Another new feature Google announced at the GA Summit was Unified Segments. Google Analytics already has one of the best segmentation tools on the market with advanced segments and Unified Segments further expands on it.
Finally, True User Segmentation!
Unified Segments takes these features even further, allowing for true user segmentation. Whereas the old advanced segments could only segment based on visits (or sessions), Unified Segments can now do true user segmentation (segmenting visitors and not just visits). Google Analytics can now string together a user’s visits to provide a much clearer picture of their behavior.
So, to make it easier, let me give you an example. Amin visits my e-commerce website four times in the month of November. On his third visit, he purchases a $100 bedazzled Justin Bieber t-shirt.
With the previous version of advanced segments, I would only be able to create a segment to capture *visits* with revenue over $75. I would only have insight into one of Amin’s visits because only one of his visits met that criteria. There’s no way to tie his $75 of revenue visit to the other three where he didn’t spend any money.
With Unified Segments, I am now able to create a segment to capture *users* with revenue over $75. All four of Amin’s visits will be capture in this segment, because I’m segmenting on Amin, the visitor, and I can now tie all four of his sessions together.
Cohort Analysis
Another powerful feature of the new Unified Segments is the ability to do cohort analysis. At its most basic, cohort analysis is the study of a group of people that share a commonality within a given time period.
An easy cohort example would be a group of people that visit your website in the month of December. This type of analysis is extremely powerful when it comes to understanding what type of content a specific cohort consumes, what products they purchase, and so on. And you can even compare different cohorts against each other for deeper analysis!
Doing cohort analysis within Google Analytics used to be a much more intensive process, so we’re extremely excited with how easy this has become with Unified Segments.
Unified Segments
And as always, if you’re interested in learning more about Google Analytics and its new features, please check out our events page by clicking on the button below.
