What Will Your Business Gain with More Data?

Advertising systems are becoming increasingly independent of the people managing them—a trend that is gaining strength, particularly with advances in artificial intelligence accelerating the process. These systems can manage operations from the start to the end of the sales funnel with minimal human involvement. It might seem that success only requires well-written copy and professional graphics. This isn’t entirely true, but for the sake of this article, let’s assume that it is.

This is where most people stop configuring their campaigns, but it’s at this point that new opportunities arise, especially in terms of gathering additional data.

The better you train your algorithm (with the amount of high-quality data you provide), the more effectively it will use the appropriate signals. This will help you improve long-term metrics like ROI (Return on Investment), ROAS (Return on Ad Spend), or CPA (Cost Per Action). You will also be able to more precisely target your core audience and make more informed business decisions.

Remember, the key to outpacing the competition in Google Ads is continually improving the quality of your data. The methods, tools, and functionalities discussed in this article are not always universal and may not be suitable for every type of advertising effort. Explore them and consider which ones are best suited to your business.

Track Various Conversion Types with Enhanced Conversions

This is the best example of how much you could be losing by not using enhanced conversion measurement methods. Depending on the specifics of your business, it could be up to 10-35% of your data! This lost data could be used to better optimize your bids or guide you in making the right decision to invest more resources in advertising goals. What does this feature involve? It mainly refers to sending additional hashed first-party conversion data (address, email, phone number, physical address) to Google. These data are securely protected to prevent leaks or unauthorized access by third parties.

EXAMPLE: A situation where a user interacts with one of your ads on YouTube (the beginning of the customer journey), then makes a purchase—but only after three weeks. In the meantime, they interact with your ads multiple times across different devices, making it nearly impossible to attribute any part of the purchase to the initial touchpoint on YouTube. By using Enhanced Conversions, Google can fully decode the entire journey the customer took before completing the purchase.

To integrate your Google Ads account with Enhanced Conversions, you must first inform your website developer about the need to send additional variables through the DataLayer. The website code will look something like this:

After this, you’ll need to create an environment to transmit these data as Google Ads conversion tags. These are set up in Google Tag Manager by specialists responsible for this tool.

Gather Valuable Insights on Offline Actions

Offline Conversion Tracking (OCT) allows you to monitor user actions that take place outside the online environment (such as in-store purchases or phone conversations) after they click on your ad.

With OCT, you’ll learn more about the effectiveness of your online campaigns and better understand which actions led to actual offline transactions. This will help you optimize your marketing strategies and gain a clearer understanding of customer journeys, linking the online and offline worlds within one tracking system.

Tailor Strategies for New and Returning Customers

New vs. Returning Customer Data allows you to compare data on new and returning customers. Both groups exhibit different behaviors and needs, and by leveraging this data, you can better adjust your marketing strategies.

Acquiring new customers often requires more persuasive tactics, such as discounts or special offers. Returning customers are already interested in your product or service, so you should focus on building repeat business through loyalty programs. Analyzing these data will help you understand which content and activities yield the best results for each group.

Optimize Lead-Generating Campaigns

The advanced Enhanced Conversions for Leads method focuses on improving the lead generation conversion process. By analyzing data and testing different contact forms, you can refine your efforts to increase the quantity and quality of the leads you acquire.

Conversions for leads use first-party data provided by users on your website to measure sales and transactions that take place outside your site. If you run campaigns that generate new contacts to drive offline sales, this technique can help you better understand the impact of your advertising spend. Unlike the current offline conversion tracking method, this technique does not require modifying lead forms or CRM systems to store Google Click Identifiers (GCLID). Instead, it uses data provided by users on your website to measure conversions.

Analyze Shopping Cart Behavior

Conversions with Cart Data allows you to send additional cart-related data to Google Ads—this way, you can understand which clicks influenced the purchase of specific products. Clients often use this information to automatically calculate the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) to better manage their average CPA or ROAS within their account.

Adjust Conversions Based on Changes in the Purchase Process

Conversion Adjustments allow you to improve the data received, for instance, from your CRM system. Any conversion can be modified to reflect more accurate business results. Example: A store that experiences a lot of product returns, even after an extended period. With Conversion Adjustments, you can automatically modify already reported conversions to reflect the revenue that needs to be refunded due to those returns. The result? You get more realistic data, such as the actual ROI you’ve generated.

Improve Performance and Control User Tracking with Server-Side Tagging

Why use Server-Side Tagging, moving tag management and user tracking from web browsers to a server or central system? Primarily to make it easier to manage and control analytical, advertising, and other tracking tags on your website.

Server-Side Tagging offers several advantages, such as increased performance and security since tags are not executed in the user’s browser. Additionally, it allows for more accurate data collection, which is crucial for analyzing user behavior and adjusting advertising campaigns.

Personalize and Customize Ads for Different Audience Segments

The Custom Variables Segment offers many possibilities to use variables configured via Google Tag Manager (GTM). Depending on your business type, you can enrich the data you collect daily and automatically send it to Google Ads. Example: A car rental company with multiple locations can gather additional data for each site and use it to optimize conversion values for specific locations, such as where users tend to book longer car rentals.

Don’t Lose Data on Untracked Users – Google Consent Mode

When you implement cookie consent correctly on your website, Google Consent Mode allows you to send “pings” about site visits, even when users do not consent to tracking. These pings can be sent to services like Google Analytics, Google Ads, and Floodlight without using cookies.

The data sent is anonymous and aggregated, meaning it is not used to create remarketing campaigns. However, it provides essential information to Google’s systems and is used to model and forecast data in Google Analytics 4.

To use this feature, you must integrate your consent management system with Google Consent Mode. Many platforms now offer ready-made integration templates available through Google Tag Manager, so you don’t have to modify Google tag codes. However, ensure that tracking scripts for other services, like Adform or Facebook, are also configured correctly.

Understand Complex Conversion Paths

This technique involves using tools and services provided by third-party companies to assign value to various interactions and channels within the conversion process. This helps you better understand which actions and traffic sources contribute to achieving your marketing goals.

By using third-party attribution services, you can precisely monitor and analyze complex conversion paths, which often involve multiple touchpoints with users. This will help you optimize your marketing budget and allocate resources to the channels that deliver the best results.

Key Takeaways – What Should You Implement?

• To improve campaign results and stand out from the competition, focus on gathering high-quality data. This is where your competitive advantage lies!
• Effective data collection, analysis, and utilization are crucial for long-term success and optimizing metrics like ROI, ROAS, and CPA.
• In today’s landscape, precise data tracking and conversion monitoring are essential. This will not only help you understand which actions bring the best results, but also allow you to adjust marketing strategies in real-time.
• Sending additional data to Google Ads unlocks many custom functionalities within the account. As additional data sections emerge, you can create custom columns or reports that better illustrate your performance.
• Remember that the methods discussed in this article may not be universally applicable and should be carefully analyzed in the context of your advertising efforts.

Do you want to elevate your Google Ads campaigns to a higher level of effectiveness? Contact us! We offer support in implementing advanced tracking methods that will help you achieve the best results. This way, you will not only optimize your ad spend but also understand which actions generate the most conversions.