Google makes offline conversion tracking easier with Enhanced Conversions for Leads

Google Ads has rolled out Enhanced Conversions for Leads. Spotted as a beta test earlier this month, this option offers an alternative to the existing Google Click ID-based offline conversion tracking method.

Why we care. Since this can be configured from your Google Ads account (instead of your CRM), it may be easier to adopt, enabling more advertisers to track their offline conversions. Using that data, Google’s systems may be able to make better auction decisions, which could mean more efficient campaigns and better conversions.

For those using the existing Google Click ID-based upload method, this option is still supported.

How it works. When a potential customer fills out a lead form on your site, you’ll likely receive first-party data including their email address, name, home address and/or phone number. That data can be captured in your conversion tracking tags, hashed and then sent to Google.

When a lead converts, you upload your hashed lead information and Google matches that information to the ad that drove the lead, providing the platform with a more complete picture of the customer’s full journey.

The issue with the existing offline conversion tracking method. Offline conversion tracking can help Google get a better idea of the value of different leads, which can help it prioritize more valuable leads via the Maximize Conversion Value bid strategy, for example. Despite this potential advantage, offline conversion tracking has not been widely adopted due to the difficulty of implementing it.

“Advertisers are used to being able to control most elements of their campaigns through self-service tools,” Frederick Vallaeys, co-founder and CEO at Optmyzr said, adding, “But those same marketers usually don’t control the CRM systems where this valuable offline conversion data lives inside their organization. This dependency on other teams and sometimes even engineering significantly reduces the adoption of OCI [offline conversion tracking].”

Since Enhanced Conversions with Leads uses information about your leads that you’ve already captured (i.e., email addresses), it doesn’t require you to modify your CRM systems, making this a more convenient solution for many advertisers.

Set up methods. Enhanced Conversions for Leads can be configured via Google Tag Manager so long as you have Google Ads conversion tracking set up and auto-tagging is enabled.

Alternatively, it can also be configured using the global site tag directly on your page if you already have conversion tracking implemented this way.