Of all of the reporting features that Google Analytics has launched in the past few years, I think this is, quite possibly, my favorite. Not just because it’s new and pretty, but because it fills a big big need for analysts:

• Define steps based on any dimension criteria. This means you can build funnels on the fly based on events, page views, etc. You are no longer limited to just using a destination/page URL as a funnel step as you are in regular GA goals. My favorite use case is sending any kind of hit type from an offline system, such as a CRM, to GA via the Measurement Protocol and then adding those as steps into a Custom Funnel (see the below example)
• They are RETROACTIVE!!!! You can build these and analyze your user’s behavior for any time period, not just going forward (unlike like Goal funnel visualizations which only start from the day you create the goal and setup the funnel)
• Visuals are pretty. And useful for for getting a sense of what you are looking at. The new Custom Funnels report shows percentage drop-off and continuation against a scaled bar graph of those percentages for easier visual digestion.
• Audiences from any step can be easily (with a single click!) saved as a segment and used for analysis or remarketing

If you are using the Measurement Protocol for offline data import or looking at cross-device tracking with a user ID this can be an especially awesome way of building a complete picture of your full funnel or customer journey. For example, the first screenshot shows was a funnel would look like with just your online data:

If you have an offline CRM system tracking what happens to a lead once it leaves your website, you could use the Measurement Protocol to pass those hits back into Google Analytics and then add them as funnel steps in a Custom Funnel, like this:

Keep in mind, there are some current limitations:

• do not yet allow for segmentation
• currently limited to 5 steps in the funnel

So if you’re a Google Analytics Premium customer, go check out this awesome new report!