Blog Post
Web Analytics
Thorsten
Abrahamczik
published on:
12.02.2015
Conversion Tracking for AdWords and Bing with Google Tag Manager
Table of Contents
The now well-known and established Google Tag Manager offers a variety of options to control your own tags (formerly known as Pixels) on your website. Remember: The code for the Google Tag Manager only needs to be embedded in the source code of the website once. Subsequently, a lot of tags can be controlled via the Tag Manager interface. So, there is no need to embed separate codes such as for AdWords Conversion Tracking or third-party remarketing into the site’s source code. The tags are all executed through the Tag Manager code.
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You too should benefit from these possibilities and centralize the management of your online marketing tags. This also provides you the opportunity to manage your pixels on a graphical interface yourself without needing to involve IT. Additionally, you can easily determine on which pages the individual tags are executed, allowing very precise and fine control of the tags.
Do not be afraid of complicated settings. Typically, setting up a standard tag takes only a few minutes. Only for special tags might the implementation take a bit longer. Including checking the tag's setup, you can easily complete the entire process in under 30 minutes. This also applies to employees who are inexperienced in handling the Google Tag Manager. The more you work with the Tag Manager, the faster it gets.
This is partly due to special templates, e.g., for AdWords, that Google has built into the Tag Manager which are quick and easy to use. Thus, this article will highlight two different approaches for Conversion Tracking with the Google Tag Manager: Conversion Tracking for AdWords and Conversion Tracking for BING.
Conversion Tracking for Google AdWords
First, we address conversion tracking for Google AdWords. As this is a Google service, the company has, of course, created a template for AdWords Conversion Tracking, which is very easy to use. The integration process is as follows:
Create a new tag on the overview page.
Immediately give it a name, e.g., "Conversion Tag AdWords".
Select "AdWords Conversion Tracking" as the tag type. As of 02/03/2015, this is the second option in the selection menu.
Enter the usual AdWords details in the subsequent area:
Conversion ID (provided by the AdWords account)
Conversion Label (provided by the AdWords account)
Conversion Value (you can optionally set a fixed value or have the respective conversion value dynamically transmitted from the website. Alternatively, you can leave the field blank.)
Currency Code (you can set the currency to be used, e.g., "EUR" for Euro, or have the dynamic currency also transmitted from the website. Alternatively, you can leave the field blank.)
The conversion value and currency code are optional details that can be used but are not mandatory.
Finally, you must define a trigger rule for the tag, specifying when the tag is triggered, for example, on the order confirmation page.
Once this process is completed, the tag must be published on the Tag Manager overview page. Once this is done, AdWords conversions will be monitored on the website. You can then use the Google Tag Manager debug mode to verify that you have correctly integrated your tag by conducting a test purchase or similar.
If you want to achieve greater flexibility with the AdWords tag, you can pass the conversion value and currency code dynamically from the website. This allows you to accurately track the monetary value your AdWords conversions have actually achieved and how much revenue/loss you have made using AdWords.
For this, you need to push two additional variables into the Data Layer, where the details will be passed on to the Tag Manager. In this example, the variables are named as follows:
For the conversion value: google_conversion_value
For the currency code: google_conversion_currency
However, you can choose your own names. Please note not to enter "2.99" and "EUR" as seen in the screenshot but rather use the system variables from your CMS that automatically enter these details there after each conversion.
For the Tag Manager to receive the data, you must create two macros in the Tag Manager in the next step. These receive the data from the Data Layer variables "google_conversion_value" and "google_conversion_currency" and make them available to the Tag Manager for further processing.
Enter the macros in the fields for conversion value and currency code in the newly created AdWords Conversion Tag. To do this, select the corresponding macro using the plus button next to the field. Note that you work with the macro name here and not with the name of the data layer variables.
When the tag is re-published in the next step, the dynamic conversion values are automatically forwarded from the website to your own Google AdWords account via the Tag Manager. Although this requires you to handle the source code, it yields significantly more accurate data and maximum flexibility. Nonetheless, you can still collect the total number of your AdWords conversions without adjusting the source code.
Conversion Tracking for BING
With BING conversion tracking, things are a bit different. Google does not provide a template here, so the tag must be manually incorporated into the Tag Manager. Fortunately, this can be implemented relatively easily.
At this point, it is important to note that there are currently many different tips online on how to implement BING Conversion Tracking. This goes as far as suggesting adjustments to the script provided by Microsoft. We strongly advise against this!
Generally, the instructions are outdated and no longer refer to the current BING conversion script. Please only proceed as follows to integrate the BING Conversion Tag into your page via the Tag Manager:
Log into your BING Ads account.
Set up a goal for your ads.
Then have the code for your BING tag generated.
Create a new tag in the Google Tag Manager.
Immediately give it a name, for example, "Conversion Tag BING".
Select "Custom HTML Tag" as the tag type.
Copy the code for your BING tag (which you received after setting up the goal in the BING Ads account) into the text field.
Finally, you must define a trigger rule for the tag, specifying when the tag is triggered, for example, on the order confirmation page.
Very important: Check the box for "support document.write". Your script will only work correctly with this checked.
Once you have made these settings, the number of your BING conversions will be tracked. Please note that by default only the number of conversions is recorded. A conversion value is not measured.
If you also want to transmit the conversion value in this case, you need to handle the page's source code again. However, only a small adjustment is necessary here as well. Therefore, also push the data to the Data Layer, but to the BING Data Layer. The code looks as follows.
Again, it is necessary that you don't enter "2.99" behind "'gv':" but instead use your CMS's system variable. These must automatically and dynamically enter the conversion value there after each conversion.
What can we do for you?
If you want to examine your campaigns more closely and target your media spendings more precisely, we are happy to offer you consulting services. If you wish to study your customers' journey through the internet, we are also pleased to conduct customer journey analyses for you, mapping out the various touchpoints your customers have with your company. This way, you can easily find out if AdWords or BING is beneficial for you. Of course, we can also review your tracking implementation, optimize it if necessary, and transfer all your tags into the Google Tag Manager. Contact us today.
