MBA Module: Digital Marketing
Week 7
Digital Analytics & Data-Driven Decision Making
Without data, you're just another person with an opinion.
Today's Agenda
- The Analytics Mindset: Hypotheses, Not Hunches
- Google Analytics 4 (GA4) Architecture
- Setting Up Events & Conversions
- Key GA4 Reports: Acquisition, Engagement, Monetisation
- Attribution Models: Who Gets the Credit?
- Building a Marketing Dashboard
- From Data to Insight to Action
- Lab: Build Your GA4 Dashboard
Part 1: The Analytics Mindset
The difference between a data analyst and a data-driven marketer.
Data Analyst vs. Data-Driven Marketer
Data Analyst
Collects and reports on data. Describes what happened.
"Traffic from organic search dropped 18% last month."
Data-Driven Marketer
Uses data to make decisions. Prescribes what to do next.
"Organic traffic dropped 18%. Our top 3 blog posts lost rankings. Here's a content refresh plan to recover them."
The goal is always to move from data → insight → action → result.
Part 2: Google Analytics 4 (GA4)
The new standard. Event-based tracking for the modern web.
GA4 vs. Universal Analytics: What Changed
Universal Analytics (Old)
- Session-based data model
- Tracked pageviews and sessions
- Cookies-only
- Sunseted in July 2024
GA4 (Current)
- Event-based data model
- Tracks any interaction as an event
- Cross-device, cross-platform
- Built-in BigQuery export
- Machine Learning powered
Events & Conversions in GA4
In GA4, everything is an event. A pageview is an event. A button click is an event. A purchase is an event.
Automatically Collected
page_view, session_start, first_visit — collected without any setup
Enhanced Measurement
Scroll depth, outbound clicks, video engagement, file downloads — toggle on in settings
Custom Events
form_submission, purchase, add_to_cart — configured via Google Tag Manager
Part 3: Key GA4 Reports
The three reports every marketer opens first.
The Acquisition Report
Question it answers: Where is my traffic coming from?
| Channel |
What It Includes |
| Organic Search |
Clicks from unpaid Google/Bing results |
| Paid Search |
Google Ads traffic (tagged with UTMs) |
| Direct |
Typed URL or untracked source |
| Organic Social |
Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn posts |
| Email |
Clicks from email campaigns (UTM tagged) |
| Referral |
Clicks from other websites linking to you |
UTM Parameters: The Tracking Backbone
UTM tags are added to URLs to identify the exact source of traffic in GA4.
arjankc.com.np?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=mba-launch
| Parameter | Purpose | Example |
|---|
| utm_source | Where traffic comes from | google, facebook, newsletter |
| utm_medium | The marketing channel | cpc, email, organic |
| utm_campaign | Campaign name | mba-module-launch |
| utm_content | Specific creative/version | banner-A, headline-1 |
Part 4: Attribution Models
Who gets the credit for the sale?
The Attribution Problem
A customer's journey before converting:
- Sees a Facebook ad (scrolled past)
- Googles your brand name (finds blog post)
- Signs up for your email list
- Clicks a link in your welcome email → purchases
Which channel gets credit? The answer depends on your attribution model — and it determines how you allocate budget.
Attribution Models Compared
| Model | How Credit Is Assigned | Best For |
|---|
| Last Click | 100% to the last touchpoint | Direct response, short cycles |
| First Click | 100% to the first touchpoint | Awareness campaigns |
| Linear | Equal credit to all touchpoints | Long B2B sales cycles |
| Time Decay | More credit to recent touchpoints | Time-sensitive promotions |
| Data-Driven (GA4) | ML assigns credit based on actual conversion probability | Accounts with enough data |
Part 5: Building a Marketing Dashboard
From raw numbers to a single source of truth.
The Executive Marketing Dashboard
A good dashboard answers these questions at a glance:
Performance Questions
- Are we hitting our conversion targets?
- Which channels deliver the best ROAS?
- What is our CAC by channel this month?
Health Questions
- Is organic traffic growing month-over-month?
- Are email open rates above 25%?
- Is our bounce rate improving on key landing pages?
Tools: GA4 Exploration, Looker Studio (free), Google Sheets + GA4 Data API
From Data to Decision: A Framework
1. Identify the Anomaly
CTR dropped from 3.2% to 1.8% this week. What changed?
2. Form a Hypothesis
"New creative underperforms. Test reverting to the old image."
3. Test & Measure
A/B test for 7 days. Statistical significance > 95% before deciding.
Lab: Set Up Your GA4 Dashboard
Using GA4 + Looker Studio
- Connect GA4 to your sandbox landing page
- Set up one conversion event (e.g., form_submission)
- Create a Looker Studio report with: Sessions by channel, Conversion rate, Top pages, Bounce rate trend
- Tag one link with UTM parameters and verify it appears in GA4
Deliverable for Week 7
Analytics Report
- Screenshot of your GA4 dashboard showing traffic and one conversion event
- Analysis: Which channel is performing best? Why?
- One data-driven recommendation for Week 8 improvements
Due before the Capstone Pitch in Week 8.