Graphed LogoGraphed
Login

How to View Campaigns in Google Analytics 4

Cody Schneider•

Trying to find your campaign performance in Google Analytics 4 can feel like a frustrating game of hide-and-seek. Unlike Universal Analytics, there isn't a dedicated "Campaigns" report waiting for you in the standard navigation. This guide will show you exactly where to find your campaign data, how to create a custom report for it, and what to do if things aren't showing up as expected.

First Things First: A Quick Word on GA4 vs. Universal Analytics

In Universal Analytics (UA), campaign tracking was fairly straightforward, centered around three main parameters: Source, Medium, and Campaign. GA4 is much more flexible and event-based. While it still fundamentally relies on the same UTM parameters you've always used, it organizes them differently and calls them slightly different things.

The "session" is king in GA4's acquisition reports. You'll see dimensions like Session default channel group, Session source / medium, and, most importantly for this guide, Session campaign. This is the primary dimension we'll use to view the performance of your specific marketing campaigns. Understanding this small shift in terminology makes finding your data much easier.

The Foundation: Consistent UTM Tagging

Your campaign reports in GA4 are completely dependent on one thing: properly tagged URLs. If you aren't using Urchin Tracking Module (UTM) parameters consistently on the links in your marketing activities, GA4 won't have any campaign data to show you. It's that simple.

A UTM parameter is a snippet of text added to the end of a URL to help you track the effectiveness of your content and campaigns. There are five main parameters:

  • utm_source: Identifies which site sent the traffic (e.g., google, facebook, newsletter).

  • utm_medium: Identifies the marketing medium (e.g., cpc, email, social).

  • utm_campaign: Identifies a specific campaign (e.g., summer_sale_2024, new_product_launch).

  • utm_term: Used for paid search to identify specific keywords.

  • utm_content: Differentiates similar content or links within the same ad (e.g., blue_button vs. header_link).

Example of a Tagged URL

Let's say you’re running a summer sale and promoting it in your June email newsletter. Your tagged URL might look like this:

https://www.yourwebsite.com/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=summer_sale_2024

When someone clicks that link, Google Analytics reads those parameters and attributes their session (and any conversions) directly to your summer_sale_2024 campaign that came from your newsletter source.

Three Golden Rules for UTMs:

  1. Be Consistent. Decide on a naming convention and stick to it. facebook, Facebook, and FB will show up as three separate sources in your reports. Use lowercase to avoid issues.

  2. Be Clear. Your campaign names should make sense to you and your team six months from now. june_campaign_2 is not as helpful as q2_e-book_download_promo.

  3. Use a URL Builder. Don't try to build these by hand and risk typos. Use Google's free Campaign URL Builder to create them quickly and without errors.

Nailing your UTM strategy is 90% of the battle. Once this is in place, finding the data in GA4 becomes simple.

How to Find Your Campaign Data in GA4 (The Standard Report)

Once you have campaigns running with properly tagged URLs, you can find the performance data in the Traffic acquisition report. Here’s the step-by-step process.

Step 1: Navigate to the Traffic acquisition report.

In the left-hand navigation menu of GA4, go to Reports > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition.

Step 2: Change the primary dimension.

By default, this report is grouped by Session default channel group. This is a high-level view showing Organic Search, Direct, Paid Search, etc.

To see your specific campaigns, click the small downward arrow next to "Session default channel group" and select Session campaign from the dropdown list. You can simply type "campaign" in the search bar to find it quickly.

The report will now update to show each of your campaign names (whatever you put in the utm_campaign parameter) in the first column.

You can now see key metrics like Users, Sessions, Engaged sessions, event count, and Conversions for each campaign. If you have ecommerce tracking set up, you'll also see Total revenue.

Step 3: Add a secondary dimension for more detail (Optional).

Sometimes you need more context. You might want to see the specific source and medium that drove traffic for a particular campaign. To do this, click the "+" button next to the primary dimension dropdown.

From here, search for and select Session source / medium. This will add a second column to your report, showing you where the traffic for each campaign originated. This is incredibly useful for campaigns running on multiple platforms, like Facebook Ads and Google Ads.

Creating a Custom Campaign Report for Easy Access

Navigating to the Traffic acquisition report and changing the dimension every single time is a pain. The best solution is to create a custom, saved report that lives in your main navigation.

Step 1: Go to the Library.

At the bottom of the left-hand navigation pane in the "Reports" section, click on Library.

Step 2: Create a new detail report.

In the Library, click the blue Create new report button, and then select Create detail report from the dropdown.

Step 3: Use a template.

You can start from a blank slate, but it's much easier to use a template. Under "Create from template," select the Traffic acquisition template.

Step 4: Customize your report dimensions.

This will open a report builder screen. Click on Dimensions in the top-right Customization panel.

  • The default dimension will be Session default channel group. Click the three dots next to it and select Make default from the next dimension down, which should be Session campaign. Then remove Session default channel group by clicking the 'x'. Your report will now default to showing your campaigns.

  • Make sure Session campaign, Session source / medium, Session medium, and Session source are all included in your "Dimensions" list. You can add more if you need them. Click Apply.

Step 5: Customize your report metrics.

Next, click on Metrics. Here you can add, remove, or reorder the metrics that matter most to you. Good metrics for a campaign report include:

  • Sessions

  • Engaged Sessions

  • Engagement Rate

  • Conversions (make sure you pick the specific conversion events you care about)

  • Session conversion rate

  • Total users

  • Total revenue

Once you are happy, click Apply.

Step 6: Save and name your report.

Click the blue Save button in the top right. Give your report a clear name, like "Marketing Campaigns Performance." Click Save again.

Step 7: Add your new report to the navigation menu.

You'll be sent back to the Library. To make your report appear permanently, you need to add it to a collection in the left-hand navigation.

Find the collection you want to add it to (e.g., "Life cycle") and click Edit collection.

On the right side, search for the "Marketing Campaigns" report you just created. Drag and drop it into the "Acquisition" topic section on the left. Click Save, and then "Save changes to current collection."

Done! You now have a custom "Marketing Campaigns Performance" report in your "Acquisition" dropdown for easy, one-click access.

Troubleshooting Common Problems

Sometimes you go to look for your campaigns and see things that are confusing or discouraging. Here are a couple of the most common issues and what they mean.

Problem: My campaign is not showing up at all.

Likely cause: Missing or incorrect UTMs. This almost always means the traffic is coming from URLs without your utm_campaign parameter attached. Double-check the links you are using in your marketing materials. Use Google's URL builder to ensure there are no typos. Remember that any traffic coming from links you haven't tagged won't appear in this report.

Problem: I see a lot of (not set) values in my report.

Likely cause: Untagged traffic or redirect issues. (not set) is GA4's way of saying "I received this traffic but don't know the campaign details." This could happen for several reasons:

  • Manual vs. Auto-Tagging: If you're running Google Ads, make sure auto-tagging is enabled in your Google Ads account AND that it is correctly linked to your GA4 property. A mix of manual UTMs and auto-tagging for Google Ads can sometimes cause conflicts.

  • URL Redirects: Some server redirects can strip UTM parameters from a URL before the user lands on the final page. Test your links in an incognito browser window to make sure the full URL with all parameters makes it to the final destination.

  • Untagged On-Site Promotions: If you are promoting a campaign with an internal banner on your own website, you must still use full, UTM-tagged URLs on those links for them to be tracked as part of that campaign.

Final Thoughts

Effectively tracking your marketing campaigns in Google Analytics 4 all comes down to a disciplined UTM tagging strategy and knowing which report to customize. Once you set up your standard workflow using the Traffic acquisition report or create a saved custom report, checking your performance becomes a quick and easy habit.

Of course, this process only covers the data inside GA4. Understanding your true campaign ROI still means jumping between your ad platforms like Facebook Ads and Google Ads, your Shopify store, and your CRM to get the full picture. We built Graphed to solve this headache. After connecting your tools in just a few clicks, we let you instantly create dashboards and get insights from all your marketing and sales data in one place using simple, natural language. Instead of building custom reports in GA4, you can just ask, “Show me my top performing campaigns by revenue in a bar chart for last month,” and get an answer in seconds.