Google announced a new “conversion import” feature for AdWords today, aimed at making it easier for advertisers to measure and optimize events that happen away from their sites.
The company says the feature can help small businesses measure and optimize for the customer’s entire journey from online leads to offline sales.
“In AdWords, you’ve been able to see which keywords lead to higher or lower lead volumes, and to optimize for a cost per lead goal,” says product management lead Jon Diorio. “But there’s been no easy way to measure and optimize in AdWords for events that happen beyond the website, like a customer order taken over the phone by your sales team.”
“The new AdWords conversion import feature can help you measure and optimize for the complete end-to-end purchase process,” says Diorio. “Now you can upload your offline conversion events into AdWords and see how clicks on your ads led to sales made in the offline world such as over the phone or via a sales rep.”
Google says there are more features aimed at helping advertisers measure customers’ paths to purchase on the way. The Conversion Import feature follows last week’s launch of cross-account conversion tracking and search funnels.