{"id":22263,"date":"2023-07-12T11:59:40","date_gmt":"2023-07-12T06:29:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/?p=22263"},"modified":"2023-07-12T11:59:40","modified_gmt":"2023-07-12T06:29:40","slug":"ppcchat-adventures-in-conversion-tracking-in-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/ppcchat-adventures-in-conversion-tracking-in-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"PPCChat | Adventures in Conversion Tracking in 2023 | 11th July 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This week’s PPCChat session, hosted by Julie F Bacchini<\/a>, covered a wide range of questions related to conversion tracking. Participants discussed the different types of conversion actions that can be tracked in PPC campaigns, different methods for tracking conversions, and the challenges that can arise with conversion tracking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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Q1: What types of conversion actions are you currently tracking in your PPC campaigns? What method do you use to track the conversions (Google Analytics 4, Google Ads, third-party tool, etc.)?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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I’m going to start with primary actions (i.e. the ones that count): 1. Calls over 180 seconds 2. Calls from the website 3. Form-fills 4. Check-out 5. Start Trial (lower value) 6. Paying customers (higher value with enhanced conversions) 7. Chats (mostly legal) @navahf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contact form submissions and free trial sign-ups as primary Conversion. Then other actions such as webinars and newsletter sign-ups as secondary Conversions. GA4 is what we use & they provide a deeper level of performance analysis via their CRM reports. @marketingsoph<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since I am a lead gen PPCer, my accounts track form fills and phone calls as conversion actions. I’ve been using the Google Ads conversion tagging rather than importing from Analytics for a while in anticipation of GA4 being a mess. @NeptuneMoon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to social ads, I’m a little more forgiving on conversions because they need so many for their algorithms to function. the core ones are still there. I tend to default to #GA4 events when there’s at least 60 days of trusted data. Otherwise, add network. @navahf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Primary conversions should be 10000000% trustworthy. I tend to test the validity of conversion tracking with secondary actions as well as tracking little steps (like add to cart). @navahf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It depends on the account. We do a lot of ecomm so revenue & transactions are the biggies. For a few clients that have very long buying cycles, we track micro conversions and assign them values based on historical CVR & AOV. @selley2134<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I handle lead gen clients. But calls\/forms are meaningless in and of themselves. I import 3rd party conversions manually. Paying clients. @ppcClickShark<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Depends on the client but the focus is whatever the macro conversion point is so lead, purchase, download of whitepaper etc. We use GTM to set up the events and then Analytics from there. @adwordsgirl<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have not heard anything about Google’s “one conversion tag to rule them all” either… Remember when they talked about that at GML? Not a peep on that even with GA4 taking over. @NeptuneMoon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We historically used UA goals and with the migration to GA4, we have set up GA4 conversions… However the majority of the GA4 properties I’ve seen are having attribution issues, which makes the data source unreliable Therefore, we’re opting for website tracking. @C_J_Ridley<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of my clients are focused on lead gen or B2B, so we mainly track Form Submissions & Phone Calls (if relevant). Methods kinda vary depending on the website\/client, but historically we’ve tried to use imports from Google Analytics when possible (or the GAds tag) @adclarke10<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Q2: Have you encountered any issues with conversion tracking lately? If so, on which platforms and what did you do to try to solve it? <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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The whole UA not sunsetting even though they had a doomsday clock caused issues for a couple of clients (not great that it was a Friday) but other than that I think GA4 actually made us clean up conversions better than they were. @selley2134<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only when clients redevelop their sites without telling us and remove the GTM container. @adwordsgirl<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, GA4 seems to be showing funny data, with organic mixed with Google \/ CPC within the Paid Search Channel Group We’re opting for Website conversion tracking directly into our ad platforms to allow us to better understand the last click conv volume. @C_J_Ridley<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve had a lot of teething issues whilst switching to GA4. Unfortunately, this has been due to our clients’ internal teams handling setting up tracking & their lack of knowledge\/quality checking. It\u2019s so difficult when you can\u2019t just fix them yourself! @marketingsoph<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost all my “glitches” have been ecomm related. For the most part, it’s discrepancies in the shopping platform vs #GA4 vs the ad network reported conversions (vastly underreporting on the Google side). My suspicion is that this is a privacy compliance issue. @navahf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My clients are having issues with conversions being double-counted. They are using GA4 to sort that out. @TheMarketingAnu<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like others mentioned, GA4 has some discrepancies compared to what shows in each ad platform. We’ve seen this impact Social in particular, like LinkedIn. @adclarke10<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of this is due to clients setting up GA4 incorrectly (or still troubleshooting), so I provide the numbers we can & then ask what they see on their end to try to figure out what’s most accurate. Also trying to get CRMs integrated with platforms where we can. @adclarke10<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Q3: Do you find some platforms are better at or easier to track conversions on? If so, which are better and worse and why?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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I am very comfortable with GTM and like the debugging possibilities there. So I like tracking through GA and then importing. @selley2134<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shout out to @MSFTAdsSupport and their amazingly trustworthy conversion tracking <3 I’ll also say I really like #google’s #LocalServiceAds because of how clear-cut the conversion tracking is. #facebook<\/a> conversion tracking is torture but we do what we must. @navahf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I’m being honest, I’ve only really used GTM & analytics so I can’t answer the question. I’ve always found it easy to implement and use so I’ve never had to think about another platform. @adwordsgirl<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I like to default to Google Analytics data, mostly bc that’s what clients tend to refer to as their main source of truth. Especially true if I know\/trust the people who did the GA implementation. On the flip side, there always seems to be a discrepancy with FB & LI. @adclarke10<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lack of external goal import for Microsoft Ads is annoying Meta Ads is one that is always widely different to other data sources GA4 is a mess Google Ads was the best imo, I’m not sure now. @C_J_Ridley<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Q4: What are the biggest roadblocks you encounter when it comes to properly tracking PPC conversions in 2023? How do you handle those situations?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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A lot of clients have cross-domain conversion paths and use iframes, Talk about adding another level of complexity! I miss the old days of simple thank-you pages. @marketingsoph<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It often starts with issues on the client side of things. Either with getting codes in the proper places\/working correctly. But I think we are only at the tip of the iceberg when it comes to attribution getting blown up from what we are used to seeing\/getting. @NeptuneMoon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some clients are still having trouble getting pixels onto their sites! It’s more common than you would think and especially with GA4 rolling out. @beyondthepaid<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clients who put every widget known to man on their website to try to get conversions. All Iframes of course. @adclarke10<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I do my best to set up all the tracking to start with and show them that many of the widgets aren’t producing quality leads and start to slowly remove them. Very rarely do clients just trust that it’s a problem from the beginning. @selley2134<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biggest roadblock – the proper implementation of the tags on the site. From the emails I’ve seen with my teams – those have been the biggest questions. I handle it by leaving it to our solutions experts. I’ll confuse everyone by trying to give any advice. @TheMarketingAnu<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have also seen client accounts that have 20+ primary conversion actions. This is rarely needed and usually muddles the whole issue. @beyondthepaid<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Custom set-ups where developers refuse to collaborate and we get stuck making the same asks forever. Everything else is conquerable through testing and client communication. I’ll also give a shout-out to customer support for most landing page tools. @navahf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The GA4 switch & making sure that data is accurate has been a struggle for some clients. Cookie consent banners & privacy updates have also impacted if conversions are attributed properly (or if they fire at all). @adclarke10<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also not having access to a client’s CRM, Analytics, or other platforms makes it hard to get the full picture on my own. I try to combat this by talking about lead quality\/volume on every call. “What do you see on your end”, “Do those numbers align internally” etc. @adclarke10<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Q5: With Apple potentially stripping out UTM parameters as early as Q4 2023, including Google and Facebook ads parameters, how do you plan to capture conversions that should be attributed to ads?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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GBraid and WBraid! These already got introduced and just require configuring your GTM. @navahf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not that attribution has ever been super great, but it has been perceived as quite accurate up until now. And that is our issue to unwind as tracking will continue to get more difficult\/less reliable. Consent mode is not something US searchers understand. @NeptuneMoon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scream into my screaming towel! @TheMarketingAnu<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time will tell as far as how much data loss we will face. Facebook had a huge ruling against them and sharing data amongst their properties this week in the EU and how they use data to target ads. We need to prepare for way less attribution availability. Now. @NeptuneMoon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Honestly with all the GA4 tracking I haven’t had a chance to look at this yet, so will be curious to see everyone’s answer. @selley2134<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tbh I don’t really have a solution in mind yet, so interested in other answers here. Maybe test landing pages that are only used for paid channels, so if someone converts on the page we know it only could have come from us. Not easily scalable tho (esp for SMBs). @adclarke10<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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PPCChat Participants<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n