Tracking anonymous customer journeys across platforms - essay

Bushell, C (2025) Tracking anonymous customer journeys across platforms - essay. SSRN Electronic Journal. ISSN 5347814

Abstract

Understanding and tagging the full customer journey even when purchases happen long after an initial touch-requires a strategic blend of technology and data management. Modern platforms like Google Analytics 4 (GA4), Meta's Business Suite (Facebook/Instagram), Salesforce CRM/Marketing Cloud, and Google BigQuery each offer tools to persistently identify users, log events across channels, resolve identities across devices, and attribute conversions back to early marketing touchpoints. Below, we break down how each platform supports long term customer journey tracking, with real world techniques from brands like Starbucks, Gymshark, and Netflix. We then highlight advanced methods (probabilistic modeling, server side tracking) and conclude with practical takeaways for implementing a long term attribution framework. Keywords: Metrics, Analytics, Customer Journey, Anonymous Customer, Sale Conversion, Lead Conversion, Marketing Funnel

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