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Understanding Data Discrepancies Between Facebook vs. Google Analytics vs. Klaviyo
Are you looking at your sales data and wondering if you’re losing your mind?
If you work with multiple platforms, like Facebook, Google Analytics, and Klaviyo, it can feel like it at times. Here’s the good news: the data’s not wrong, and you’re not losing your mind.
Here’s the bad news: the data will never match up.
These platforms have their own definitions of what counts as a conversion, and different timeframes in which they allow one to happen. One of our own clients recently asked us how accurate Google Analytics data really is, given the huge discrepancies they’re seeing with their Facebook and Klaviyo numbers.
Today, we’ll explain it all. Read on to learn how Facebook, Google, and email marketing providers like Klaviyo are counting your sales, and get our best practice tips for more accurate sales tracking.
Decoding the Differences Between Email vs. Facebook vs. Google Attribution Models
To get started, we’ll review what counts as a conversion on each platform, along with their default conversion windows.
- What counts as a sale? Facebook divides conversions between actions taken on Facebook (like watching a video in your ad or liking it) vs. actions taken off Facebook, like a purchase on your website. Sales fall in the former.
- Timeframe: For actions taken off Facebook, like a purchase on your website, Facebook registers the conversion if it happens within 1 day of someone seeing your ad (1-day view-through) or within 28 days of someone clicking on your ad (28-day click-through).
Klaviyo
- What counts as a sale? Klaviyo tracks both when a customer lands on the first page of the checkout page (Checkout Started) as well as when they complete their order (Placed Order). The Placed Order revenue data may not always sync with what you see in Shopify, as Klaviyo doesn’t subtract canceled and refunded orders (which Shopify does).
- Timeframe: Conversions sync with Shopify in real-time, within seconds of the order being placed. The default conversion window for Klaviyo is 5 days, but you can adjust it in your settings.
Google Ads
- What counts as a sale? Google Ads can track a variety of conversions, from website sales to phone calls to app installs. If you’ve installed a Google tracking tag on your website, Google Ads will count every website conversion as a sale.
- Timeframe: The default conversion window for Google Ads is 30 days, but you can change it to anywhere between 1 to 90 days, whatever makes sense for your business. Google recommends looking at the time lag report to assess how long it takes your average user to go from click to conversion. Google Ads data is refreshed within 3 hours for last-click attribution models, and within 15 hours for other attribution models.
Why does all this matter? Here’s an example of what can happen when you don’t account for different attribution models and timeframes:
You’ve set your Google Ads to a last-click attribution model with a 7-day conversion window. Your email provider, Klaviyo, attributes a sale when a person clicks on the email and makes a purchase within a 5-day conversion window.
Let’s say a person clicked on your email but didn’t buy it immediately. Three days later, they came back to your site to make a purchase, entering the URL through their browser rather than clicking the link from your email. Because the user’s last “click” was by typing in your website, Google Analytics will attribute the sale to the Direct channel. Klaviyo will attribute it to email since the user originally clicked on the email (and thus became aware of the sale) and purchased within the 5-day window.
In this example, the Klaviyo data is more accurate, since the user discovered the sale through your email campaign.
Best Practices to Avoid Sales Reporting Discrepancies
Data discrepancies can be a nightmare. Here’s how to avoid them.
First, stick with one report for all channels. This report will be your “source of truth.” Still keep an eye on your other reports to make sure nothing looks wonky. At Your Marketing People, we report email numbers from Klaviyo and Google Analytics.
Next, add utm parameters to ALL campaigns. You can then pull a report in Shopify by utm parameters. This has been the most accurate way for us to determine last-click sales.
Finally, for help untangling your reports, work with the pros. Our reporting experts thrive on connecting and cleaning up data among your web and social analytics, advertising platforms, and CRM or online store. We’re also HubSpot Certified. Contact us now to set up custom reporting and alerts for your business.
