Analytics migrations aren’t glamorous. But if your team is moving from Google Analytics to something a bit more B2B-friendly, like Mixpanel, you want to avoid a mess. This guide is for B2B folks who need real product analytics—not just pageviews and bounce rates. I’ll walk through what’s actually worth moving over, what’s not, and how to save yourself hours of pointless busywork.
Why Migrate—and What You’re Really Up Against
Let’s not kid ourselves: Google Analytics (GA) was built for websites, not for tracking what actual users do inside your product. Mixpanel is far better for SaaS and B2B platforms, giving you real answers about users, accounts, and behaviors.
But here’s the catch: GA and Mixpanel don’t speak the same language. GA is all about sessions, pages, and anonymous IDs. Mixpanel is about users, events, and properties. You’re not just swapping tools—you’re switching how you think about analytics.
Heads up: You cannot just “import your GA data into Mixpanel.” The platforms are fundamentally different. Most of your migration will be about mapping, rethinking, and setting up new events. And that’s actually a good thing—it forces you to clean up years of tracking cruft.
Step 1: Audit What You’re Tracking (and Ditch What You Don’t Need)
Before you even touch Mixpanel, make a brutally honest list of what you’re tracking in GA now. Spoiler: a lot of it is useless in a B2B context.
What’s usually worth keeping: - Key conversion events (signups, demo requests, subscription upgrades) - Important user flows (onboarding steps, feature usage) - Account-level actions (inviting teammates, setting up integrations) - Custom dimensions that tie users to companies, plans, or roles
What to skip: - Vanity metrics (bounce rate, average session duration—nobody cares) - Fluffy engagement events (scroll depth, generic “button clicks”) - Anything you can’t explain to someone else in two sentences
Pro tip: Ask your product and sales teams what they actually use analytics for. That’ll keep you focused.
Step 2: Map Google Analytics Events to Mixpanel Events
Now, for every key event in GA, figure out its Mixpanel equivalent. This is harder than it sounds, because naming and structure matter.
How to do it: 1. List your GA events: Grab them from your GA property (“Events” report) or your tracking code. 2. Define clear Mixpanel events: Give each action a straightforward name (e.g., “Signed Up,” “Invited Teammate”). 3. Decide on event properties: What extra info do you want to send with each event? (user ID, account type, plan, etc.) 4. Map custom dimensions: If you tracked “Account Name” or “User Role” in GA, plan to send those as properties with events in Mixpanel.
Example mapping table:
| Google Analytics Event | Mixpanel Event Name | Properties to Send | |-----------------------|--------------------|-------------------------| | ga_event: signup | Signed Up | user_id, account_type | | ga_event: upgrade | Upgraded Plan | user_id, new_plan, price| | ga_event: invite | Invited Teammate | user_id, team_id |
Don’t overthink it. Keep event names short and clear. If you’re unsure whether to track something, leave it out for now—you can always add more later.
Step 3: Decide If You Really Need Historical Data
Here’s the tough truth: most teams think they need years of old GA data, but rarely use it in Mixpanel. Migrating historical events is possible, but it’s a pain. And there are real downsides:
- Cost: Backfilling lots of data can get expensive in Mixpanel.
- Incompatibility: GA and Mixpanel events don’t always line up; you’ll get weird gaps and inconsistencies.
- Technical debt: Importing junk data now means more confusion later.
When to bother importing historical data: - You have key events (like product signups) you must keep for cohort analysis. - You run quarterly/yearly reporting and need continuity. - Your analytics team can actually dedicate time to cleaning the data.
When to skip it: - You’re shifting how you measure success anyway. - Your old GA data is messy, incomplete, or based on bad event definitions.
Bottom line: For most B2B teams, start fresh unless you have a clear, urgent need for old data.
Step 4: Set Up Tracking in Mixpanel
Now it’s time to instrument your app for Mixpanel tracking. Here’s how to get it right:
1. Install the Mixpanel SDK - Pick your stack (JavaScript, React, backend, mobile) and follow Mixpanel’s integration docs. - Set up user identification early—B2B tracking is useless if you can’t tie actions to users and accounts.
2. Implement the mapped events - For each event you mapped in Step 2, fire a Mixpanel event from your app. - Attach useful properties (user ID, account, plan, etc.). - Avoid sending dozens of one-off events—stick to the “critical few.”
3. Handle account-level tracking - Mixpanel supports “groups” (like companies or teams)—set up group analytics so you can report by account, not just individual users. - Send group properties (plan, ARR, number of users) alongside events for richer analysis.
4. QA religiously - Test events in Mixpanel’s “Live View.” - Check that user and group properties are coming through as expected. - Fix naming and data issues now, before you get too far in.
Pro tip: Don’t let engineering “just copy the GA events.” Rethink what matters for your product, and track only what’s actionable.
Step 5: (Optional) Import Critical Historical Data
If you really must bring over old data, here’s the process:
1. Export your events from GA - Use Google Analytics’ Data Export or the Reporting API to pull relevant events. - Format as CSV or JSON. You’ll need user IDs, event names, timestamps, and properties.
2. Clean and map the data - Make sure event names and properties match your new Mixpanel schema. - Remove anything you don’t need—don’t pollute your new setup with junk.
3. Import to Mixpanel - Use Mixpanel’s Data Import API or Upload tool. - Watch for import limits and costs (Mixpanel can get pricey if you batch in millions of events).
4. Validate - Spot-check a few user journeys to make sure data makes sense. - Don’t stress about perfect continuity; it’s normal for imported data to be a bit rough.
Reality check: This process is tedious and rarely perfect. Only do it if you have a very strong business case.
Step 6: Rebuild Dashboards and Reports
You’ll need to recreate your key dashboards in Mixpanel. This isn’t a copy-paste job—Mixpanel’s analysis tools are different, and usually better for B2B SaaS.
Focus on: - User and account funnels (e.g., “Signup → Onboarded → Upgraded”) - Feature adoption (e.g., “Used Feature X in first 30 days”) - Account health and retention cohorts
Skip: - Vanity charts (time on page, bounce rate, etc.) - Overly granular dashboards nobody checks
Get feedback from stakeholders. Build only what people use, not what looks impressive in a slide deck.
Step 7: Communicate the Change (and Set Expectations)
Don’t surprise your execs or sales team with new dashboards or weird data changes. Let people know:
- What’s different in Mixpanel vs. GA
- Where to find the new dashboards
- What historical data is (and isn’t) available
Be honest about gaps. There may be a few weeks where reports are spotty as you sort things out. That’s normal.
A Few Things to Ignore
- GA4’s “export to BigQuery”: If you’re not already deep into data warehousing, don’t bother. It’s overkill for most B2B teams.
- Trying to match every GA metric 1:1: Not possible. Not worth it.
- Automated migration tools: They sound nice, but they rarely work well between GA and Mixpanel. Manual mapping is the only way to keep the data useful.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Iterate Fast
Migrating analytics isn’t about moving every byte of data—it’s about getting the right insights for your business. Focus on a handful of critical events, make sure they’re tracked cleanly, and rebuild your dashboards around real questions.
Start simple. You can always add more events or properties later, but cleaning up a bloated Mixpanel setup is a pain nobody wants. Launch, learn, and tweak as you go.
And if you’re feeling stuck, remember: every team that’s made this switch has wished they’d started with less, not more.