As a marketer with any level of experience, you will definitely agree to the fact that the attribution data provided by your analytics platform and Google Ads will always have some discrepancy. And the gap continues to widen with the increasing number of attribution algorithms and models.

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This poses a serious challenge to conversion rate optimization (CRO) since you won’t have the right numbers to begin your CRO analysis. Hence, improving conversion data accuracy and hygiene should be your top priority, especially during these times of economic slowdown. 

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Enhanced Conversions feature of Google Ads acts as the basis for improving data accuracy and making attribution more accurate.

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In this article, I will walk you through the step-by-step process of setting up Google Enhanced Conversions in Google Tag Manager (GTM).

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What Are Google Enhanced Conversions?

Google Enhanced Conversions is an advanced feature that helps improve the accuracy of conversion tracking by leveraging first-party data. It helps you make better-informed decisions about your ad campaigns while respecting upholding user consent and their privacy choices.

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Prerequisites For Setting Up Enhanced Conversions

Before we begin, ensure that you have the following in place:

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• A Google Ads account
• A Google Tag Manager (GTM) account
• A website to track conversions

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If you don't have these accounts yet, sign up for Google Ads and Google Tag Manager.

Step-By-Step Guide To Setting Up Enhanced Conversions With GTM

Let us go through the steps for setting up the enhanced conversions with the help of GTM:

Step 1: Enable Enhanced Conversions In Google Ads

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1. Log in to your Google Ads account.
2. Click on the wrench icon located at the top right corner, and then select "Conversions" under the "Measurement" section.
3. Click on the "+" button to create a new conversion action. Alternatively, you may select an existing conversion action to edit.
4. Under the "Enhanced Conversions" section, toggle the switch to "ON."
5. Enter your website's domain name and click on the "Save" button.

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Step 2: Set Up Google Ads Conversion Tracking Tag in GTM

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1. Log in to your Google Tag Manager account.
2. Click on "Tags" in the left sidebar.
3. Click on the "+" button to create a new tag.
4. Give a suitable name to your tag e.g., "Google Ads Conversion Tracking".
5. Click on "Tag Configuration" and select "Google Ads Conversion Tracking" from the list.
6. Copy the "Conversion ID" and "Conversion Label" from your Google Ads account and paste them into the respective fields in GTM.
7. Choose "Page View" as the trigger type and specify the pages where the conversions should be tracked (e.g., a "Thank You" page after a form submission).

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Step 3: Set Up Enhanced Conversions in GTM

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1. Click on the "Advanced Settings" in the same tag you just created during the above step.
2. Under Fields to Set, click "Add Row."
3. Enter "enhanced_conversions" in the Field Name column and "true" in the Value column.

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Step 4: Create A First-Party Cookie Variable In GTM

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1. Click on "Variables" located in the left sidebar of GTM.
2. Click the "+" button.
3. Give a suitable name to your variable like "First-Party Cookie".
4. Click on "Variable Configuration" and select "First Party Cookie" from the list.
5. Enter "_gac" as the cookie name, which is also the default name for Google Ads cookies.

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Step 5: Set Up the Conversion Linker Tag in GTM

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1. Click on "Tags" in the left sidebar of GTM.
2. Click the "+" button to create a new tag.
3. Name your tag. For example, you can name it "Conversion Linker".
4. Click on "Tag Configuration" and select "Conversion Linker" from the list.
5. Under "Configure Tag," select "Enable Conversion Linker for Google Ads."
6. Choose "All Pages" as the trigger type to fire the tag on every page of your website.

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Step 6: Modify The Google Ads Conversion Tracking Tag

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1. Go back to the "Google Ads Conversion Tracking" tag you created in Step 2.
2. Click "Add Row" in the Fields to Set section.
3. Enter "conversion_cookie_prefix" in the Field Name column and "{{First-Party Cookie}}" in the Value column, where "First-Party Cookie" is the variable you created in Step 4.

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Step 7: Save and Publish Your Changes in GTM

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1. Click on the "Submit" button located in the top right corner of GTM.
2. Document your changes by entering a version name and description.
3. Click "Publish" to make your changes live.

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Wrap Up

Congratulations! You have successfully set up Google Enhanced Conversions with Google Tag Manager. By leveraging first-party data, you can make better-informed decisions about your ad campaigns while respecting user privacy. Again, I would like to reiterate the fact that you must not forget to monitor your conversion data and adjust your advertising strategies accordingly to maximize your ROI.

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Despite trying to explain the process in a simple and lucid manner, it can be challenging for many users to setup Google Enhanced Conversions in GTM (and that’s just the beginning!) Thus, we created Tagmate, a SaaS web tagging tool that will allow you to replace the entire process mentioned above with just a few clicks! 

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Too good to be true? Try Tagmate for free and see for yourself!

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