Historically, transitioning from an upper funnel goal to a lower funnel goal may have caused a temporary impact to performance. For the most seamless transition to a lower funnel conversion goal, follow the below recommendations.
For example, if you are currently using Maximize conversions with a Target CPA and bidding to an upper funnel conversion category such as Page views, and you want to bid lower-funnel using the conversion category such as Purchase, Qualified lead, or Converted lead.
Recommended steps
Measure and categorize your lower funnel conversion data: Report lower funnel conversion data consistently, ideally daily, when uploading conversions from offline sources. Ensure the lower funnel conversion actions that you plan to transition your campaign or account to is assigned to one of the following conversion categories in the Google Ads UI:
- Purchases
- Qualified lead
- Converted lead
If you already have a lower funnel conversion action, but it is in the wrong conversion category, consider adjusting it accordingly using account optimization or campaign optimization workflow.
Ensure the conversion actions you intend to transition to, in the conversion category, are marked as “Primary”. When marking as primary, don’t use them for bid optimization yet, either at the campaign or account level.
When the conversion action is in one of the supported categories, track these conversions for at least 2-3 conversion cycles, before using them for bid optimization. Smart Bidding will train on this data in the background to improve the transition experience.
- Note: If an advertiser was already tracking a lower funnel conversion action that was not correctly categorized as a Purchase, Qualified lead, or Converted lead, they will need to recategorize the action accordingly. They will also need to wait the aforementioned 2-3 conversion cycles prior to using the action for bid optimization.
- Always keep conversion delay in mind when evaluating performance as you transition to the lower funnel goal. If you have longer conversion delays, expect a longer ramp up.
When ready, swap the conversion goals so that the Submit lead form event is no longer used for bid optimization and Purchase event is used for bid optimization. You can make this swap at the campaign or account level while remaining on Maximize conversions with a Target CPA.
Adjust the CPA target to match the lower funnel conversions. This means increasing the CPA. Directly use the historically achieved CPA during the transition, and closely monitor spend during the transition, adjusting the CPA as needed.
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