In today’s competitive digital landscape, knowing your audience is everything. With Google Analytics 4 (GA4), audience building and remarketing have become more powerful and nuanced than ever before. Instead of relying solely on broad demographic data, GA4 allows you to define precise user segments based on behavior, engagement, and lifecycle stages.
This blog will walk you through what GA4 audiences are, how to create and utilize them, and how to integrate them with Google Ads for effective remarketing.
What Are Audiences in GA4?
An audience in GA4 is a group of users who share common characteristics or behaviors. These could be:
Users who visited your website but didn’t convert
Loyal customers who completed multiple purchases
Visitors from a specific location or campaign
GA4 lets you define these audiences using real-time and historical data. You can then use these audiences in your analysis or export them to Google Ads for personalized remarketing.
Why Audience Building Matters
Personalization: Serve tailored ads based on specific interests or behavior.
Efficiency: Avoid wasting ad spend on low-interest users.
Better Insights: Understand which segments drive the most conversions.
Customer Retention: Engage past users and bring them back.
How to Create Audiences in GA4
Follow these steps to create custom audiences:
Navigate to your GA4 property.
Go to Admin > Audiences.
Click New Audience.
Choose Create a custom audience or use a suggested template.
Audience Conditions:
Dimensions: Age, device type, location, etc.
Metrics: Session duration, events triggered, purchases
Sequences: Define actions in a specific order (e.g., viewed product > added to cart > exited)
Examples of Custom Audiences:
Users who visited your pricing page but didn’t fill out a contact form
First-time users who triggered the 'video_play' event
Returning users who haven’t made a purchase in the last 30 days
You can preview the expected audience size before saving.
Types of Audiences in GA4
Predefined Audiences
Includes All Users, Purchasers, Non-purchasers, etc.
Custom Audiences
Fully customizable based on user behavior
Predictive Audiences (if available)
Leverages machine learning to predict:
Likely purchasers
Users likely to churn
Note: Predictive audiences require significant data volume to activate.
Using Audiences in Reports
Once created, your audiences can be used in:
Exploration Reports: Deep-dive into behavior by audience group
Comparison Feature: Add audiences as filters in standard reports
Funnel Exploration: See where users drop off within defined audiences
Integrating GA4 Audiences with Google Ads
To run remarketing campaigns, you must link GA4 to your Google Ads account:
Steps:
Go to Admin > Product Links > Google Ads
Click Link and follow the prompts to connect your Ads account
Enable personalized advertising and audience sharing
Once linked, your audiences will automatically sync with Google Ads.
In Google Ads:
Create a new campaign
Choose "Audience segments" targeting
Select your synced GA4 audience
You can now run:
Display campaigns to re-engage visitors
Search ads with audience modifiers
YouTube ads targeting engaged users
Advanced Strategies with Audiences
1. Sequential Retargeting
Week 1: Show product-focused ads
Week 2: Show testimonial-based ads
Week 3: Offer a discount to close the deal
2. Geo-based Remarketing
Target users from high-converting cities
3. Cross-device Remarketing
Reach users on mobile who originally visited on desktop
4. Cart Abandonment Recovery
Show dynamic ads to users who added items but didn’t check out
Measuring Audience Performance
You can track how each audience behaves over time:
Go to Explore > Free Form
Add Audience Name as a dimension
Compare metrics like:
Engagement rate
Conversion rate
Revenue per user
Best Practices
Start with broad audiences, then narrow down
Regularly update audiences based on evolving goals
Exclude converters from awareness campaigns
Use predictive audiences once available
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
Creating overly complex audiences that result in tiny segments
Not excluding converters from remarketing lists
Forgetting to verify audience sizes before using in campaigns
Relying too heavily on demographic filters instead of behavior
Final Thoughts
GA4 audiences aren’t just a way to segment users — they’re a strategic tool for improving marketing efficiency and personalizing user experiences. With the right setup, your business can deliver hyper-relevant content and ads that move users down the funnel effectively.
In our next blog, we’ll focus on GA4 Conversion Tracking — helping you define, monitor, and optimize what matters most: meaningful user actions.
Stay tuned!