KPIs JOIN Stories vs Google Analytics
This document clarifies the methodological differences between native JOIN Stories KPIs and those of Google Analytics (GA4). Both tools measure complementary but distinct realities — a direct comparison of numbers without context can be misleading.
KPI | JOIN Stories | Google Analytics |
1. Story view | JOIN | Google Analytics |
Calculation formula | Total number of story views. A view is counted as soon as the story is opened | N/A — No equivalent native metric in GA. |
2. Engagement Rate | JOIN | Google Analytics |
Calculation formula | CTA clicks within the story / Total story views with CTA | Engaged sessions / Total sessions |
Scope | Stories without a CTA display N/A (nothing to measure). The overall average excludes stories without a CTA. | Based on browsing behavior: duration > 10s, 1 key event, or > 1 page loaded. |
Relevance per page | Highly relevant on home, landing, and category pages. Less relevant on product pages (the user is already in the right place). | Same measurement regardless of the page. |
💡 Note: The JOIN engagement rate measures a direct action on the content (CTA click). It is not comparable to the GA engagement rate which reflects overall browsing activity. |
3. Completion Rate | JOIN | Google Analytics |
Definition | Pourcentage max of watched video (max duration reached / total video duration) | Non-native metric in GA — requires a custom event. |
Concrete example | 66 seconds watched out of a 100-second video = 66% completion rate. |
|
💡 Note: The JOIN completion rate is a native and automatic metric. In GA, it requires manual tracking — values are therefore not directly comparable. |
4. Session Duration | JOIN | Google Analytics |
Definition | JOIN compares the average duration for users who have watched at least one story VS the average duration of engaged sessions where the widget is loaded but the story was not opened. | Duration calculated on engaged sessions: > 10s, 1 key event, or > 1 page loaded of all site users. |
💡 Note: GA reports a single average duration, with no distinction related to interaction with a third-party widget. |
5. Bounce Rate | JOIN | Google Analytics |
Definition | Calculated on engaged sessions only, where widget is integrated. JOIN definition: sessions with a single page view among engaged sessions. | All non-engaged sessions (< 10s, 0 key events, 1 page). |
Key mechanism | Clicking on a story immediately qualifies the session as engaged — it is therefore removed from the classic GA bounce rate. | A bouncing session = non-engaged session. Any interaction (including story) removes the session from the bounce calculation. |
💡 Note: The two calculations are NOT comparable. JOIN uses a definition aligned with the former GA logic (engaged sessions) to allow a consistent reading of the impact of stories. |
6. Conversion rate | JOIN | Google Analytics |
Definition | Calculated on engaged sessions only, where widget is integrated. Orders placed by users who viewed a story / Total engaged sessions with the widget loaded. | Transactions / Total sessions (all sessions). Calculated via the GA4 e-commerce module. |
Key mechanism | JOIN attributes the conversion to the engaged session where the story was opened. A story opening = qualified session = included in the calculation. | GA measures the conversion rate across all sessions, with no distinction regarding interaction with the JOIN widget. |
Measured result | Users who opened a story have a higher conversion rate than those who did not interact with the widget. | — |
7. Widget loaded | JOIN | Google Analytics |
Definition | Number of times the JOIN widget was loaded on a page. There is one load per widget (not per number of stories in the widget). Usually, this event is not subject to user consent. | N/A — No equivalent native metric in GA. Requires a custom event to track widget loading. |
Key mechanism | The widget is considered loaded as soon as it appears in the page DOM. JOIN detects this event automatically. | GA does not natively track third-party widget impressions. No directly comparable metric. |
8. Page view | JOIN | Google Analytics |
Definition | N/A — No equivalent native metric in JOIN. | Each page_view event triggered, across all sessions (engaged or not). This event is subject to user consent. |
9. Widget click | JOIN | Google Analytics |
Definition | Number of times the widget is clicked divided by the number of widget loads | N/A — No equivalent native metric in GA. |
Key takeaways
JOIN Stories measures the direct impact of stories on the behavior of engaged users.
Google Analytics measures overall site browsing behavior.
JOIN metrics are built on engaged sessions (GA4 definition), which ensures a solid foundation, but requires an adapted reading of the numbers.
Value differences between JOIN and GA are normal and expected: they reflect different measurement scopes, not inconsistencies.
It is possible to associate our events with those of Google Analytics. This allows customizing calculation methods based on Google Analytics data.