Google Ads Offline Conversion Tracking (OCT): Connecting CRM Revenue to Ad Spend (2024)

The "Lead Quality" Paradox: You launch a campaign. You get 100 leads at $20 CPA. You are happy. The sales team calls them. 95 of them are "junk"—wrong numbers, students, no budget. The sales team hates you.

The Problem: Google Ads only sees the Form Fill. It thinks its job is done. It sees "100 Conversions" and tries to get you more of the same. So it goes out and finds 100 more users who love filling out forms but have no money.

The Solution: Offline Conversion Tracking (OCT). You tell Google: "Hey, ignore the 95 junk leads. See these 5 people who actually bought? Go find more people like THEM."

This guide teaches you how to close the loop effectively.

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Part 1: The GCLID (The Magic Key)

To connect a Google search to a Salesforce deal, you need a unique identifier. This is the GCLID (Google Click Identifier).

How it works:

1. User clicks ad. URL becomes site.com/?gclid=AbCdEf123.
2. User fills out form.
3. Your website captures that AbCdEf123 string in a hidden field.
4. That string is passed into your CRM (HubSpot/Salesforce) along with the name and email.
5. 30 days later, the lead closes.
6. You send the AbCdEf123 + Conversion Value back to Google.

Step 1: Create the Hidden Field Ask your web developer to add a hidden input field named GCLID to every form on your site. Write a simple script to grab the URL parameter and inject it into that field.

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Part 2: The Upload (Manual vs. Auto)

Now the data is in your CRM. How does it get back to Google?

Method A: Direct Integration (HubSpot / Salesforce)

If you use a major CRM, this is native.

1. Link your Google Ads account to HubSpot/Salesforce.
2. Map the "Lifecycle Stage" (e.g., "Closed Won") to a Google Ads Conversion Action.
3. Done. The API handles the sync automatically every 24 hours.

Method B: Manual Upload (Excel)

If you use a custom CRM or spreadsheet.

1. Export your "Closed Won" deals.
2. Format a CSV with columns: Google Click ID, Conversion Name, Conversion Time, Conversion Value.
3. Go to Google Ads → Conversions → Uploads.
4. Upload the CSV.

• Verdict: Painful. Prone to human error. Only do this if you have no API choice.

Method C: Zachary (Zapier)

Zapier has a "Google Ads Offline Conversion" module.

• Trigger: New Deal in Pipedrive (Status = Won).
• Action: Send Offline Conversion to Google Ads.
• Verdict: Good for small volume (<100/mo). Can get expensive/buggy at scale.

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Part 3: The 90-Day Conversion Window

By default, Google ignores click data after 30 days. In B2B, sales cycles are long.

• Action: Go to your Conversion Action settings. Change the Click-through conversion window to 90 Days.
• This ensures that if someone clicks in January and buys in March, the ad still gets credit.

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Part 4: Training the Algorithm (tROAS for Leads)

Once OCT is running, you can graduate from "Target CPA" to "Target ROAS" for lead gen. This is the holy grail.

• Old Way: Target CPA $50 (Optimize for volume).
• New Way: Target ROAS 400% (Optimize for deal value).

The algorithm effectively learns: "Engineers from California convert to Deals. Students from Florida do not." It shifts budget automatically.

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Summary Checklist

1. Capture GCLID: Ensure your forms are storing this data point.
2. Define the Trigger: What CRM stage equals success? (SQL? Opportunity? Closed Won?).
3. Sync Data: Set up the auto-sync via HubSpot/Salesforce or Zapier.
4. Wait: Give it 2 conversion cycles (e.g., 60 days) to populate data.
5. Switch Bidding: Move to Value-Based Bidding (tROAS).

OCT is the difference between specific marketing and revenue engineering.