If you are serious about scaling your Google Ads performance, there is one strategy you cannot afford to ignore: Intent-based Audience Segmentation.

The biggest mistake advertisers make is treating “Window Shoppers” and “Serious Researchers” with the same budget and the same message. Someone who bounces in 10 seconds should not be in the same remarketing bucket as a visitor who spent 5 minutes diving into your technical specs.

One of the most powerful—and completely free—benefits of Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the ability to build granular, high-intent audiences. If you aren’t tracking these, you aren’t just missing data; you’re leaving money on the table.

Today, I’m breaking down how to create two high-value, highly engaged audiences in GA4 that will transform your retargeting ROI. Import these into Google Ads for google ads audience tracking, and you’ll stop chasing ghosts and start closing leads.

But first, we have to ask the golden question: How do we actually define a “warm” visitor? While there are dozens of signals, we’re going to focus on the two most effective ways to identify true interest.

Beyond the Click: How to Build GA4 High-Value Audiences for 2026

1. A visitor who spend more than 2 to 3 minutes on the sites and visites at least 2 pages on our site
2. A visitor who have scrolled at least 75 to 90% on the page they landed. 

How do we track them in GA4 or Google analytics 4.

Let’s first start with:

A visitor who spend more than 2 to 3 minutes on the sites and visites at least 2 pages on our site

In GA4, we use the Audience Builder to combine “Session Duration” and “Event Count” for page views.

Step-by-Step: Creating the “High Engagement” Audience

1. Open the Audience Builder:

• Go to Admin > Data Display > Audiences.
• Click New audience > Create a custom audience.

2. Condition 1: Time on Site (3 Minutes)

• Click Add new condition.
• Search for the metric Session duration.
• Filter Settings:
• Condition: greater than or equal to (>=).
• Value: 180 (GA4 measures this in seconds, so 3 minutes= 180 seconds).
• Click Apply.

3. Condition 2: More than 1 Page View 

• Click the AND button.
• Select Events > page_view.
• Click + Add parameter next to the event name.
• Select Other > Event count.
• Filter Settings:
• Condition: greater than (>).
• Value: 1 (This ensures they saw at least 2 pages).
• Click Apply.

4. Set the Scope (Critical):

• At the top right of the condition box, ensure the scope is set to Within the same session.
• Why? You want them to do both of these things in a single visit, which proves they are highly engaged right now.

5. Membership & Saving:

• Membership Duration: Set to 30 or 45 days.
• Name: [Engagement] 3Min+ & 2+ Pages
• Description: High-intent users who spent time researching multiple products.
• Click Save.

Our Tip:

Turn this into a “Conversion” (Audience Trigger)

To make this data even more powerful for Google Ads, you can tell GA4 to fire an event the exact moment a user hits these two milestones.

• In the Audience Builder (before saving), look at the right sidebar under Audience Trigger.
• Click + Create new.
• Event name: high_engagement_researcher.
• Check the box: “Log an additional event when audience membership refreshes.”
• Save.

How this helps you: You can now mark high_engagement_researcher as a Key Event (Conversion). When you import this into Google Ads, you can tell the AI: “I don’t just want clicks; I want people who trigger this high-engagement event.” A perfect set up for Lead Generation Strategy using GA4.

Summary:

Another way GA4 High-Value Audiences Save Your Ad Budget

GA4 high-value audiences save your ad budget by shifting spend from casual “window shoppers” to qualified leads. By targeting users based on real intent—like spending 3 minutes or downloading technical specs—you stop paying for low-quality clicks and start investing in researchers who are actually ready to convert.

Below we have shared one more way to create audience based on Scroll.

A visitor who have scrolled at least 75 to 90% on the page they landed. 

GA4 offers several “behavioral” strategies to track high-intent audiences. These methods focus on how a user interacts with the content rather than just how long they stay.

1. The “Deep Content Consumer” (Scroll Intensity)

Standard session tracking doesn’t tell you if a user actually read your content. A user might leave a tab open for 5 minutes (high session duration) but never scroll past the header.

The Strategy: Track users who reach a specific scroll depth (e.g., 75% or 90%) on your long-form product or project pages.

How to create it:

Ensure Enhanced Measurement is on in GA4 Admin (this tracks 90% scroll by default).

In the Audience Builder, add a condition for the event scroll.

Add a parameter percent_scrolled >=75.

Why it works: Reaching the bottom of a page on “Retractable Glass Walls” shows they have likely read the technical specs or viewed the entire gallery.

2. The “Interactive User” (Micro-Conversion Stack)

For B2B and high-end residential sales, users often interact with “trust elements” before they are ready to ask for a quote.

The Strategy: Create an audience of users who have performed 2 or more “Micro-Events” in a single session.

The “Stack” could include:

• file_download (brochures/manuals)
• video_start (product demos)
• outbound_click (clicking to social media or a dealer’s site)
• view_search_results (using your on-site search for a specific model)

How to create it: 

1. Open the Audience Builder:

• In GA4, go to Admin > Data Display > Audiences.
• Click New audience > Create a custom audience.

2. Set the Scoping (Crucial):

• In the top right of the condition box, click the “All sessions” icon and change it to Within the same session.
• Why? This ensures the user performed these actions during one research period, showing high immediate intent.

3. Add the first Micro-Event (File Download):

• Click Add new condition and select the event file_download.
• Click + Add parameter, select Other > Event count.
• Condition: greater than (>), Value: 0.
• Click Apply.

4. Layer the “AND” Logic:

• Click the AND button (not the “OR” button).
• Search for the next event: video_start.
• Click + Add parameter > Event count > greater than (>) 0.
• Click Apply.

5. Continue for the Full Stack:

• Click AND again and repeat the process for outbound_click (clicking to a dealer or social).
• Click AND again and repeat for view_search_results (using your site’s search bar).

6. Set Membership & Name:

• Membership Duration: Set to 30 days.
• Name: [Engagement] Multi-Action Interactive Users
• Description: Users who downloaded files, watched videos, and used search in one session.
• Click Save.

3. The “Recurrent Researcher” (User-Scoped Tracking)

High-ticket items like retractable windows have a long “buying cycle.” A user who visits today and then comes back 3 days later is significantly more valuable than a first-time visitor.

The Strategy: Track users with a Session Count > 1.

How to create it:

• In the Audience Builder, select the dimension Session number.
• Set the condition to greater than (>) 1.
• Set the Membership Duration to 90 days.

Why it works: This identifies people in the “Consideration” phase who are actively comparing your brand to competitors.

Summary: