[GA4] Understand data sources

This section is for users who wish to import offline Salesforce event data in Google Analytics 4. Salesforce import uses the offline-event data import type. Learn more how to Import offline-event data.

Step 1: Decide how to identify your users

Analytics offers 2 ways to programmatically identify your users: Client ID and User-ID. To support Data Import for Salesforce, you must implement Client ID. You may optionally choose to also implement User-ID.

Client ID pseudonymously identifies a browser instance. This is a non-authenticated, cookie-based identifier created automatically by an Analytics-enabled site on a user’s first visit.

User-ID enables the analysis of groups of sessions, across devices, using a unique, persistent, and non-personally identifiable ID string representing a user.

You must add the Client ID, and optionally your User ID, to your lead form page and any other pages you want to measure. You can do this via Google Tag Manager or a JavaScript variable.

Step 2: Configure access for Salesforce objects and fields

To set up the Analytics Salesforce integration, you must have full access to the following Salesforce objects and fields. A Salesforce user account with System Administrator access may already have access to these fields.

In addition, be sure to grant Modify All Data permission to the user who is linking your Salesforce and Analytics accounts. This is required by the Salesforce Metadata API to enable Google to fetch Lead conversion settings data. This integration does not modify your Salesforce account and the Metadata API is used in a read-only capacity.

If you use Salesforce Group Edition or Professional Edition, field access is granted by adding the necessary fields to your Lead and Opportunity page layouts. Learn more about setting page layouts and field-level security in Salesforce.

Step 3: Create new custom fields in Salesforce

Following these instructions create three custom fields in Salesforce to store your Analytics information. You can name your fields as you like. The following names are just recommendations, but we suggest these recommended names as they can assist in implementation as well as future debugging (if needed).

Step 4: Configure the Lead and Opportunity objects

For the Lead object, enable Field History Tracking for the Lead status field. For the Opportunity object, enable Field History Tracking for the Stage field. This will ensure that any update to these fields will generate an event.

Map the fields in each object to their counterpart in the other object:

• Lead.GACLIENTID to Opportunity.GACLIENTID
• Lead.GAUSERID to Opportunity.GAUSERID
• Lead.GAMEASUREMENTID to Opportunity.GAMEASUREMENTID

Step 5: Edit your lead form

Modify your lead form to capture and store the required tracking information. You'll need to know your Measurement ID. Learn more about Measurement ID.

<form action="" name="myForm">
    Phone: <input type="text" name="phone_number">
    <input type="hidden" id="GACLIENTID" name="GACLIENTID" value="">
    <input type="hidden" id="GAUSERID" name="GAUSERID" value="">
    <input type="hidden" id="GAMEASUREMENTID" name="GAMEASUREMENTID" value="ignoredXXXXX">
    <input type="submit">
</form>

<script type="text/javascript">
    document.getElementById('FORM_ID').addEventListener(
    'submit', function(event) {
      ga(function() { 
        var tracker = ga.getAll()[0];
        var clientId = tracker.get('clientId');
        document.getElementById('GACLIENTID').value = clientId;
        var userId = tracker.get('userId'); 
        document.getElementById('GAUSERID').value = userId; 
      });
    });
</script>

Step 6: Link Analytics to your Salesforce account

Link Analytics to your Salesforce account by creating a new Data import configuration and authenticating access to your Salesforce account.

A data-source type corresponds to the specific type of data you want to import. For example, there are data-source types for cost data, item data, user data, and offline-event data. For each one, you have different options for the dimensions and metrics (the schema) you can upload data for. Salesforce import uses the offline-event data import type. Learn more about importing offline-event data.

Import Salesforce data

To import offline Salesforce data on Leads and Opportunities using Data Import, complete the following steps:

1. In Admin, then under Data collection and modification, click Data import.
   Note: The previous link opens to the last Analytics property you accessed. You can change the property using the property selector.
2. Click Create data source.
3. Enter a name for your data source.
4. Select Offline events data as the data type.
5. Click Review terms if prompted and accept the User Data Collection Acknowledgement. This is a prerequisite for uploading offline events and/or user data.
6. Under Upload data for import select Salesforce as the Import source.
7. Authenticate with Salesforce in the popup window that appears.
8. Select the Import schedule. Note that standard properties support daily import while Analytics 360 customers can select hourly.
9. Click Next.
10. Choose the Salesforce milestones and fields you want to measure as Analytics events. See Step 7, Step 8, and Step 9, below.
11. Click Import. After the initial import the data will be imported as scheduled.

Step 7: Set up your leads

Select keys, milestones, and optional fields for the leads you wish to collect as events.

Step 8: Set up your opportunities

Select keys, milestones, and optional fields for the opportunities you wish to collect as events.

If you would like Opportunity conversion events to effect the revenue and LTV (Lifetime Value) stats, we advise you to map the following:

• Map the final conversion milestone (the opportunity won milestone) to the ‘purchase’ event. This enables revenue to accrue appropriately for those events which may contain revenue.
• Map ‘amount’ (this holds the revenue amount for the winning opportunity) to the ‘value’ parameter (the parameter for which GA4 collects revenue data).
• Finally, you can map ‘Id’ (or another field representing the transaction id more appropriately) to the GA4 ‘transaction id’ field.

Standard supported fields

You can import attributes from the following standard Salesforce Lead fields:

• Id
• Industry
• NumberOfEmployees
• Rating
• ScoreIntelligenceId (if available in your Salesforce Edition)

You can also import the following standard Opportunity fields:

• Amount
• CampaignId
• ContractId
• ExpectedRevenue
• Id
• LeadSource
• Name
• Probability
• TotalOpportunityQuantity

Supported formats

In addition to the standard fields listed above, you can import all custom attribute fields with the following Salesforce field formats:

• boolean
• currency
• date
• datetime
• dateTime (camelCase)
• double
• int
• percent
• picklist
• string
• textarea
• time

To import attributes:

1. Select the Analytics custom dimensions and/or custom metrics that you want to contain the attribute data.
2. Make sure that the selected custom dimensions have the correct scope. In most cases, this will be user properties. Learn how to Understand GA4 scopes.
3. Use the drop-down menu in the Salesforce field name column to map the Analytics fields to your Salesforce fields.

Example configuration

Here is an example of a supported standard Salesforce fields and Analytics custom fields mapping.

Step 9: Test your setup

Test your configuration by checking if your imported Salesforce data is visible in your Analytics reports (for example, the Events report or the Realtime report) and Explorations.

To check the status of your most recent import go to Admin, then under Data collection and modification, click Data import.

Notes and limits

• Make sure you abide by the Analytics Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
• Don't import personally identifiable information (PII).
• Imported data uses the currency (or currencies, if you have multi-currency enabled) set up in your Salesforce account.
• Salesforce item data is imported to the Opportunity object, not Lead data.
• Empty fields are removed at the time of import.
• Item data is limited to 200 unique item indexes.