offline-conversion

What is Offline Conversion Tracking? And How to setup?

Definition and importance of Offline Conversion

Offline conversions refer to actions customers perform outside of your website and in physical world as a result of online engagements through marketing efforts. For instance, in-store purchase, attending events, signing up for a trial offer, all stemming from online touchpoints called offline conversion.

Why offline conversion matter?

In today’s digital era, online businesses must recognize the significance of offline conversion because without offline conversion tracking, it’s tricky to effectively optimize marketing efforts.

Holistic customer conversion journey: Offline conversion offers comprehensive view of the customer journey. Offline tracking shows how online activities lead to real-world actions.

Data-Driven Decision Making: Offline conversion analysis enable us to refine our marketing strategies based on concrete results, leading to more informed decisions

Return on Investment (ROI) Assessment: Through the monitoring of offline conversions, marketers gain valuable insights into the effectiveness of their online campaigns, allowing for more accurate assessment of return on investment (ROI) and informed decision-making.

Enhanced Personalization: By offline tracking, businesses can develop personalize their offerings and communication messages based on customer behavior and offline conversion journey.

Understanding Offline Conversions

  • Types of Offline Conversions
  • In-store purchases
  • Phone call conversions
  • Form submissions leading to sales
  • Application Installation Conversion
  • Event Conversion

There are certain types of offline conversion. However, offline conversions represent a different dimension of customer interaction—one that encompasses actions outside the digital realm.

In-store purchases

Customers make purchases in brick and mortar after interacting with online ads.

Example: A customer sees an online ad for a product, visits the store, and makes a purchase.

NOTE: coupon code is best trick to track marketing efforts, how customer interacts and converts after being engaged with ads. If you’re using Google Ads, it can utilize mobile location data to determine whether customers engaged with or viewed your ads before visiting your store.

However, this method is only available under certain conditions:

  • You must have multiple physical store locations.
  • You need high volumes of clicks and impressions.
  • You must have sufficient store visit data that meets privacy thresholds (the specifics of which are not publicly disclosed).

Phone call conversions

Customers call a business after viewing or clicking on an online ad.

Example: A customer clicks on a “call now” button in a PPC ad and makes an inquiry or places an order over the phone.

NOTE: To track phone calls conversions, call extension like AdCallMetricsConversion tracker. In call conversion each platform has different installation methods. Google enables forwarding phone number, which you use in call extension using an ID. You can create Google call ads for each campaign in order to track how many calls each ad generates. Calls also recorded as primary conversions if they meet specified duration like one minute.

Form submissions leading to sales

Form submission is also used as a primary conversion and its one of the most useful conversion methods in offline marketing. We achieve this by adding code to your site or app. Each time a customer completes an action, such as making a purchase, filling out a lead form, or signing up for an email newsletter, the action is recorded and stored.

Example: A customer fills out a form online to schedule a demo and later attends the demo in person.

NOTE: Google generates a tracking script from the conversion window, which you install on the specified page where visitors land after completing an action. This code should be installed on the button or thank-you page to accurately track conversions.

Application Installation Conversion

Offline conversion tracking is useful to monitor application installation ratio, location and device. Google empowers you to do this with both Android and iOS applications.

Set up app conversion tracking in your Google Ads UI. The actions you can track include:

  1. First opens
  2. Downloads
  3. In-app purchase

Events Tracking

This does not refer to tracking in-person and digital events like webinars or live videos. Instead, it focuses on tracking the specific actions users take when they interact with your content. For examples.

  • Video plays
  • Link clicks
  • PDF downloads
  • Popup viewed
  • Image clicked to enlarge
  • Form field abandons
  • Scrolling down a page
  • Printing a page

Linking these actions to your Google Ads provides a clearer picture of all the touchpoints and actions users take before and after becoming a customer.

Why Track Offline Conversions?

Bridging the gap between online ads and offline sales involves integrating data from both online and offline sources to gain a comprehensive view of the customer journey. This can be achieved through several methods:

  • Offline Conversion Setup
  • Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System
  • Unique Identifiers: Google (GCLID), Facebook (FBCLID), Bing (MSCLKID)
  • Mobile Location Data
  • Call Tracking

Offline conversion tracking is crucial for providing a comprehensive view of the customer journey, enabling businesses to measure the true impact of their online marketing efforts on real-world actions. By linking online ad interactions with offline activities, such as in-store purchases, phone calls, or form submissions, businesses can gain valuable insights into which marketing strategies are driving tangible results. This holistic approach helps in accurately assessing the return on investment (ROI) of online campaigns, refining targeting and personalization based on offline behavior, and optimizing marketing strategies for better performance. Ultimately, offline conversion tracking bridges the gap between digital and physical interactions, allowing for more informed decision-making and more effective marketing efforts.

Data Privacy and Compliance

Ensuring compliance with data protection regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), is paramount when implementing offline conversion tracking. Businesses must adhere to strict guidelines regarding the collection, storage, and use of customer data to safeguard individuals’ privacy rights. This includes obtaining explicit consent from customers before tracking their offline actions, providing transparent information about how their data will be used, and offering mechanisms for customers to access, correct, or delete their personal information. Additionally, businesses must implement robust security measures to protect offline conversion data from unauthorized access or breaches. By prioritizing compliance with data protection regulations, businesses can build trust with customers, mitigate legal risks, and demonstrate their commitment to responsible data management practices.

Google Policy

Google has established robust data protection regulations to govern offline conversion tracking, ensuring that user privacy is respected and data is handled responsibly. Advertisers utilizing offline conversion tracking tools within Google Ads must obtain explicit consent from users before monitoring their offline actions. Advertisers must ensure that their offline conversion tracking practices comply with applicable data protection regulations, such as the GDPR in Europe or the CCPA in California. This includes respecting users’ rights to access, rectify, or delete their personal data.

These principles reflect common themes found in data protection regulations and are typically applied by advertising platforms like all platforms to safeguard user privacy and ensure responsible data handling in offline conversion tracking. For the most accurate and up-to-date information on Google, Microsoft and Facebook policy on offline conversion tracking, it’s advisable to refer directly to concern platforms official documentation or contact their support team.

Can Google Analytics track offline?

Yes, google analytics GA4 tracks offline conversion more accurately. Google Analytics 4 has a cool feature it can track conversions as events and link them to all your marketing and analytics channels.

If you’re not using Google Analytics 4 for conversion tracking, you’re missing out on useful insights that could really boost your business. GA4 tracks following offline events.

  • Scrolling
  • Page view
  • Mouse Clicks
  • Form Starts
  • Form submits
  • Call button click
  • Add to cart
  • Begin checkout
  • Add payment info
  • Chat opened
  • Chat shown
  • Search
  • Session Starts
  • View Items

Setting Up Google Offline Conversion Tracking.

Once someone clicks on your Google Ads, what comes next? With offline conversion imports, you can closely watch how your customers move through your sales process. All you need is a Google Ads account and a website set up for tracking.

Plus, you must meet the following criteria:

  • Have auto-tagging enabled
  • Can edit the code on all your web pages
  • Can store a Google Click ID (GCLID) with the corresponding lead’s info gathered from your site
  • Have less than a 90-day click-to-conversion window

Step 1: Create or import conversion actions

Once you create your Google Ads account, log in and follow these steps:

Sign in to your Google Ads account, then click the wrench symbol at the top. Select the Measurements drop-down menu and click on Conversions.

Google-Ads-menu

Next, click on the +Conversions button.

google-ads-buttons

Now, you’ll see four options: Website, App, Phone Calls, and Import. Select the Import button.

Starting-conversion

A window will open, allowing you to import conversions directly from your Google Analytics, Salesforce, and third-party apps. But for this understanding, I’ll click the GA4 properties option. Then click Track conversions from web. Press Continue once you’re done.

ga4-import-option
ga4-import-web

Now, it’s time to input all the information about your conversion action. Start with the Category drop-down menu. Here, you can select from conversions like Purchase, Subscribe, add to cart, Submitted lead form, and Book appointment.

Conversions-categories

Next, decide if the conversion value will be identical, distinct, or have no assigned value (not recommended).

Specify the currency and amount of the conversion. Then, indicate how many conversion counts per click or interaction. For example, you can opt for “Every conversion” if it’s a purchase, as each sale is counted.

google-conver-value

Next, if it’s a lead, sign-up, or another kind of conversion, you can pick “One.” Why does this matter? Imagine a shopper clicks an ad, then makes two different purchases at two different times. If you choose “Every,” both purchases get counted.

But if you choose “One,” when someone clicks your ad and enters their info twice on your site, it’s counted as just one conversion, not two. This helps keep your data accurate.

Now, let’s talk about how long you want to track conversions. You can choose between one week and 90 days, or you can set a custom number within that range.

conversion-5

Lastly, check the box to “Include in conversions.” This helps bid strategies focus on optimizing for these conversions.

Then, choose the attribution type per conversion: either via search engine or an external source. If you pick search, you can choose between Last click, First click, Linear, Time Decay, or Position-based. That’s it.

How to enable auto-tagging in Google Ads.

The best and recommended way to add gclid data to Google analytics 4 (GA4) is to enable auto-tagging in google ads. Auto-tagging automatically appends the gclid parameters to final URLs without manual intervention. Auto-tagging with GA4 tag on website, gclid data is stored in a google analytics cookie.

To enable auto-tagging in Google Ads, follow these steps:

  1. Sign in to your Google Ads account.
  2. Click “Settings” on the left page menu.
  3. Click “Account settings” at the top of the page.
  4. Click the “Auto-tagging” section.
  5. Check the box next to “Tag the URL that people click through from my ad”.
  6. Click “Save”.

After enabling auto-tagging, you’ll notice the gclid parameter in your landing page URLs when you test your ads. Additionally, you’ll see data from your linked Google Ads account in GA4 under Acquisition > All Traffic > Source/Medium or Acquisition > Google Ads.

google-auto-tagging
auto-tagging

How to Manually Tag Your Final URLs with Tracking Variables

Sometimes, auto-tagging does not work specially in custom build websites or you might want to add extra tracing variables alongside the gclid. Maybe your website does not allow random URL parameters, or you want to track other details like campaign names or ad content.

In these situations, you have to manually add tracking variables to your final URLs using the Google Analytics campaign URL builder tool. Url builders helps create URL with customer parameters that GA4 understands. These parameters are known as URL parameters, and you can manually configure your campaigns to pass gclid and other data.

manual-gclid

How to setup Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to get GCLID Data?

Final step to setup gclid data to GA4 is to create a custom dimension. Custom dimensions allow users to define and receive very detailed data layers. If you create a custom dimension for gclid data, you will be able to view Google Ads as a source in your reports.

To create a custom dimension, follow these steps:

  1. Sign in to your Google Analytics account.
  2. Go to Admin settings.
  3. Go to Custom definitions and click “Create custom dimension “.
  4. Name the new custom dimension “gclid“.
  5. For scope, select “User “.
  6. Save your changes.

How to setup Google Tag Manager (GTM) to Capture GCLID Value?

You can use Google Tag Manager, a service that lets you manage all your tracking and analytical scripts in one place, to capture the gclid value.

To create a custom variable, follow these steps:

  1. Open your GTM container.
  2. In the Variables section, add a new User-Defined variable.
  3. For Variable Type, select “URL “.
  4. For Component Type, select “Query “.
  5. For Query Key, type in “gclid“.
  6. Leave all other settings as they are and save the variable.

Future of Offline Conversion by GCLID.

 The future of GCLID (Google Click Identifier) looks promising as digital marketing continues to evolve. With advancements in data analytics and machine learning, GCLID will play an increasingly crucial role in providing granular insights into customer journeys. As privacy regulations become stricter, Google is likely to enhance GCLID’s functionality to ensure compliance while still offering valuable tracking capabilities. The integration of GCLID with emerging technologies, such as AI-driven attribution models and cross-device tracking, will enable marketers to understand and optimize their campaigns with unprecedented precision. Additionally, as offline and online conversions become more seamlessly integrated, the importance of accurate tracking identifiers like GCLID will only grow, helping businesses to bridge the gap between digital interactions and real-world outcomes. Overall, the future of GCLID will be characterized by more sophisticated, privacy-conscious, and comprehensive tracking solutions that empower marketers to make data-driven decisions.

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