Track your Google Ads campaigns in Paddle with this simple tool
Learn how to capture Google Ads data and send it into your Paddle account, so you can see campaigns are actually generating your customers & revenue.
Are you using Google Ads to attract new subscribers to your subscription product?
If so, are you able to see which campaigns are generating you customers and revenue, as opposed to those that are just driving visitors that don't convert?
If you could see where every customer came from, including the campaign, ad group and ad, you'd know which campaigns and ads are actually generating customers and revenue and you could invest more in them.
In this article, we’ll walk you through how to use Attributer to capture Google Ads data in Paddle and run reports that show you what's working and what isn't.
Why it's important to track customers and revenue from Google Ads
Say you own a business that offers project management software. To spread the news about your business, you create ads on Google highlighting different terms people may search for, like ‘Project management software’ and ‘Task management software.’
If you’re just using a tool like Google Analytics to keep count of the visitors and form completions, you’d probably get results like this.
| Spend | $2,000 | $2,000 |
| Visitors | 200 | 100 |
| Goal Completions | 20 | 10 |
If the only information you have is on ‘visitors and leads from spend,’ it would appear that your Task Management campaign was doing better than your Project Management campaign, so you’d want to direct more of your budget to that.
But what if you could see the results all the way through to the number of customers and amount of revenue produced?
You’d get something like this
| Spend | $2,000 | $2,000 |
| Visitors | 200 | 100 |
| Leads | 20 | 10 |
| Customers | 2 | 5 |
| Revenue | $8,000 | $25,000 |
If you can monitor campaign effectiveness all the way through to customers and revenue, you can see the whole story.
In this scenario, the Task Management Campaign is one step ahead because:
- More customers were generated from the Project Management Campaign (12) than the Task Management Campaign (2)
- The free trial-to-customer conversion rate is far higher for the Project Management Campaign (60%) than the Task Management Campaign (14%)
- The average customer value in the Project Management Campaign is $2,083 per customer vs. $1,142 per customer from the Task Management Campaign.
- The cost of getting a customer is lower in the Project Management Campaign: $416 vs. $714
As displayed in the analysis above, you get a much better grasp of what’s working and what isn’t when you capture the source of every free trial and customer in a tool like Paddle.
So how do you do it?
4 simple steps to capture Google Ads data in Paddle
Attributer makes it easy to capture Google Ads data in Paddle. Here's how it works:
1. Add UTM parameters to your ads
UTM parameters need to first be added to your campaigns so you can start capturing Google Ads data in Paddle.
In case you're not familiar with them, UTM parameters are extra bits of text that you add at the end of the URL you want to send to people from your campaigns.
Let’s say the page you want to send someone is attributer.io/integrations/salesforce, then your final URL with UTM parameters may look like this:
attributer.io/integrations/salesforce?utm_medium=paidsearch&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=brand-campaign
Even though you can add UTM parameters however you want, it is best to follow the general best practice for Google Ads, which is something like this:
- UTM Medium = Paid search
- UTM Source = Google
- UTM Campaign = The name of your Google Ads campaign
- UTM Term = The name of the ad group the ad belongs to
- UTM Content = The specific ad
Putting UTM parameters to your URLs is simple. Plus, there are free tools online that can help you build them.
2. Attributer stores the Google Ads data in a cookie
When the Attributer script is live and working on your site, Attributer will scan your visitors for the presence of the UTM parameters that you added to your campaigns in step 1.
If Attributer finds them, it will categorise this specific visitor into the ‘Paid Search’ channel and then keep this information in a cookie in the user’s browser, along with the campaign name, ad group name, etc. This way, it’s always available when the user completes a form (i.e., starts a free trial of your SaaS product or purchases your subscription offering).
3. Google Ads data is sent to Paddle
Every time a user submits a form on your site, the Google Ads data is sent into Paddle along with the other data entered in the form, like their name, company, email address, etc.
This information can be passed to Paddle in two ways:
- Hidden fields in forms - By incorporating a series of hidden fields into your forms, Attribute can automatically write the necessary data. When the form is submitted, this data gets passed to Paddle along with all the information entered.
- Retrieve from cookie - A simple line of javascript added to your registration process will capture the UTM parameters from the Attributer cookie and then pass them to Paddle. This method is helpful if you provide the option to sign up for your product or service via Google or Facebook account sign-up, eliminating the need for the user to complete a form.
4. Run reports in Paddle
Now that the Google Ads data is in Paddle alongside every customer, you can use it to build reports
Some of the reports you can run include the following:
- New Customers added each month by Campaign
- New Revenue added each month by Ad Group
- Average Revenue Per Customer by Ad
- Customer Lifetime Value by Channel or Campaign
- Customer Churn Rate by Channel or Campaign
- And many more!
The reports can be created inside Paddle or you can sync your Paddle data with other analytics tools to make even more detailed reports.
Why using Attributer is the best way to capture Google Ads data in Paddle
Other ways to capture Google Ads data and send it to Paddle are available, so why choose Attributer?
Here’s why:
1. Captures all traffic
Attributer can determine all the other sources of signups (Organic Search, Paid Social, Organic Social, etc.) and pass them into Paddle as well.
With this, you can build reports to see where your sign-ups and customers have come from, and you'll see the source of ALL of them, not just those from your Google Ads campaigns.
This can be essential, especially if for example, your SEO efforts generate more sign-ups and customers than your Google Ads campaigns. Ultimately, this will help you know where to invest your resources.
2. Remembers the data as visitors browse your site
Other methods for sending Google Ads data into Paddle require the UTM parameters on the page where the form is submitted.
For instance, say someone searches for your product, clicks on your Google Ads, and are directed to a landing page you created for that campaign. After some deliberation, they click the ‘Start Free Trial’ button and are taken to a different page to complete a form and sign up for your product and service. This means that the page they complete a form on differs from the one they initially landed on, so the UTM parameters behind your ads are lost.
It’s different with Attributer as it keeps the UTM parameters in a cookie in the user’s browser, so no matter what page the user completes a form on, the UTM parameters will always be sent through.
3. Provides cleaner data
One of the problems with using other tools that capture raw UTM parameters is your data can get messed up, making it challenging to run accurate reports.
For example, imagine some of your Google Ads campaigns are tagged with UTM_Source= Google.com (capital G), others with UTM_Source= google (lowercase, no domain), and others with UTM_Source= adwords.
If you send these raw UTM parameters into Paddle and use them to see the number of sign-ups and customers your Google Ads campaigns have made, you’ll get three different sources you’d need to stitch together manually.
You don’t have to put up with this with Attributer because it considers the possibility of capitalization and other inconsistencies and would appoint these leads to the Paid Search channel regardless.
4. Captures landing page data
Ever got curious about how many leads and customers your blog and other in-depth content pieces have made?
On top of capturing Google Ads data, Attributer also captures the landing page (i.e., attributer.io/blog/capture-utm-parameters), and the landing page category (i.e., /blog).
With this data, you can monitor how well certain sections of your site are performing (e.g., your blog) in terms of signups, customers, and revenue.
Moreover, since it captures both the landing page and landing page group, you can track your blog’s performance in two ways: as a whole section and as individual blog posts.
Wrap up
Attributer is a great tool for capturing Google Ads data in Paddle. It will capture the UTM parameters you use behind your Google Ads campaigns, which allows you to build reports that provide insight into which campaigns are driving sign-ups and customers.
In addition, it will also give you data on signups & customers that come from other channels so you can identify the source of ALL your leads and ultimately know where to best invest your money to grow your business.
What are your waiting for? It’s free to get started.
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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.