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Retargeting with BlueConic, Google Analytics 4 Custom Audiences, and Google Ads

Many visits to your website are bounces -- visitors land on your website, read the content, and leave. Retargeting, also known as remarketing, can help you keep your brand in front of bounced visitors even after they leave your pages.

You can use BlueConic data to:

  • Create custom dimensions and custom audiences in Google Analytics 4.
  • Set up ad groups or campaigns in Google Ads based on these custom audiences.

This article explains how to set up Google Analytics 4 and Google Ads to use BlueConic data for custom audience retargeting.

About BlueConic: The BlueConic customer data platform harnesses the data required to power the recognition of an individual at each interaction and then synchronizes their intent across the marketing ecosystem.

What you need

Set up the BlueConic Universal Analytics 4 connection. You should also define a mapping from the BlueConic segments to a custom dimension named "BcSegments" in Google Analytics 4.

Configuring Google Analytics 4

  1. Open Google Analytics 4.
  2. Click the Admin tab in the left menu.
  3. Click Ads Linking and make sure your Google Ads account is linked.
  4. Click Audience Definitions to show its menu. Click Audiences.
    cdp google analytics with BlueConic
  5. Click the NEW AUDIENCE button to define a new audience.
  6. Click the Create New button to build a new audience.
  7. The Audience Builder appears. Click the Conditions tab in the left menu to set up the audience filter.
  8. Select BcSegments under Custom Dimensions in the dropdown list. This holds all BlueConic segments for a visitor. Enter the name of the segment (e.g. "Customers") in the text field to create a filter.
    Conditions dropdown

Custom Dimensions can also hold BlueConic profile property values, such as filter on exact value matches:
Filters

  1. Click Apply to finalize the audience definition.
  2. Enter an audience name. Pick a descriptive and recognizable name so you can remember this audience Google Ads later.
  3. Click Next.
  4. Click Add destinations to select where you'd like to publish your audience.
  5. Click Publish.

Configuring Google Ads

  1. Open Google Ads.
  2. Click on the Tools, billing and settings icon Tools icon
  3. A pop-up menu appears. Click Audience manager.
  4. Click the + icon Plus iconin the top left to create a remarketing list.
  5. A pop-up menu appears. Click Custom combination.
  6. The Audiences to combine builder opens. Click Website visitors.
  7. The list of audiences appears. Click the name of the audience you created in GA4.
  8. Enter the Audience name. As a best practice, use exact name of the selected GA4 audience when possible.

Your custom audience is ready. Open it in one of the following ways:

  • Open your custom audience. Click the menu icon in the top right of the page. Click Add to.... Click Ad groups or Campaigns.
    Ad groups or campaigns
  • Click the Audiences tab. Add the your custom audience to the Ad group or Campaign of your choice.
    Audiences button

 

 

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