Connecting the dots: Integrating CRM and offline conversion tracking tools

True, customer journey tracking is primarily online because eCommerce is at the forefront of consumer purchases. That's taken care of by Google Analytics and other digital tracking tools. 

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Despite the increase in online shopping, a significant amount of consumer activity still takes place in physical stores, outside of the digital realm.

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Many customers search for a product online before purchasing it in a physical store, but these offline sales are not included in online conversion or attribution data, giving marketers an incomplete understanding of the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns.

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The issue of offline conversions can complete this gap. 

Using offline conversion tracking (OCT) can fill the gap in information and greatly enhance the effectiveness of the overall marketing strategy. 

What is offline conversion?

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Offline conversions refer to customer interactions that take place outside of the online sphere. These can include phone calls, store visits, and other types of in-person interactions. 

Offline conversion tracking

OCT is a way for businesses to measure a variety of actions that take place outside of a business's website and to understand the customer journey from online advertising to offline actions, such as making a purchase in a physical store, enrollments in a course, sponsored deals, subscriptions after trials, and phone purchases. 

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By tracking these conversions, businesses can see which campaigns are driving the most sales and subscriptions and can make more informed decisions about their advertising efforts. The goal of offline conversion tracking is to eliminate guesswork and provide a more complete picture of how customers are interacting with a business's online advertising and completing calls to action.

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UTM codes assist marketers in tracking both online and offline conversions, allowing for a smooth attribution of sales to marketing and pay-per-click advertising campaigns.

The objective is to pinpoint all the interactions a customer has before completing a desired action.

The benefits of offline conversion tracking

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A better understanding of other marketing efforts

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An Offline Conversion solution enables you to determine the return on investment (ROI) of your other marketing channels, by providing visibility into the number of sales generated by online ads. It allows you to easily calculate the ROI of other channels as well.

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Enhance customer experience and boost sales

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The way customers interact with a brand offline can provide marketers with insights into their behavior and preferences that can be used to optimize the customer experience.

In-store promotions and product displays can be tracked using OCT, for example. By analyzing this data, marketers can identify which elements of the in-store experience resonate with customers. As a result, it may be possible to make informed decisions regarding how to improve the layout of the store, the placement of products, and promotional offerings, which could ultimately result in a better customer experience and boost sales.

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Get better analytics for both online and offline channels

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Data from offline conversions can help marketers understand how their campaigns are performing and allocate resources more efficiently. As a result, all marketing efforts can be optimized to maximize ROI.

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Keep track of how consumers move through your sales funnel

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OCT helps marketers to understand the customer's purchase decision process. For instance, they can identify the actions that a customer took before making a purchase. This can help to inform how marketers engage with customers and how they can optimize the customer journey to help drive sales.

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Identify keywords and targeting criteria

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By incorporating offline conversion events into your analysis, you can gain a more thorough understanding of which keywords and targeting options (such as location or time of day) are most effective in generating cost-efficient conversions. Utilizing this data can aid you in focusing and optimizing your campaigns, resulting in increased profitability.

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What is the role that CRM can play in tracking offline conversions?

Google offers a range of tools that can help businesses track offline conversions. These include AdWords and Google Analytics, which allow businesses to track phone calls and store visits, respectively. Integrating Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems with these tracking tools can enhance a business's ability to track and analyze offline conversions.

How Attribution Can Help You Track Online and Offline Conversions

Attribution refers to the process of attributing a conversion to a specific marketing touchpoint or interaction. In other words, it helps businesses understand which marketing efforts are most effective at driving conversions.

Connecting online and offline conversions is particularly important for businesses that have a significant number of offline interactions with customers. For example, a business that relies heavily on phone calls or in-store visits may struggle to accurately track the effectiveness of its online marketing efforts if they aren't able to attribute those offline conversions back to specific online campaigns.

Best Practices for Maximizing Accuracy: Google offline conversion tracking

Google offers a range of attribution tools that can help businesses connect online and offline conversions. These include:

• Google Analytics: Businesses can use Google Analytics to track the conversions of calls and visits to their stores. To set up store visit tracking in Google Analytics, businesses need to use location extensions in their ads. When a customer clicks on an ad with a location extension and visits the store, the visit is counted as a conversion. This allows businesses to see which of their online campaigns are driving store visits and track the effectiveness of those campaigns. Integration of Google Analytics with CRM systems can help businesses better understand how online marketing affects offline sales.

• AdWords: This tool allows businesses to track phone calls as conversions. In AdWords, a unique ID (GCLID) should be provided to track clicks from ads to your landing page. An ad is clicked, and the user proceeds to sign a contract over the phone with one of your salespeople. The user's unique ID gathers information about them, such as their location, name, purchases, and clicked ads. QR codes are also an option. This information goes into your CRM platform so you can track your qualified leads and customers along the way.

It's worth noting that both AdWords and Google Analytics rely on cookies to track conversions. This means that the accuracy of the tracking may be affected by factors such as the customer's browser settings and the presence of other tracking cookies. To maximize the accuracy of tracking, it's important for businesses to understand these limitations and take steps to address them.

Integrating with CRM for Enhanced Tracking

While AdWords and Google Analytics are powerful tools for tracking phone calls and store visits, they can be even more effective when combined with a CRM system. 

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems are designed to help businesses manage their interactions with customers and prospects. This includes storing customer data, tracking customer interactions, and identifying opportunities for upselling and cross-selling.

One of the key benefits of CRM is its ability to track offline conversions. By integrating a CRM system with tools like AdWords and Google Analytics, businesses can get a more complete picture of their customer interactions and better understand the relationship between their online and offline marketing efforts.

For example, let's say that a business runs an online advertising campaign and tracks phone calls as conversions in AdWords. Without a CRM system, the business may have no way of knowing which of those phone calls resulted in a sale. However, by integrating the CRM system with AdWords, the business can see which phone calls resulted in a sale and get a better understanding of the effectiveness of the advertising campaign.

In addition to tracking offline conversions, CRM systems can also help businesses identify upselling and cross-selling opportunities. For example, if a customer calls to inquire about a product and makes a purchase, the CRM system can record the interaction and provide the sales representative with information about the customer's previous purchases and interests. This can help the sales representative identify potential upselling or cross-selling opportunities during the call.

How to Connect CRM with Google Analytics and AdWords

There are a few different ways to connect a CRM system with Google Analytics and AdWords. The specific method will depend on the CRM system being used and the tools that are available. Here are a few options to consider:

• Use an integration tool: Many CRM systems offer integration tools that allow businesses to connect their CRM data with Google Analytics and AdWords. 

• Use a third-party integration tool: If a CRM system doesn't offer native integration with Google Analytics and AdWords, businesses can use a third-party tool to connect the two. For example, Zapier is a popular integration platform that can be used to connect a range of CRM systems with Google Analytics and AdWords.

• Use API integration: For businesses with technical know-how, API integration is another option for connecting CRM with Google Analytics and AdWords. This involves writing code to connect the two systems and requires a certain level of technical expertise.

Enhance Your Tracking Efforts with CRM Integration: Tips and Best Practices

Once a CRM system is connected with Google Analytics and AdWords, there are a few best practices to keep in mind to ensure that the integration is as effective as possible:

• Make sure data is consistent: It's important to ensure that the data in the CRM system is consistent with the data in Google Analytics and AdWords. This includes things like customer names, contact information, and conversion data. Inconsistent data can lead to inaccurate tracking and make it difficult to get a clear picture of customer interactions.

• Regularly update data: To get the most out of the integration, it's important to regularly update data in the CRM system. This includes things like customer interactions, conversion data, and other key information.

• Use custom reports: Many CRM systems allow businesses to create custom reports that can be used to track offline conversions. Businesses can gain a complete understanding of their marketing efforts by creating custom reports that combine data from the CRM system with data from Google Analytics and AdWords.

The Importance of Tracking Offline Conversions: A Recap and Encouragement to Get Started

Overall, offline conversion tracking is an extremely powerful tool that can help marketers to better understand the results of their marketing campaigns and to optimize their efforts for maximum impact. By collecting data from offline conversions, marketers can gain a more comprehensive view of the customer journey and use that information to improve the customer experience, boost sales, and drive business growth.

It's worth noting that tracking offline conversions is important for businesses of all sizes. By understanding which marketing efforts are driving offline interactions, businesses can identify opportunities to improve their marketing strategies and increase their return on investment. 

By integrating a CRM system with tools like AdWords and Google Analytics, businesses can get a more complete picture of their customer interactions and better understand the relationship between their online and offline marketing efforts.

In addition to tracking offline conversions, CRM systems can also help businesses identify upselling and cross-selling opportunities. Overall, using CRM for offline conversions can provide businesses with valuable insights into their customer interactions and help them better understand the effectiveness of their marketing efforts.

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