Offline Conversions
Reporting deals that happen off your website back to ad platforms
In short
Offline conversions are conversions that don’t happen on your website – like a closed deal in your CRM – and are sent back to ad platforms like Meta.
Also known as: offline conversion, offline conversion tracking, offline conversion import
Offline conversions are conversions that don’t happen directly on your website but later in your CRM, on the phone or in your payment system – a qualified lead, an appointment or a closed deal. When they are sent back to ad platforms, Meta, Google Ads and others can optimize your campaigns for real deals.
How offline conversions work
- A user clicks an ad. The click ID (e.g. gclid or fbclid) and the traffic source are stored.
- They become a lead, and their data lands in the CRM.
- Weeks later the lead becomes a customer, and the deal is marked as won in the CRM.
- This event is sent to the ad platform with the click ID, hashed email or phone number and the revenue.
- The platform matches the deal to the original ad and uses it for reporting and optimization.
Example
A financial advisor gets 100 leads a month from Google Ads on a $5,000 budget – a $50 cost per lead. Only 8 of them close, at $2,500 in revenue on average. Campaign A delivers 70 leads and 2 deals, campaign B 30 leads and 6 deals.
Without offline conversions, Google sees campaign A as the winner and shifts budget there. With offline conversions, Google sees that campaign B brings in $15,000 in revenue and campaign A only $5,000. With value-based bidding, the algorithm can then bid for revenue directly.
Offline conversions in lead generation
In lead generation, almost all of the value is created offline. If you only report form leads to the platforms, you train the algorithm for volume instead of quality.
LeadMetrics sends events such as leads, purchases, subscription payments and won or lost deals to Meta, Google Ads, TikTok and LinkedIn via the Conversion API. Deals come from HubSpot or Close through the CRM integration, payments from Stripe, CopeCart or Digistore24. Email, phone number and name are hashed with SHA-256 and sent along with click IDs, value and currency. The article From CRM lead to real conversion covers the background.
Common mistakes
- Not storing the click ID: Without gclid, fbclid or contact data, the platform can’t match the deal to an ad.
- Reporting too late: Platforms only accept conversions within certain time frames after the click.
- Sending without a value: Without revenue, the algorithm can’t tell small deals from big ones.
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Frequently asked questions
Guides on this topic
Related terms
All termsConversion API · CAPI
A Conversion API (CAPI) is an interface that sends conversions directly from server to server to ad platforms like Meta or Google, without the browser.
CRM · Customer Relationship Management
A CRM (customer relationship management) is a system for managing contacts, leads, deals and all communication with prospects and customers in one place.
Value-Based Bidding
Value-based bidding is a bid strategy in which the ad platform optimizes for the highest possible conversion value instead of the largest number of conversions.
Conversion Tracking
Conversion tracking records which users complete a desired action after clicking an ad – such as submitting a form, booking a call or buying.
Lead Value
Lead value is the average revenue or contribution margin a single lead brings in: customer value multiplied by the lead-to-customer close rate.
Client-Side Tracking
Client-side tracking captures user actions with JavaScript directly in the browser and sends them from there to analytics and ad platforms.