Track offline conversions in Google Ads with Zapier

Today's marketers and business owners have their work cut out for them. The average customer uses 10 different channels to communicate with companies, which means the digital marketing landscape is more fragmented than ever. 

Having so many ways to connect with your customers can be great for lead generation, but it can also make it more difficult to track which interactions lead to conversions. Fortunately, more digital marketing tools are offering tracking tools to address this particular pain point.

What is offline conversion tracking?

A 2018 survey found that 58% of businesses say attracting higher quality leads is a top priority in their lead generation strategy. However, many marketers only track and optimize their campaigns based on online metrics, such as lead submissions, which don't provide insight into which campaigns drive sales. 

With offline conversion tracking for Google Ads, marketers can close the data gap by seeing which search ads result in offline sales or other valuable customer actions. With this data, you can better understand the ROI of your ads and optimize your campaigns for the outcomes that matter most to your business. It can also help you be more efficient with your time and ad spend. With this handy Zap, you can budget and bid more effectively by focusing on the clicks that are the most likely to become customers.

If your sales process starts online but then ends offline, with a final sale or deal that happens via phone, email, or in person, you should consider using offline conversion tracking to find the people who would be most likely to convert.

Using Zapier with Google Ads offline conversion tracking

Typically, tracking offline conversions can be a time-consuming process that involves manually exporting conversion information, reformatting it, and uploading it to Google Ads. With Zapier, you can shave hours off of this task by automatically uploading conversion information to Google Ads from your CRM.

All you need to do is connect your CRM to Zapier, tell Zapier what types of conversion events to look for—such as a lead marked "Closed Won"—and indicate the Google Ads account where you'll be sending the information. Zapier takes care of the rest.

Not only does this save you time and effort, you can also avoid errors by eliminating manual data entry. Once you've connected the other apps you use—like your CRM, email marketing app, or form app—to Zapier, you can send an offline conversion with the appropriate conversion action every time you qualify a contact or close a sale. Plus, this whole process happens in real time, which means you can quickly measure the outcomes and optimize your marketing campaigns.

How the Zapier Google Ads offline tracking integration works

If this all sounds a little complicated, here's a step-by-step breakdown of the offline tracking integration process:

1. A user clicks on an ad and arrives on your site.

2. The user browses your site and reads about your product or services.

3. The user fills in a form on your site and becomes a lead for your business.

4. The lead information is sent to your CRM, email marketing app, or database.

5. When a lead converts, Zapier uploads the conversion information to Google Ads.

Pretty simple, right?

How to set up the Google Ads offline conversion action in Zapier

To set up a Google Ads Offline Conversion action in Zapier you'll need to complete the following steps. You can set a Zap up from scratch or use one of the Zap templates listed later in this article for a faster start:

1. Select your trigger app (where you track conversions)

In Zapier, start by selecting the app you use to track conversions. This could be your CRM or an email marketing app. You'll need to indicate the type of lead or opportunity stage that identifies the conversion precisely as it appears in your app (e.g. "Marketing Qualified").

2. Create a filter 

Next, you need to ensure the Zap only exports conversions that came from Google Ads. To do this, search for and select the Filter by Zapier app. This filter will check that the record has a GCLID. In the first dropdown box, search for and select the field where you store the GCLID in your CRM. In the middle box, select the Exists option.



3. Add a delay (recommended)

If the conversion event you're tracking can occur within 24 hours of someone clicking on the ad, we recommend the following actions:

• Search for and select Delay by Zapier.

• Select Delay For in the second drop-down box.

• In the first box, type "24". In the second box, click the dropdown and select Hours to define the unit of time. When you're done, press Continue. 

• On the next screen, press Test & Continue. 

4. Set up the Offline Conversion

In the Use Google Ads as... dropdown, select the Google Ads Account into which you'll import conversion events. In the Google Click ID (GCLID) field, you will insert the field from within your CRM (step 1) that contains the Google Click ID (GCLID). In the Conversion Action section, select the action for your conversion. Note—only "Import From Clicks" conversion actions will be available. The Timestamp field tells Google when the conversion event happened. Many CRMs have a field such as "Last Modified Date," which you can use.

5. Test the Zap and begin using it

Press Test & Continue to ensure everything is working correctly. When the test completes, you will see one of two things:

• Success when your sample data had a GCLID: A green banner and a notification that a test event was sent.

• Success when your sample data did not have a GCLID: A red banner saying the GCLID is missing. This happens when the sample record doesn't contain a GCLID. However, we would still consider this a success since we shouldn't upload conversions without a GCLID.

Once your test is complete and everything looks as expected, you're ready to begin using your Zap.

What you can do with the offline tracking integration

With more than 125 CRMs supported, Zapier connects Google Ads with the tools you already use.

Create an Offline Conversion when a Salesforce object is updated

Kick manual tracking to the curb. Set up this Zap and Google Ads will track an offline conversion whenever a Salesforce object is updated to a specific opportunity stage.

Create offline conversions in Google Ads for updated Copper opportunity stages

Signed a new client or onboarded a new customer? Send this data directly from Copper to Google Ads with this Zap.

Update Pipedrive deals to create offline conversions in Google Ads

Whenever a deal reaches a critical stage in the customer journey, such as a closed sale, you can use this integration to register the offline conversion in Google Ads automatically.

Register offline conversions in Google Ads when contacts are updated in HubSpot

With this Zap, you can send an offline conversion to Google Ads whenever you update a contact in Hubspot.

Add Google Ads offline conversions for new Close opportunities in a status

Set up this integration when you start a new Google Ad campaign, and new opportunities that correspond to a specific status in Close will send offline conversions in Google Ads. 

Spend less time tracking

As a business owner or marketer, continually testing new features and trying new ways to optimize your processes is an integral part of the growth journey.

Take this Zapier-Google Ads integration, for instance. Instead of spending hours of your busy work week uploading your offline conversion data from Excel spreadsheets, you can use these Zaps to automatically send your offline conversions to Google Ads and optimize your campaigns in real time.