Understanding User Acquisition Timeline in Google Analytics 4
Tracking when users first interact with your website or app is crucial for understanding user acquisition patterns and measuring the long-term success of your marketing campaigns. We'll show you how to create a report in Google Analytics 4 that reveals when users first discovered your platform, helping you identify successful acquisition periods and correlate them with specific marketing initiatives.Basic Report Structure
- Report Type: Free Form Exploration
- Primary Dimension: First Session Date
- Secondary Dimensions: User Source, User Medium
- Key Metrics: Total Users, Average Engagement Time, Purchases
- Visualization: Table format with date-based rows
Steps to Create the Report
- Open GA4 and navigate to Explore section
- Click the Blank template to start a new exploration
- Under the Dimensions click the + button and search for First Session Date, User Source, and User Medium, check the checkbox beside them and click Confirm
- Under the Metrics click the + button and search for Total Users, Average Engagement Time, and Purchases, check the checkbox beside them and click Confirm
- Drag First Session Date to the Rows section
- Drag User Source and User Medium to the Columns section
- Drag Total Users, Average Engagement Time, and Purchases to the Values section
- Set your date range to cover your desired analysis period
- Apply any relevant filters in the Filters section if needed
Important Dimensions and Metrics
- First Session Date: Shows when users first visited your site
- User Source: Reveals where users originally came from
- User Medium: Indicates the marketing medium that brought users
- Total Users: Count of unique users acquired on each date
- Average Engagement Time: Shows how engaged these users are
- Purchases: Tracks conversion activity of users by acquisition date
Actionable Insights
- Identify peak acquisition periods and correlate them with specific marketing campaigns to optimize future campaign timing
- Compare engagement metrics across different acquisition periods to understand which cohorts of users are most valuable
- Analyze the relationship between first session dates and conversion rates to determine optimal nurturing periods
- Use source/medium data to prioritize marketing channels that bring in the most engaged users
Answers Similar Questions
- How to track user acquisition dates in GA4
- View user cohorts by first visit date GA4
- Track when users first discovered my website GA4
- Google Analytics 4 first session date report
- GA4 user acquisition timeline analysis
