Nailing down exactly who is interested in your products and services is a huge challenge for businesses. While you may have a target demographic in mind, it could be that they aren’t actually your best customers. So, how can you utilise Google Analytics to ensure you are reaching the right customers, on the right platforms, via the right channels?
Before we get started…
It’s worth noting that Google Analytics Demographics and Interests reports are not able to provide data on all of your visitors. This can be for a number of reasons:
- Data is collected by cookies, which are often blocked (by extensions like Ad Blocker), or deleted by users when they clear cookies
- Google uses thresholds to ensure that individuals cannot be identified to ensure compliance with privacy laws
- For large websites, Google will apply Data Sampling to deliver demographic data based on a sample set rather than all data in the account to ensure the report can be processed quickly
This will of course, to some extent, affect the accuracy of the data it collects. Bear this in mind, and if you can, collect user demographic data from a range of sources.
Setting up Google Analytics to get the Demographics and Interest reports
First things first. To be able to see the Demographics and Interests report, there are a few steps you have to complete.
What you’ll need:
- A Google Ads account
- Edit permissions in Google Analytics
- To be able to update your website’s privacy policy
Step one
Login into Google Analytics, and navigate to the Audiences tab. On the drop-down, select ‘Demographics’. You will then be prompted to enable the report.
If successful, you’ll see a confirmation message informing you that data will be available shortly.
Step two
Navigate to the Admin area of Google Analytics, head to Properties, then Tracking Info > Data Collection.
Here, enable both features.