Enhanced conversions are designed to simplify and strengthen your reporting with first-party data. In today’s privacy-first web, this data is crucial for accurate measurement and campaign success.
The beauty of enhanced conversions lies in their accessibility.
Whether you’re comfortable with Google Tag Manager, prefer a dedicated Google tag, or possess the expertise for the Google Ads API, there’s a path that works for you.
By taking advantage of enhanced conversions, you gain a significant edge in the privacy-first era. Embrace their user-friendly setup and unlock the power of first-party data for smarter campaign decisions and maximise your ROAS.
What are Enhanced Conversions?
Enhanced conversions is a powerful tool that helps you get a more accurate picture of your ad performance. It works by enriching your existing conversion tracking with anonymized customer data from your website.
Here’s how it does it:
- Privacy-focused: Enhanced conversions uses a one-way hashing algorithm (SHA256) to scramble email addresses and other customer data before sending it to Google. This ensures user privacy is protected.
- Improved Accuracy: By matching this anonymised data with signed-in Google accounts, enhanced conversions can recover conversions that might have been missed with traditional tracking.
- Unlock Bidding Strategies: With more complete conversion data, you can leverage Google's advanced bidding strategies to optimise your campaigns for better results.
In short, enhanced conversions gives you a clearer view of your ad success and empowers you to make smarter bidding decisions.
It's important to note that enhanced conversions work alongside, not instead of, your existing conversion tracking setup. They typically complement primary conversion actions, providing a richer layer of data for even more insightful campaign analysis.
How To Set Up Enhanced Conversions
Enhanced conversions offer multiple implementation methods to suit your comfort level and technical expertise.
Let’s explore the three main options:
- Google Tag Manager (GTM): This user-friendly platform streamlines the process. Within GTM, simply adjust your existing conversion tracking tag settings to enable enhanced conversions and accept the terms and conditions. GTM offers the advantage of managing all your tracking pixels in one place, keeping things organised.
- Google Tag: Similar to GTM, you can configure a dedicated Google tag for enhanced conversions. The key difference is that the Google tag focuses solely on Google Ads conversions, while GTM provides a more comprehensive tracking solution. Just like GTM, remember to accept the terms and conditions.
- Google Ads API: This approach caters to users with technical experience, offering the most granular control over data sources. However, it requires additional steps like hashing transaction IDs using SHA-256 for privacy compliance.
The data formatting and connection stage can sometimes be a hurdle. Here’s where Google’s data connector comes in handy. It simplifies the process of connecting data from established partner sources like your CRM or e-commerce platform.
You have the flexibility to choose between a one-time sync or scheduled uploads. For optimal performance, it’s recommended to set up at least a weekly upload after the initial setup phase. This ensures your data stays fresh and provides Google Ads with the most recent information for accurate conversion tracking.
By understanding these options and utilising the data connector, you can navigate the setup process smoothly and unlock the full potential of enhanced conversions.
Why Are Enhanced Conversions Important?
In today’s privacy-focused landscape, enhanced conversions offer a powerful advantage. As third-party cookie restrictions become more prevalent, first-party data becomes the cornerstone of successful campaign measurement.
Here’s why enhanced conversions are crucial:
- Bridging the Data Gap: Traditional conversion tracking often relies on models to fill data gaps, which can lead to inaccuracies. Enhanced conversions bridge this gap by leveraging your valuable first-party data. This provides a more complete picture of what's happening after users click on your ads, even if they haven't accepted tracking cookies.
- Enhanced Attribution: Imagine a scenario where a user clicks on your ad but doesn’t convert immediately. Later, they subscribe to your email list or provide their contact information. With enhanced conversions, you can capture these valuable conversions and attribute them back to your ad campaign, even if they occurred on a different platform. This gives you a more holistic view of your customer journey and the true impact of your advertising efforts.
- Unified Data Language: Different platforms often operate in silos, making it difficult to get a unified view of your marketing performance. Enhanced conversions act as a translator, ensuring your diverse data sources (CRM, e-commerce platforms, etc.) can “speak” to each other. This allows you to analyse all your data together for more informed campaign decisions.
With the power of enhanced conversions, you gain a deeper understanding of your customer journey in a privacy-compliant way. This empowers you to optimise your campaigns for better performance and maximise your ROAS.
In essence, enhanced conversions are your secret weapon in the privacy-first era, allowing you to navigate the changing advertising landscape.
Need a fresh perspective? Let’s talk.
At 360 OM, we specialise in helping businesses take their marketing efforts to the next level. Our team stays on top of industry trends, uses data-informed decisions to maximise your ROI, and provides full transparency through comprehensive reports.
