How to capture the GCLID in Salesforce Account Engagement
Use Attributer to capture the GCLID with each new prospect in Salesforce Account Engagement and send it back to Google Ads as an Offline Conversion
Use Attributer to capture the GCLID in Salesforce Account Engagement. Simply add hidden fields to your forms, Attributer writes the GCLID into them, and it is captured in Account Engagement. It also captures other lead source information (like UTM parameters, leads from organic channels, etc.)
If you're running Google Ads to generate leads, you already know how powerful the platform can be.
But here's the challenge: without a way to connect those clicks back to actual paying customers, it's almost impossible to know which campaigns are truly delivering results and which ones are just burning through your budget.
The good news? There's a straightforward solution.
In this article, we'll show you how to use a tool called Attributer to capture the GCLID in Salesforce Account Engagement (formerly known as Pardot), and then send it back to Google Ads so you can track offline conversions.
4 steps for capturing the GCLID in Salesforce Account Engagement
Attributer makes it easy to capture the GCLID in Salesforce Account Engagement. Here's a quick look at how the whole process works:
1. Install Attributer on your website and add a hidden field
First things first: sign up for a 14-day free trial of Attributer. Once you've created your account, you'll receive a small snippet of code to place on your website.
The installation steps will vary slightly depending on your website platform (WordPress, Webflow, Squarespace, etc), but in most cases it's as simple as adding the code through your site's settings. You can also add it via Google Tag Manager if that's easier.
Once the code is in place, you'll need to add a 'GCLID' hidden field to whatever forms you're using on your site. If you're using Account Engagement's native forms, you can create a custom prospect field for the GCLID and add it to your form as a hidden field. If you're using a third party form tool, just add the hidden field there instead.
Either way, this is where Attributer will write the GCLID each time a visitor fills out a form.
You can find detailed setup instructions on our help site.
2. Attributer captures the GCLID and writes it into the hidden field
Whenever someone clicks one of your Google Ads and arrives on your website, Attributer picks up the GCLID from the URL and stores it in their browser. That way, the GCLID stays intact even if the visitor clicks through to other pages on your site, or leaves entirely and comes back another day.
When they eventually fill out a form, Attributer writes the saved GCLID into the hidden field you set up.
3. GCLID is captured with each form submission and can be sent to Salesforce
When the visitor submits the form, the GCLID that Attributer placed in the hidden field gets captured alongside all the other details the lead entered (like their name, email, phone number, etc.).
If you're using Account Engagement's native forms, the GCLID will be stored on the prospect record in Account Engagement and will automatically sync to the corresponding Lead or Contact record in Salesforce.
If you're using a third party form tool (like Gravity Forms, Typeform, Jotform, etc.), you can use that tool's built in integration or a connector like Zapier to send the GCLID to Account Engagement along with the rest of the lead's details.
Finally, the GCLID can be synched to Salesforce and it will be available when an Opportunity is created, which is where you can trigger the Zap to send it back to Google Ads.
How to send the GCLID back to Google Ads and mark it as an offline conversion
Before you can send the GCLID back to Google Ads, you'll need to set up a new conversion action in your Google Ads account.
To do this, log into Google Ads, click Goals in the left sidebar, and go to Conversions. From there, click the button to create a new Conversion and select 'Offline Conversion'.
On the final screen where it asks you to add a data source, select the option to 'Add data source later'.
With the conversion action created in Google Ads, the next step is to actually send the GCLID back. But before you do that, you need to decide which point in your sales process should count as a conversion.
Your first instinct might be to wait until a deal is officially won before sending the conversion to Google Ads. But that can actually hurt your results. Google's smart bidding strategies (like Maximise Conversions, Maximise Conversion Value, or Target CPA) need around 50 conversions per month to perform effectively. If your business closes fewer than 50 deals a month, you'll get better results by tracking an earlier stage in your pipeline (such as when an Opportunity is created in Salesforce) to give Google enough data to optimise.
Once you've chosen the right conversion point, go to your Zapier account and create a new Zap. Set the trigger to match the conversion event you selected. For instance, if you want to send the offline conversion when an Opportunity is created in Salesforce, configure that as your trigger.
Then, choose Google Ads as the Action and select 'Send Offline Conversion' as the event.
The final step is to map the GCLID from Salesforce to the GCLID field in Google Ads.
And that's it! You've now set up offline conversions in Google Ads. Before you ramp up your ad spend, it's a good idea to test that everything is working correctly. You can read more about how to do that here.
Why Attributer is the best way to capture the GCLID in Salesforce Account Engagement
There are a number of different ways to get the GCLID into Salesforce Account Engagement. So why go with Attributer?
Here's what makes it stand out:
1. Remembers the GCLID as visitors browse your site
Some form tools and URL parameter capture methods only grab whatever is in the URL at the exact moment the form is submitted.
That means if a visitor clicks your Google Ad, lands on your homepage, then navigates to a Contact Us page to fill out a form, the GCLID is no longer in the URL and won't be captured.
Attributer takes a different approach. It saves the GCLID in the visitor's browser the instant they arrive on your site, so no matter how many pages they browse (or even if they leave your site and return later) the GCLID is always passed through when they submit a form.
2. Captures UTM parameters as well
Attributer doesn't stop at the GCLID. It also captures any UTM parameters you've attached to your ads.
For example, imagine you're handling the marketing for an accounting firm and a potential client clicks one of your Google Ads before completing a form on your website. Based on the UTM parameters behind that ad, Attributer could capture details like these:
- Channel = Paid Search
- Channel Drilldown 1 = Google
- Channel Drilldown 2 = Tax Preparation Campaign (or whatever you named the campaign)
- Channel Drilldown 3 = Small Business Tax Accountant (or whatever keyword triggered the ad)
- Channel Drilldown 4 = Free Consultation Ad (or whatever ad they clicked on)
3. Captures information on users from organic channels
Beyond paid campaigns, Attributer also tracks visitors who find your site through organic channels like Organic Search, Organic Social, Referral, Direct Traffic, and more.
Sticking with the accounting firm example, if a lead discovered your site through a regular Google search, Attributer would capture something like this:
- Channel = Organic Search
- Channel Drilldown 1 = Google
- Channel Drilldown 2 = www.google.com (or whichever search engine domain they came from)
- Channel Drilldown 3 = Best Tax Accountant Near Me (or whatever search term they used, when available)
Wrap Up
If you want to capture the GCLID in Salesforce Account Engagement so you can send it back to Google Ads as an offline conversion, Attributer is a great way to do it.
It stores the GCLID as visitors move around your site (or even if they leave and come back days later) and automatically passes it through every time a lead fills out a form. Beyond just the GCLID, you'll also get detailed attribution data for all your leads (including UTM parameters, organic search data, and more), giving you a complete picture of where your leads and customers are coming from.
Best of all, it's free to get started and setup usually takes less than 10 minutes. Start your 14-day free trial today!
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About the Author
Aaron Beashel is the founder of Attributer and has over 15 years of experience in marketing & analytics. He is a recognized expert in the subject and has written articles for leading websites such as Hubspot, Zapier, Search Engine Journal, Buffer, Unbounce & more. Learn more about Aaron here.