And you know it's a great part of the industry to work in.

00:07:39.230 --> 00:07:51.384
So, even though we're not working at a club, we feel like we are, because we're talking with clubs all day long, learning what their challenges are and what's coming up in their board and committee meetings and and things like that.

00:07:51.384 --> 00:08:10.644
So it's it's our job on this end to make sure that our clients are well prepared for what's next and the digital space, because there's just too many things going on and technology today that it's really hard to keep up, and you know, and ultimately, we all need to kind of learn together.

00:08:10.644 --> 00:08:17.891
So, which is which is why I'm super excited to you know, have you getting private club radio back on, back on board?

00:08:17.891 --> 00:08:19.737
And certainly it is.

00:08:19.737 --> 00:08:23.468
You know I've enjoyed and learned a ton from the episode so far that you've launched out there.

00:08:23.468 --> 00:08:27.117
So you know, thank you for bringing it back to our industry.

00:08:27.887 --> 00:08:42.270
Going back to the CMA, i know when we were chatting about this the updates you've said how this was a big, a big topic the G4A, gga4, and you've been doing some talking and this was a big hot topic at some of the conferences.

00:08:42.311 --> 00:08:45.440
Yeah, Yeah, i mean one.

00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:49.131
I feel like I've lived on a plane for the last six months.

00:08:49.774 --> 00:08:51.298
You've been driving more than me.

00:08:52.501 --> 00:09:06.682
Which is which is hard to, which is hard to believe because you're at clubs all the time, but the yeah, certainly the first part of 2023 has been extremely busy on the travel schedule, which is always great.

00:09:06.682 --> 00:09:18.851
It is when a lot of regional chapters are doing their educational events, and you know it started off this year, of course, with, you know, the World Conference in Orlando this year.

00:09:18.851 --> 00:09:31.114
But I was also asked to speak at the Communication Summit, the National CMA Communication Summit, which was held in Houston this year, which, by the way, if you've never been to Houston, you need to go.

00:09:31.114 --> 00:09:37.477
So at the at the CMA Communication Summit in Houston this year, it was awesome.

00:09:37.477 --> 00:09:40.386
It was the event typically sells out.

00:09:40.386 --> 00:09:47.527
I think there was a little over 100 membership marketing directors, communications directors.

00:09:47.527 --> 00:09:52.667
There was a ton of general managers sprinkled into the audience as well, which was really great to see.

00:09:53.969 --> 00:10:27.110
But Kyle Jennings and Melissa Lowe from CMA had asked me to do a presentation all around data analytics, because we had a very similar conversation, like you and I had last week, about Google Analytics and how to make data-driven decisions about your website, because Google Analytics is usually installed on everybody's website And I can even show you a quick trick as to how to find out as well, but the but ultimately, i was a little bit nervous because they asked me to speak about an hour on data.

00:10:27.110 --> 00:10:55.558
Usually, people can take about 15 minutes of data, and that's about it, and so what we tried to do is we kind of created these small chunks of how clubs are using Google Analytics to make better decisions on their site, and so, if it's, if that topic is coming up at the national level for the CMA communication summit, it is eventually, if not already, going to be sprinkling into all of the regional chapters.

00:10:55.558 --> 00:11:01.798
So it kind of the education kind of kicked off in March in Houston for the CMA summit.

00:11:01.798 --> 00:11:21.855
I just got back from Charlotte with the Carolinas chapter, i was down in Alabama for the Alabama chapter, and then we're doing a couple one-day workshops, some CMA, cmi, so they're full-day education workshops, not just on the topics of data, but data is actually popping up quite a bit in those.

00:11:22.596 --> 00:11:32.500
The big update that you mentioned before, though, is all those emails that you've received, and, denny, just so you know you're not alone I can't tell you how many.

00:11:32.500 --> 00:11:36.951
I can't tell you how many people have ignored those alerts.

00:11:36.951 --> 00:11:52.567
Google Analytics is changing on July 1st, whether you like it or not, and if your club isn't spending time inside of Google Analytics, i really encourage you to do so, because there's so much data in there.

00:11:52.739 --> 00:12:21.551
For private clubs, more than likely they're going to want to be on a dedicated kind of platform that manages both the public and the private side of their website, because one, it's going to be easier for their membership and marketing and communications directors to manage content, but then they're also usually going to have the support of whoever their partner is to be able to provide them with some of the data analytics, provide them with help and guidance as to how to get these codes onto your website in order to start tracking this data.

00:12:21.551 --> 00:12:31.861
And, like you said, you know you may or may not be doing ad words through Google, so you may not necessarily need to get into.

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You know paying for those club advertisements, but even for those clubs that are not doing that, there's some really, really great information within Google that it's free, that you can actually add it to your website and get some really good content out of it.

00:12:49.934 --> 00:12:51.422
And we're going to get straight to it now.

00:12:51.422 --> 00:12:52.225
And we were talking earlier.

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You were talking to a club, because this and we pretty much did it yesterday you were showing me how easy this is, just mind blowing.

00:13:01.654 --> 00:13:08.633
You said there was a club you talked to their provider, tried to charge them $750 to do this for them.

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There was.

00:13:11.097 --> 00:13:13.322
Yeah, that is unbelievable.

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Now keep in mind there could have been a variety of other things that they were doing.

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They could have been creating some custom filters.

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They could have been removing, you know, internal IP addresses, so it so it filters out staff traffic.

00:13:25.989 --> 00:13:56.587
There's so many different layers that could go into what you do within Google Analytics, but the actual act of converting your current universal analytics over to Google Analytics for it literally takes about two minutes And the hard part sometimes is is making sure that you're getting it loaded onto your website so that it's on every single page of your website.

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But most of the industry tools out there have spots where you literally just copy and paste the measurement ID into the platform and it usually starts tracking data within 48 hours.

00:14:09.918 --> 00:14:30.455
Now the interesting part is that Google announced this update three years ago and then two years ago they sprinkled it out there a little bit more And then last year they basically said hey, the drop dead day for all of your data through Google Analytics, through their current platform, is going to end on July 1st 2023.

00:14:30.455 --> 00:14:37.235
And so they are encouraging people to do this sooner then July 1st.

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But keep in mind, like we are helping our clients.

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You know I'm converting.

00:14:41.671 --> 00:14:47.412
I converted five clubs yesterday just to help them get started on that area.

00:14:47.412 --> 00:15:04.597
If you don't convert it manually, it will automatically convert on July 1st, even though Google Analytics will convert you automatically from Universal Analytics over to Google Analytics 4, so they will create a new, a new tracking code for you.

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However, the step that the club needs to make the club needs to reach out to their website partner and make sure that that code is getting added to their platform, because if you have a new account and you don't attach it to your website, it really doesn't do anything for you.

00:15:21.421 --> 00:15:23.273
And this is like a whole new platform too.

00:15:23.273 --> 00:15:26.600
Right like so with the G4 GA.

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I keep seeing G4 GA 4.

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It's a whole new platform, so they're completely revamping, redo everything that they've done.

00:15:34.514 --> 00:15:35.701
They throughout the playbook.

00:15:37.067 --> 00:15:42.772
They did, yeah, so one of the major updates, which is really different compared to what they've done in the past.

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What are the advantages of this new GA4 update?

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like what's gonna be different about it?

00:15:49.495 --> 00:15:50.842
why do they change the whole platform?

00:15:51.547 --> 00:15:58.602
So the shift in platform is how they are actually tracking different conversions on their site.

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So in the in the previous version, what they were doing is creating everything on page views and different sessions, which those items are still available, but everything that you do within GA4 is actually an event now.

00:16:11.932 --> 00:16:24.272
So what most people are doing, what most people are tracking within the platform, is not only where people are coming from on the website, so how are they getting there?

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So it could be any from anything from device.

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Are they traveling to your website via mobile, desktop or tablet?

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are they getting there from different areas of the country?

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So when members are actually traveling north and south, east and west, depending on the season, ultimately membership and marketing directors are using this information to get a good understanding as to where their people are when they are visiting their website.

00:16:53.208 --> 00:17:07.420
So that information actually is really helpful for those clubs that have a very long offseason, like up here in New England, where sometimes people will stop producing content on their website.

00:17:07.420 --> 00:17:20.616
And when they stop producing content on their website in the winter time up here in Boston, ultimately they're really missing out on a lot of member engagement, because the data shows you that a lot of users are still going to your website in the offseason.

00:17:20.616 --> 00:17:36.721
So geography is really key because then you can also know more than likely where your members are going in the offseason so that you can keep in touch with them periodically throughout there, or potentially the membership and marketing directors.

00:17:36.721 --> 00:17:55.270
If you're really savvy, you are connecting with those sister clubs that maybe your members belong to down south or up north, because then you can start those relationships and get a good understanding as to what the members are experiencing at their second club when they're not at, you know, their their home club.

00:17:55.932 --> 00:17:57.557
And correct me if I'm wrong.

00:17:57.557 --> 00:18:00.394
I was trying to understand it a little bit too, since you're the expert.

00:18:00.394 --> 00:18:13.053
So I so in the past, with Google Analytics, if I went to members first website, no matter where I unless you say I did it home boom, i went on the website.

00:18:13.053 --> 00:18:17.373
Now, if I go to Florida and I go back on the website, it doesn't register in Florida.

00:18:17.373 --> 00:18:19.277
It just knows I was.

00:18:19.277 --> 00:18:25.679
I went to the website in my home of Scranton, pa, so it just goes.

00:18:25.679 --> 00:18:29.640
So no matter where I'm at, it's just gonna go a ping from Denny because he was in Scranton.

00:18:29.640 --> 00:18:43.237
But now, with the new update, it's gonna be every time you do that new event it's gonna show where it's coming from, no matter if they did went to the site first time at home and now they're in Arizona or vice versa.

00:18:43.297 --> 00:18:53.576
Yes, that's correct now it's not gonna understand if it's Denny Corby right visiting the website it, because it's gonna be tracking, based off of your a couple different things.

00:18:53.576 --> 00:19:09.211
It could be your IP address, it could be your internet service provider so there's a variety different things that it could be, you know using to detect that data and ultimately, you're gonna be able to start seeing your traffic patterns as to where your members are traveling and how they're, how and when they're accessing the website.

00:19:09.211 --> 00:19:57.198
Now the other interesting thing that I found when people are tracking data within Google Analytics and this is common within the Google Analytics universal platform, which is the existing one or the new GA4 platform you can also start to find out what is your referral traffic, so what other websites or what other platforms are driving traffic to your website, and I think that that's actually really, really important for your membership and marketing directors to know at private clubs, because I was recently working with a club in Florida and there was a real estate agent who was driving so much traffic to that club's website and that club was not a bundled community, it had no real estate associated with it.

00:19:57.198 --> 00:20:07.593
So I went down the rabbit hole and said, hey, if this person, this real estate agent, is driving traffic to the club's website.

00:20:07.593 --> 00:20:10.963
My first thought was how are they doing that?

00:20:11.666 --> 00:20:23.192
and ultimately, that real estate agent had an incredible blog, created incredible content, and she and her team were introducing people to clubs in the area that they could potentially join.

00:20:23.192 --> 00:20:25.676
So I her content was really great.

00:20:25.676 --> 00:20:33.141
But then the second thing I thought about was I wonder if the club even knows they have a best friend?

00:20:33.141 --> 00:20:35.432
probably not, and they didn't.

00:20:35.432 --> 00:20:41.765
And it was really interesting because you know it doesn't mean that you need to.

00:20:41.765 --> 00:20:51.262
You know, become best friends with this person, but wouldn't you want to know if there is somebody in your community creating incredible content?

00:20:51.262 --> 00:20:54.575
Hopefully it's accurate content and in this case it was.

00:20:54.935 --> 00:20:55.396
That's good.

00:20:55.877 --> 00:21:23.241
But if they're going to be driving traffic to your website, then ultimately, whoever it is maybe it's the membership director, the communications person, the general manager, the golf professional reach out to that person, say thank you, invite them over for lunch, provide them with the information about your community so that, as they're creating content, they're going to be pushing and recommending your club.

00:21:24.044 --> 00:21:30.290
So I think that that's extremely helpful when you can look at who are your best friends in the community.

00:21:30.290 --> 00:21:37.548
And now that could be anything from a real estate agent that could be, you know, photographers for weddings and events.

00:21:37.548 --> 00:21:46.038
It could be the local person in the community that does custom cakes for kids' birthday parties, it could be anything.

00:21:46.038 --> 00:21:51.219
But if those companies are driving traffic to your website, you should be aware of it.

00:21:51.219 --> 00:21:56.577
On the flip side of it, you can also find out what other platforms are driving traffic to.

00:21:56.577 --> 00:22:18.401
So if your club is heavily engaged on social media and you're creating content that's driving people back to your website, ultimately you would want to know hey, is the content that you're producing on Facebook, Instagram or whatever social media platform that you're on, is the time you're dedicating to that content?

00:22:18.401 --> 00:22:22.936
is that successful, and is that driving traffic back to your website.

00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:45.038
Now there's a whole strategy discussion on social media that we will not cover today because I was just saying we can go down a rabbit hole real quick Yeah we're not going to do that because a lot of times different platforms have different purposes and you may be active on the platform, but if your content isn't linking back to your website, it's really hard for Google Analytics to know.

00:22:45.038 --> 00:22:46.644
Hey, is this working?

00:22:46.644 --> 00:22:48.430
But I did have.

00:22:48.430 --> 00:22:56.489
This came up yesterday with a client in Florida where they do their digital newsletters on a digital platform called Flipping Book.

00:22:56.489 --> 00:23:04.375
It's those newsletter platforms that when you flip the page it sounds like it's flipping the page, kind of fun.

00:23:05.898 --> 00:23:12.772
But they had asked a question about well, is there analytics on that?

00:23:12.772 --> 00:23:21.368
And I said well, unfortunately it's not on your website, so I wasn't able to tell if it was successful or not.

00:23:21.368 --> 00:23:36.846
However, her and I jumped into it and it was interesting because within her Flipping Book platform there was an area where she could paste a Google Analytics for tracking code so that now she can get that information specifically for her digital newsletter.

00:23:36.846 --> 00:23:41.009
So some of this data goes beyond just your website.

00:23:41.009 --> 00:23:43.237
It could be in a variety of different platforms that you're using.

00:23:44.098 --> 00:23:54.846
So would that mean if they attached the GA4, can you also track then how many pages they went through, or just that they went to the flip site?

00:23:56.516 --> 00:24:00.387
So within I don't know that Flipping Book software platform.

00:24:00.387 --> 00:24:28.978
However, the conversation did snowball a little bit and we started looking at the digital newsletter And, ultimately, within their digital newsletter, i encouraged them to make sure that within their digital newsletter, they were providing links that drove people back to the website, because then you can start tracking whether or not your Flipping Book or your digital newsletter is driving people back to the website.

00:24:28.978 --> 00:24:32.548
Because, let's face it, where are members making reservations?

00:24:32.548 --> 00:24:46.226
So if in your digital newsletter or your email, if you are talking about the July 4th event, you want to be able to put a click, a link there to click to register, and that will drive them back to the website.

00:24:46.226 --> 00:24:49.161
So there's two areas where you would want to focus on.

00:24:49.742 --> 00:24:55.037
So that's a lot of our clients are paying attention to Google Analytics through.

00:24:55.037 --> 00:25:09.851
You know their referral traffic, so one it's really great to know kind of geography, like the location, where are people coming from, when are they visiting the website That type of information, who's driving traffic and referring traffic to your website?

00:25:09.851 --> 00:25:18.236
But usually the most, usually the most asked question is well, what are they doing once they get to our website?

00:25:18.236 --> 00:25:29.327
And in that case you actually go into some of the page reports So you can actually dive in to find out the most visited pages on your website.

00:25:29.327 --> 00:25:40.019
And if you know the most visited pages on your website, then ultimately you can make decisions as to wow, i didn't realize that this page was being visited so often.

00:25:40.019 --> 00:25:44.346
Is there a call to action to drive them to register?

00:25:44.346 --> 00:25:52.934
Wow, or, if this page is being visited so often, how many clicks does it take to get to that page?

00:25:54.960 --> 00:26:11.539
And we worked with a club recently that was having staffing issues, like most companies and most clubs these days, right, and ultimately their employment page was in the top 20 most visited pages.

00:26:11.539 --> 00:26:15.952
But it took them five clicks to get to that employment page.

00:26:15.952 --> 00:26:19.000
And then, once you got to that employment page.

00:26:19.000 --> 00:26:29.432
Ultimately it was a lot of rules and restrictions And it said, hey, you get dental benefits, which are kind of the obvious things, or you would hope.

00:26:29.432 --> 00:26:37.380
And so we took a look at that and said, hey, how about we make this a little bit more visual and make it easier to get to?

00:26:37.380 --> 00:26:41.472
And so what we did is we redesigned that employment page.

00:26:41.472 --> 00:26:53.914
We changed it to a join the team page, which is a little bit more inviting, and when you now go to that page you can easily fill out an application here from current employees how great of a place it is to work.

00:26:53.914 --> 00:27:05.021
You can see the scholarships that their members provide to those employees which I think is really really great.

00:27:05.323 --> 00:27:11.241
That's all the great things that clubs do, but sometimes very rarely talk about it.

00:27:11.241 --> 00:27:18.184
And so I went back last week And six months ago it was in the top 20 pages.

00:27:18.184 --> 00:27:22.782
Now it's in the top five most visited pages on their website.

00:27:22.782 --> 00:27:25.388
It's incredible.

00:27:25.388 --> 00:27:29.444
Now you know, what would they do with that information?

00:27:29.444 --> 00:27:33.138
You know, i think one.

00:27:33.138 --> 00:27:39.888
It justifies the time and effort that their marketing director spent creating that page.

00:27:39.888 --> 00:27:55.121
And then, from my perspective, i would track how many people filled out applications from that page, how many of them became employees, and then I'd go back three years later and find out hey, are those some of our best employees, potentially.

00:27:55.121 --> 00:28:11.582
Now that goes down the rabbit hole of how you track long term data, but that's just one example of how people could use that information on their website to make their website more engaging for their users, whether it's on the public side of the website or on the private side.

00:28:15.476 --> 00:28:16.617
And you know, not a.

00:28:16.617 --> 00:28:25.583
For me this is so overwhelming because there's so many rabbit holes and so much data and so much to do And obviously, shameless plug.

00:28:25.583 --> 00:28:31.604
I mean, this is pretty much why people work with you all at members first is having that.

00:28:31.604 --> 00:28:44.615
You know, that team member, that friend that confinot next to you going, hey, here's what you should be doing, hey, here's the data and here's what to do with the data and here's how to do unique things, hey, here's what other clubs are doing, here's what other clients of ours are doing.

00:28:44.615 --> 00:28:46.778
And you know they did X.

00:28:46.778 --> 00:28:53.549
You know, just just like with you and the, you know, join, our team went from top 20 to top five pages.

00:28:53.549 --> 00:29:01.141
I mean, you know, and helping them make that change and maneuver and adapt, i think that's really, really powerful.

00:29:02.857 --> 00:29:03.358
And we've had to.

00:29:03.358 --> 00:29:10.615
We've had to learn it together too, because even since March, google Analytics for some of the interface has changed.

00:29:10.615 --> 00:29:21.167
So once I thought I learned it, i've had to go back and relearn it again, and there are some things in there that are a little bit more difficult in GA4 than they were within Universal Analytics.

00:29:21.167 --> 00:29:42.595
But the more you get into the platform, the more you're going to get comfortable with it And the more information you're going to be able to provide to those people who, if they're not already asking you, they will be, you know, because committee members and managers, they want data to support the decisions that they're making, whether it's within club operations.

00:29:42.595 --> 00:29:55.611
But that is trickling into the club marketing world where, ultimately, you want to find out where you're spending your time and you want to spend it extremely efficiently.

00:29:56.435 --> 00:30:03.288
And, in my experience, i don't want to be spending time creating content on pages that nobody is viewing.

00:30:03.288 --> 00:30:08.267
I want to spend time on creating content on pages that are heavily trafficked.

00:30:08.267 --> 00:30:14.548
Make sure that there's a call to action on every single page on your website, whether it's on the public side or the private side.

00:30:14.548 --> 00:30:25.758
Even if it's just a connect with us or follow us on social, there should be a call to action on every single page, and you just don't want to.

00:30:25.758 --> 00:30:28.484
You don't want to be spending time where nobody's going.

00:30:28.925 --> 00:30:33.565
Right, so is it really that easy to switch this over?

00:30:34.935 --> 00:30:38.465
It is as long as you have the right access.

00:30:38.465 --> 00:30:43.142
So one of the things that you need is one.

00:30:43.142 --> 00:30:48.329
You need to be able to have access into Google Analytics, which is pretty simple to create.

00:30:48.329 --> 00:30:50.478
All you need is a Google account.

00:30:50.478 --> 00:30:56.169
It can either be a Gmail account or you can create a Google account with your own work address.

00:30:56.169 --> 00:31:08.150
But once you get access into the platform one if it's the first time you've logged in you'll have a big timer rate in the middle that'll say hey, there's a big countdown clock to July 1.

00:31:08.150 --> 00:31:09.638
And that's how much time you have.

00:31:09.638 --> 00:31:14.881
If you X out of that and ignore that alert, that's okay.

00:31:14.881 --> 00:31:21.650
They're still going to put a big begin migration tab up here which will help you start the migration process.

00:31:21.650 --> 00:31:28.448
But where that actually takes you is to the GA for assistant within the admin tools.

00:31:28.448 --> 00:31:48.470
So once you click on the GA for setup assistant, you'll say I want to create a Google Analytics for property, and what it's going to do is it's going to create that property, but it's going to connect it to your universal analytics account.

00:31:48.470 --> 00:32:22.623
So when you create the property, it'll give you a few different settings in here, but the main thing you'll want to do is just go to the property And once that loads up, there's a variety of other kind of tools within Google Analytics, but the thing that you're going to want to, once this loads up, you can cut that up.

00:32:30.615 --> 00:32:33.121
It's nice when Google sometimes has loading issues.

00:32:33.121 --> 00:32:44.368
So once you go to the Google Analytics property, you're going to want to look for something called a data stream.

00:32:44.368 --> 00:32:48.902
So once you go to the data stream it's going to give you a.

00:32:48.902 --> 00:32:54.190
It will give you the measurement ID.

00:32:54.190 --> 00:33:07.903
So once you copy the measurement ID, then you're going to want to reach out to your website platform partner to be able to add that code to everything And you can do every single page within the website.

00:33:07.903 --> 00:33:09.739
So at members first.

00:33:09.739 --> 00:33:10.862
This is how easy it is.

00:33:10.862 --> 00:33:17.707
So if you were to create that data stream, you would literally reach out to your client services manager, provide them the code.

00:33:17.707 --> 00:33:26.717
They would go into the corporate area of our sites, click on in our world general site config And you would search by that name.

00:33:37.076 --> 00:33:37.920
This is so easy.

00:33:39.342 --> 00:33:40.575
And we have just a quick tool.

00:33:40.575 --> 00:33:45.325
We have a quick tool in here called analytics, and you literally paste the code.

00:33:46.146 --> 00:33:46.387
Wow.

00:33:46.615 --> 00:33:48.259
Within here and hit save.

00:33:48.259 --> 00:33:57.555
So what that does is that, within our platform, at members first, that adds it to every single page on the website.

00:33:57.555 --> 00:34:05.593
Now, keep in mind, any other website partner out there within our industry should have those tools.

00:34:05.593 --> 00:34:18.740
To make it just as easy, however, you're going to need to create that data stream, find that measurement ID and send them the code in order for them to add it to the site.

00:34:18.740 --> 00:34:34.344
So once it's done, usually what happens is that the Google Analytics code will start tracking website data on your website, usually within 48 hours, and then you, of course, want to give it a few weeks to start gathering some data before you start analyzing it.

00:34:34.344 --> 00:34:51.641
And if anybody needs a quick step guide, then we've got a quick start guide that we're more than happy to share with any of your audience to guide them through the process to create their Google Analytics for property, find that measurement ID.

00:34:51.641 --> 00:34:56.382
That way they can send it over to their website platform provider.

00:34:57.992 --> 00:34:59.458
Where can they get this quick start guide?

00:35:00.972 --> 00:35:10.978
It's funny you should ask You could actually go to our website, wwwmembersfirstcom.

00:35:10.978 --> 00:35:13.023
Forward slash GA4.

00:35:13.023 --> 00:35:22.096
It's an easy way to get that quick start guide And also that is where you can actually subscribe to private club radio.

00:35:22.797 --> 00:35:25.163
And connect with you on LinkedIn and all of us.

00:35:25.163 --> 00:35:26.980
You can join the happy family we have here.

00:35:26.980 --> 00:35:28.849
How could people find you online, sean?

00:35:28.849 --> 00:35:31.478
Because you know we, this is it's the same thing.

00:35:31.478 --> 00:35:37.797
We can go down the rabbit hole and talk about different things for hours because you and I have, but you know how could people find you?

00:35:37.797 --> 00:35:39.702
Where do you want them to find you?

00:35:41.931 --> 00:35:49.123
To be honest with you, the easiest way to find us, of course, i mean our entire team you can go to, of course, membersfirstcom.

00:35:49.123 --> 00:35:55.239
You can always follow me on LinkedIn, which is we're pretty heavily active on LinkedIn.

00:35:55.239 --> 00:36:06.744
You know posting, you know industry educational content, because we're learning at the same time that that our clients are and it's our job to help them stay ahead of the game.

00:36:06.744 --> 00:36:09.657
But you could find me on LinkedIn, certainly.

00:36:09.657 --> 00:36:10.699
You can always shoot me an email.

00:36:10.699 --> 00:36:14.358
It's just Sean S E A N at membersfirstcom.

00:36:14.791 --> 00:36:15.072
Seen.

00:36:17.574 --> 00:36:21.570
I did have somebody ask me one time if that was how you pronounce my name.

00:36:22.791 --> 00:36:22.932
When.

00:36:22.992 --> 00:36:23.554
I was a kid.

00:36:23.634 --> 00:36:27.400
That bothered me like my mind was blown when I met a Sean.

00:36:27.400 --> 00:36:28.242
He's like S E A N.

00:36:28.242 --> 00:36:29.244
I was like wait what?

00:36:32.893 --> 00:36:35.489
And, and that's the only way I knew how to spell it growing up.

00:36:35.489 --> 00:36:40.442
So I'm always excited when I do see when the Sean's of the world are spelled correctly.

00:36:40.442 --> 00:36:52.336
The steps to you know, the steps to creating the, the Google Analytics, for you know, content can be overwhelming, but I do have a quick start guide if anybody wants that too.

00:36:52.518 --> 00:36:55.204
Yep, and that's membersfirstcom slash GA4.

00:36:56.271 --> 00:36:59.842
Correct, and so, within that, jump over to that page.

00:36:59.842 --> 00:37:11.003
Certainly there's a, you know, a six-step guide as to how to create your account and then, ultimately, if you need help adding it to your website, please reach out to me, let me know.

00:37:11.003 --> 00:37:14.250
Certainly, if you're a members first client, i can do it pretty easily.

00:37:14.250 --> 00:37:25.943
But even if you're not a members first client, i can guide you through the process as to how to obtain the code, create the account and then, you know, you can certainly send it over to your, to your website partner.

00:37:26.610 --> 00:37:35.202
But you know, that's part of the reason why I love you all at members first and you in you there is, it's it's just conversations.

00:37:35.202 --> 00:37:38.356
It's not like, hey, reach out and we're gonna say you some stuff.

00:37:38.356 --> 00:37:45.222
It's like, no, i reach out, we're gonna have a conversation, we're gonna see how we can help and you, i just love how helpful you are to so many people.

00:37:45.222 --> 00:37:51.516
So you know, if you are interested, reach out, even if it's more on, like maybe data questions too.

00:37:51.516 --> 00:38:02.219
I know we're trying to keep this just GA4, but you're like a pretty, pretty open book and willing to help most people with whatever they got going on, so you can point them in the point them in the right direction.

00:38:02.909 --> 00:38:04.335
Thanks, danny, appreciate you having us on.

00:38:04.657 --> 00:38:05.137
Talk to you soon.

00:38:05.137 --> 00:38:10.599
Sir, I hope you all enjoyed that episode.

00:38:10.599 --> 00:38:12.461
Please reach out to Sean.

00:38:12.461 --> 00:38:14.284
He is an amazing resource.

00:38:14.284 --> 00:38:20.302
I am so happy to call him my friend because he does so many great things for the industry.

00:38:20.302 --> 00:38:27.824
Head over to membersfirstcom slash GA4 membersfirstcom slash GA4.

00:38:27.824 --> 00:38:30.259
You can get your guide there.

00:38:30.259 --> 00:38:33.690
It'll show you very quickly how you can get it done and keep all your data saved.

00:38:33.690 --> 00:38:35.195
So head on over.

00:38:35.195 --> 00:38:37.619
As always, Any.

00:38:37.619 --> 00:38:42.570
As always, any engagement is much appreciated.

00:38:42.570 --> 00:38:46.217
A like, share, a rate, subscribe, any and all.

00:38:46.217 --> 00:38:47.360
Join in on the party.

00:38:47.360 --> 00:38:48.902
I'm over on LinkedIn a lot.

00:38:48.902 --> 00:38:50.530
I'm your host, Danny Corby.

00:38:50.530 --> 00:38:51.733
Catch you next time.