How to Connect Google Analytics and OptinMonster

Connecting OptinMonster to Google Analytics is one of the quickest ways to level up your conversion tracking. Instead of just knowing that a campaign is getting clicks, you'll be able to see exactly how it contributes to your website's goals within the full context of your user journey. This article provides a step-by-step guide to setting up the integration with Google Analytics 4 and shows you how to find and use that data to make better decisions.

Why Bother Connecting OptinMonster to Google Analytics?

OptinMonster has its own built-in analytics dashboard, which is great for a quick overview. It shows you impressions, conversions, and a conversion rate for each campaign. So, why add another layer with Google Analytics? Because context is everything.

Integrating the two platforms allows you to:

Attribute Goals to Specific Campaigns: See which OptinMonster pop-ups, slide-ins, or banners are driving not just email signups, but also other important site actions like purchases, demo requests, or key page views.
Understand the Full User Journey: Did a visitor see your welcome mat, close it, browse three pages, and then sign up using the footer opt-in? GA4 helps you connect those dots in a way that isolated analytics can't.
Build Advanced Segments: You can create audiences in GA4 of users who saw a specific OptinMonster campaign but didn't convert, allowing you to retarget them with Google Ads. Or, build a segment of users who did convert to analyze their other on-site behaviors.
Visualize Data in Custom Reports: Pull your OptinMonster conversion data into GA4's "Explore" reports to visualize performance alongside other key metrics like traffic source, device type, or geographic location.

Essentially, the integration stops treating your OptinMonster campaigns as separate events and starts treating them as integral parts of your overall marketing analytics.

How the Integration Works

When you connect OptinMonster and Google Analytics, OptinMonster automatically sends event data to your GA4 property whenever a visitor interacts with one of your campaigns. You don't need to write any code or use Google Tag Manager to set this up, the integration handles it for you.

Specifically, it sends two key events:

om_impression: This event fires whenever a campaign is shown to a visitor.
om_conversion: This event fires when a visitor successfully completes the campaign's goal (e.g., submitting a form, clicking a link).

Along with each event, OptinMonster also sends valuable information (called "event parameters"), such as the campaign's name and unique ID, so you can track performance on a campaign-by-campaign basis.

Before You Start: What You Need

Make sure you have a few things in place to ensure a smooth setup process:

An OptinMonster Account: The Google Analytics integration is available on the Growth plan and higher.
A Google Analytics 4 Property: You must have a GA4 property already set up and installed on the same website where your OptinMonster campaigns are running. If you're still on the sunsetted Universal Analytics (UA), this guide will emphasize moving to GA4.
Admin Level Access: You'll need sufficient permissions in both your OptinMonster and Google accounts to authorize the connection.

Step-by-Step Guide: How to Connect OptinMonster to GA4

Connecting the two platforms is a two-part process. First, you'll establish the connection at the account level. Then, you'll need to enable it for each individual campaign you want to track. Let's start with the main account integration.

Step 1: Navigate to Integrations in Your OptinMonster Dashboard

Log in to your OptinMonster account. In the top navigation menu, click on your profile icon in the upper-right corner and select "Integrations" from the dropdown menu.

Step 2: Add a New Integration

On the Integrations page, you'll see a list of any services you've already connected. Click the green "Add New Integration" button to get started.

Step 3: Select Google Analytics

You'll see a list of available integrations. Scroll down or use the search bar to find "Google Analytics" and click on it.

Step 4: Authenticate with Your Google Account

Now you'll authorize OptinMonster to send data to your Google account. Click the "Connect to Google Analytics" button. This will open a Google authentication pop-up window.

Choose the Google account that has access to the GA4 property you want to use. You'll be asked to grant OptinMonster permission to view your Google Analytics data. Click "Allow" to proceed.

Step 5: Configure the GA4 Connection

Once you've authenticated your account, you'll be brought back to OptinMonster to finish the setup.

Account Nickname: Give this connection a memorable name, like "My Website GA4." This is helpful if you manage multiple sites.
Analytics Account: From the dropdown, select the Google Analytics Account that contains your GA4 property.
Analytics Property: Select the specific GA4 Property and its associated Web Data Stream you want to send data to.

Once you’ve made your selections, click the green "Connect to Google Analytics" button to finalize the link.

Enabling GA4 Tracking for Specific Campaigns

You're halfway there! The main integration is complete, but by default, it isn't tracking any campaigns yet. You have to tell OptinMonster which specific campaigns should send data to GA4. This gives you granular control over what you track.

Here's how to do it:

Step 1: Open the Campaign Builder

Navigate to the campaign you wish to track and open it in the OptinMonster builder.

Step 2: Go to the Campaign's Integrations Tab

Inside the builder, click on the "Integrations" tab in the left-hand menu.

Step 3: Add the Google Analytics Integration

Click "Add New Integration" in the left panel. From the "Email Provider" dropdown, select "Google Analytics."

Step 4: Choose Your GA4 Account

In the next dropdown, "Email Provider Account," select the nickname for the GA4 connection you created moments ago (e.g., "My Website GA4"). The fields will populate automatically. Just save your campaign, and you're done!

Rinse and repeat this process for every campaign you want to track in GA4. A campaign will not send data until you've explicitly enabled the integration within its settings.

How to Verify Your OptinMonster Data in GA4

After setting everything up, you'll want to confirm that data is flowing correctly. While it can take 24-48 hours for event data to appear in standard GA4 reports, you can see it almost instantly in the Realtime report.

Using the Realtime Report

Log in to your Google Analytics 4 property.
In the left navigation, go to Reports > Realtime.
Open a new incognito window and go to the page on your website where your OptinMonster campaign is active.
Trigger the campaign impression and, if possible, complete a conversion (like submitting your email).
Watch the Realtime report in GA4. In the "Event count by Event name" card, you should see om_impression and om_conversion appear.
You can even click on an event in that card to see the parameters sent with it, such as the campaign_name.

If you see those events, congratulations! The connection is working properly.

Using Your OptinMonster Data: Creating Custom Reports

Seeing your data is one thing, making it useful is another. To analyze performance by campaign name, you first need to register the custom parameter that OptinMonster sends as a "Custom Dimension" in GA4. This step is essential for building meaningful reports.

Step 1: Create Custom Dimensions

In GA4, click the Admin gear icon in the bottom-left corner.
Under the "Data display" column, click on Custom definitions.
Click the "Create custom dimensions" button.
Create the 'Campaign Name' Dimension:
- Dimension name: Type OptinMonster Campaign Name.
- Scope: Leave as Event.
- Event parameter: Select campaign_name from the list (or type it in exactly if it’s not there yet).
- Click Save.

After you create this custom dimension, it will be available for use in your "Explore" reports after 24-48 hours.

Step 2: Build a Campaign Performance Report in 'Explore'

The "Explore" section of GA4 lets you build custom reports that go far beyond the standard ones. Here's a simple recipe to see all your OptinMonster campaign conversions in one place.

In the left navigation, click Explore and start a "Blank" or "Free form" report.
Add Dimensions:
- In the "Dimensions" panel on the left, click the '+' sign.
- Search for and import OptinMonster Campaign Name.
- Search for and import Event name.
Add Metrics:
- In the "Metrics" panel, click the '+' sign.
- Search for and import Event count.
Build the Report Canvas:
- Drag OptinMonster Campaign Name into the "Rows" section.
- Drag Event count into the "Values" section.
Filter for Only Conversions:
- At the bottom left, under "Filters," drag Event name over.
- Configure the filter: Event name → exactly matches → om_conversion.
- Click Apply.

You now have a clean, simple report showing the names of your OptinMonster campaigns and the total number of conversions for each one, pulled directly from your GA4 data. You can now add other dimensions like Source / medium to see which traffic channels are leading to the most opt-in conversions.

Final Thoughts

Connecting OptinMonster to Google Analytics 4 moves your conversion tracking from a siloed overview into an integrated part of your website's analytics. By sending impression and conversion events directly to GA4, you can more accurately measure each campaign's true impact and understand how they fit within the broader customer experience.

Building these reports is a great start, and as we went through, GA4 offers a ton of power, though it often requires several steps to get the insights you're after. At Graphed we’ve simplified this entire process. Instead of navigating menus to build reports, you can just connect your Google Analytics account and ask a question in plain English, like, "Show me my OptinMonster conversions by campaign name last month." We instantly build the dashboard for you, saving you the time and headache of manual report creation so you can get right to the answers.