Many website users provide details about their needs and preferences throughout the conversion process. University applicants declare an area of study, homebuyers select a price tier, analytics training attendees choose a city.
This volunteered information can be captured and stored in Google Analytics as Custom Dimensions. Using the scenarios above, that may mean:
  • Applicant A wants to study biology.
  • Buyer B wants a $200,000 home.
  • Attendee C wants a training in Pittsburgh.
Now apply that concept to all of the users who express interest in a business. Instead of one university applicant or one homebuyer or one training attendee, we have thousands, or hundreds of thousands. These Custom Dimensions can organize users into related Audiences.
Marketers can then use these Audiences to create campaigns that nurture users along the path toward a goal completion. Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (RLSA) show more personalized messaging to users in the search results, acting as a reminder to finish the process that they started.
These core concepts presented an opportunity for Teach For America. The organization recruits some of the most distinguished and desirable job applicants in the world while they are also pursued by big brands offering big salaries. Keeping these applicants engaged throughout a rigorous selection process is essential. 
Teach For America and LunaMetrics partnered to stay top-of-mind with their illustrious applicants, using self-identified information to personalize messaging and better target candidates. The results were a 57% increase in conversion rate over campaigns without audience targeting and a more effective identification and targeting of applicants. Read the entire case study.

“There is no greater win as a marketer than to be certain you’re finding the right people in the right place at the right time. The results speak for themselves: The marriage between Google Analytics and RLSA insured we were able to deliver the message we wanted to the people we wanted.” —Stacey Jaffe, Senior Managing Director, Digital Acquisitions and Channel Growth, Teach For America

Posted by Daniel Waisberg, Analytics Advocate, Google Analytics team