Google Ads: Enhanced Conversion and how to implement it using Google Tag Manager?

Referring to the part 1 of this series: How to implement enhanced conversion?

Part 1: Using Google Tag: https://adsciting.com/2024/02/17/google-ads-enhanced-conversion-and-how-to-implement-it-using-google-tag/

Let's look at part 2: Google Tag Manager.

Recap: What is enhanced conversion?

  • Improved Measurement It goes beyond standard conversion tracking by using additional, privacy-safe customer data (like a hashed email address) when a conversion happens on your website. This data is then compared to data of signed-in Google users to better attribute conversions directly to your ads.
  • Privacy-focused Design User data is protected. First-party customer data collected (emails, names, address, etc.) are hashed (converted into unreadable code using the SHA256 hashing algorithm) before being securely compared to Google’s data. No human will be able to access this “matched” data. Thus, preventing businesses to identify any users. They only get a number of matched conversion, but not the actual User Data.

Recap: Why should we implement it?

  • More Accurate Data: Capture conversions that might have been missed by standard tracking, especially when cookies are blocked or privacy standard prevent that attribution from happening.
  • Smarter Bidding: Improved conversion data informs bidding strategies to drive better results and greater return on investment. A more accurate data = the machine is optimizing to the correct outcome.

How to implement it?

You have a few options for setting up enhanced conversions:

Using the Google Tag:

Using Google Tag Manager:

  • Tag Manager makes it easier without changing your website code. You’ll use tags and triggers to implement enhanced conversion tracking. This is a great middle ground offering simplicity and customization.

Google Ads API (We will talk about this at part 3):

  • This method is geared towards advanced users or businesses handling larger-scale data management. Check out my guide for API upload but this is without Enhanced Conversion. I will release another guide for the enhanced conversion API

Using Google Tag Manager

Step 1: Enable Enhanced Conversions in Google Ads

  • Navigate to your Google Ads account.
  • Click the Tools and Settings icon (wrench) in the top right.
  • Under “Measurement”, click “Conversions”.
  • Go to your existing purchase event.
  • Toggle “Turn on enhanced conversions for web” on.
  • Review the compliance statement and agree to terms.
  • Select the “Google Tag Manager” option.

Step 2: Collect and Hash User Data In Google Tag Manager

On the page where conversion happened, create a tag to capture User Data:

Auto detect for Google Ads User-provided Data
  • You can create a conversion tag and add in "Include User Data"
  • Select "Auto detected" and test it!
  • If it works, you are done! If not, read on...
Select Manual Setup (if auto did not work)
  • Collect user data like email, name, address, and phone number.
    • Find the CSS selector of the information in the site.
      • You can retrieve it by right click, inspect, click the top arrow icon, mouse over to the information field, click on the field, mouse to the highlighted portion on the right bar, right click it, select "Copy Selector".
Select for CSS Selector. I should I have select email field but I selected name. But you get it. Same idea, select the email field in your website
  • Create a variable with a name that make sense to you. Select get element by selector and input the "CSS Selector"
    • For phone number, you have to add in your country code. For example: "+60" for Indonesia. This means, you probably have to create a custom variable that add the country code in. To do that, follow the step as per above and create this simple Custom JavaScript variable.
var phoneNumber = {{phoneNumberCaptureOnWebsite}}
return "+60" + phoneNumber;
Simple example for custom JS variable to add country code into phone number
  • Fire a conversion tag with user data included and select the variables you setup above.
Add in all the variables we've set up

If your conversion tag fired at the different place from your user information input, you need to capture the information at the user details page.

On the page where user data appear in your page (e.g., a shipping details page, sign up page, login page), capture the user information in a variable. Same steps as the above!

  • Collect user data like email, name, address, and phone number.
    • Find the CSS selector of the information in the site.
      • You can retrieve it by right click, inspect, click the top arrow icon, mouse over to the information field, click on the field, mouse to the highlighted portion on the right bar, right click it, select "Copy Selector".
Select for CSS Selector. I should I have select email field but I selected name. But you get it. Same idea, select the email field in your website
  • Create a variable with a name that make sense to you. Select get element by selector and input the "CSS Selector"
    • For phone number, you have to add in your country code. For example: "+60" for Indonesia. This means, you probably have to create a custom variable that add the country code in. To do that, follow the step as per above and create this simple Custom JavaScript variable.
var phoneNumber = {{phoneNumberCaptureOnWebsite}}
return "+60" + phoneNumber;
Simple example for custom JS variable to add country code into phone number
  • Fire a conversion tag with user data included and select the variables you setup above.
Add in all the variables we've set up
  • Fire a user data event tag instead of a conversion tag and use the variables you setup.
Google ads User-provided data event tag. Not to be confuse with the conversion tag
  • Fire a normal conversion event tag when conversion happened. You can skip the "Include User Data" checkbox for this.
Don't have to tick the user-provided data check box

The above should send user data to Google and when conversion happened, it will match it to Google Sign in Data and match it.

A shameless plug here. I am an advertising professional with a mission to teach others about marketing technology. I’m putting Martech tutorials without a paywall.

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Cheers friends!

1 thought on “Google Ads: Enhanced Conversion and how to implement it using Google Tag Manager?”

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