In some cases, Google Analytics 4 (GA4) conversion events and Salesforce leads may not match exactly.
Here are some of the possible reasons this situation may occur:
- Deleted and/or converted leads. Some Salesforce leads may be deleted or converted into contacts, and therefore may not appear in standard lead reports. Meanwhile, GA4 does not delete historical conversion event data.
- Time zone settings. Differences in time zone settings between GA4 and Salesforce can cause conversions and leads to appear on different days, leading to mismatches in daily reports.
- Outside lead sources. Salesforce leads can be manually created or imported from sources not tracked in GA4 (such as phone calls, offline campaigns, or direct Salesforce entry), resulting in leads that are not reflected as conversions in GA4.
- Goals firing twice. In GA4, if a user reloads or revisits a “thank you” page, the corresponding conversion event may be sent multiple times, unless deduplication is implemented (e.g., using event parameters or user engagement rules). This may result in multiple GA4 conversions for a single Salesforce lead.
- Sampling. GA4 uses data sampling less aggressively than Universal Analytics, especially when using the standard reports. However, some ad hoc explorations or large datasets may still be sampled, which can introduce minor discrepancies. Salesforce, on the other hand, provides precise lead counts.
- Google Analytics goals behavior. GA4 conversions are event-based and can fire multiple times per session unless specifically restricted by event parameters. However, if conversion deduplication isn’t set up properly, GA4 might count more conversions than intended. On the flip side, if event tracking isn’t firing consistently (e.g., due to blockers or implementation issues), GA4 may underreport actual conversions.
