Tracking Cross-Device and Estimated Total Conversions in Google (Part 1)

A recent study by Google showed that 90% of people use multiple screens and devices sequentially to accomplish a task over time. In the multi-device world we now live in, marketers need to focus more energy on measuring and optimizing the full path to conversion for leads and customers. That’s why Google is introducing the Estimated Total Conversions tool to help marketers have a more holistic view of visitors’ paths to conversion.

Cross-Device Conversions

More and more often users are accessing your website from multiple devices before they convert. Perhaps their first interaction with your brand occurs on their mobile phone on the way to work. Since your brand compelled them on mobile, they want to learn more and access your brand for a second time on their desktop computer while at work. Then, once they are ready to make a purchase, they access your brand for a third time on their tablet at home – maybe they make an online purchase, maybe they call you, or perhaps they fill out your lead capture form to learn more.

Traditionally your website would only count their last visit – on a tablet in this example – as a conversion. Now, with cross-device conversions, Google is attempting to estimate a user’s behavior from mobile to desktop to tablet, and each visit is tracked as an “assist” to the ultimate conversion. The Estimated Total Conversions tool can help you measure and understand the path users take to convert, and in turn help you optimize your investments and time.

Tracking Phone Calls as Conversions

What’s more, according to Google, consumers make an average of 40 million calls directly from Google ads each month – if you aren’t tracking phone calls as conversions, you’re missing a huge piece of your conversion data. What happens when someone first visits your website on their tablet, then again on their mobile device, and then decides to call your business? Tracking their path through to the phone call they make is important data that can help you optimize your marketing spend.

To learn more about tracking phone calls as conversions, download our free guide: Tracking Phone Leads: The Missing Piece of Marketing Automation.

And stay tuned for part 2 of this post where we will share results of a few tests we are running to see how well Google is actually able to estimate cross-device conversions.

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