Boosting the values assigned to your conversions can significantly benefit advertisers. While conversion value rules are frequently employed by e-commerce businesses aiming to optimize their ROAS, this strategy proves equally valuable for lead generation campaigns. Although setting it up might require a bit more effort, the potential rewards are substantial.

In e-commerce, revenue is typically tracked directly on the website, reflecting the value of each purchased cart. This means the revenue dynamically adjusts to match the actual worth of every sale. However, in lead generation, where a lead’s value is often an initial estimate, how can we modify these values to represent better or worse conversions for the same action? The answer lies in conversion value rules. This article provides a comprehensive guide to understanding and utilizing conversion value rules effectively.

Table of contents

• How do conversion value rules work?
• How to set up conversion value rules in Google Ads
• Conversion value rule limitations

How do conversion value rules work?

Conversion value rules empower you to fine-tune the value of a conversion within your Google Ads account based on predetermined factors (which we’ll delve into shortly). Consequently, each conversion can possess a dynamic value that aligns with attributes holding greater (or lesser) significance to your business. Are you effectively progressing towards your Google Ads conversion targets? Utilize our complimentary Google Ads Grader to assess your performance and gain insights for enhancement!

Which customer attributes can conversion values be adjusted for?

You can primarily modify conversion values based on audience segments, geographical locations, and devices. An option exists to adjust for specific conversion activities like store visits or sales, but these currently hold less relevance for my clients compared to the others.

Furthermore, each conversion value rule can incorporate a secondary condition, enabling you to combine attributes from these categories for more precise tracking. For example, suppose you’re aware that new desktop customers have a higher lifetime value than returning or new mobile customers. In that case, you can establish a rule to capture this distinction.

Which Google Ads campaigns are eligible for conversion value rules?

Google describes the efficacy of conversion value rules as follows:

“Only to Performance Max in addition to Search, Shopping, and Display campaigns.” While I won’t delve into conspiracy theories, this wording raises a slight eyebrow. It suggests a potential for change, though nothing is certain for now. Nevertheless, conversion value rules are applicable to these four campaign types…at least for the time being.

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How to set up conversion value rules in Google Ads

With the fundamentals covered, let’s explore some examples to illustrate how conversion value rules function.

To access the conversion value rules manager within the Google Ads platform, navigate to the value rules section under the goals menu. Then, click create conversion value rule to begin.

Conversion value rules based on audience

Let’s start by crafting a conversion value rule centered around a Google Ads audience segment.

Similar to other applications of audiences in the Google Ads interface, you can search for a specific audience or browse through the provided category list. As you’ll observe, conversion value rules can be established for audiences based on detailed demographics, affinity audiences, in-market and life events, as well as your own data segments, including remarketing and customer uploads.

You have the flexibility to select multiple audience segments. With each addition, the user list in the upper right corner will update. Notice that each logic statement is emphasized as OR, indicating that a user belonging to any of these segments qualifies for the value adjustment. Setting up rules with AND statements, requiring membership in all groups, isn’t possible here. To achieve that, you would need to construct more intricate segments within Google Ads’ audience manager.

After choosing all relevant audience segments, you can specify the secondary condition, which must utilize either the device or geography criteria. Combining audience segments, as mentioned earlier, isn’t feasible.

Conversion value rules based on device

Although shown here as the secondary condition to maintain the previous example’s flow, the options remain identical even if you designate device as the primary condition.

You can opt to adjust the conversion value for all devices (which might seem somewhat illogical) or select specific devices for augmentation. The choices are limited to desktop, mobile, and tablet, without further granular controls.

Conversion value rules based on geography

Mirroring the device settings, the geography options remain consistent whether it serves as the primary or secondary condition.

Location adjustments grant you the same level of control as any other campaign, except for radius targeting. You can add targeting or exclusions at the country, state, city, DMA, or zip code level for locations worldwide. Moreover, you can manage advanced location settings, such as prioritizing the user’s actual location or their areas of interest.

Adding the value adjustment for selected conditions

Irrespective of the chosen conditions or the presence of a secondary group, the value adjustment options remain uniform.

You can choose between an “add” or “multiply” operator, then define the desired value adjustment. Both options are quite intuitive: the “add” function increases the conversion value by a fixed amount, while “multiply” allows for scaling at a more dynamic rate. Discover how to leverage platforms like Google Ads for rapid business growth with our complimentary growth strategy guide.

Limitations with conversion value rules

While we’ve highlighted the benefits, it’s essential to acknowledge some limitations associated with conversion value rules. Firstly, only a single conversion value rule can be applied per conversion action. You’ll need to prioritize the rule with the most significant impact or accuracy, as you’re limited to just one. If you decide to modify the conversion value rules for a specific action, you must delete the existing rule and create a new one. All previous conversion value data will be retained, but the new adjustment will apply to all conversions moving forward. Secondly, conversion value rules are primarily additive, with limited control over decreasing a conversion’s worth. Attempting to add a negative number in the “add” or “multiply” field results in an error, as illustrated below.

The only method to reduce a conversion value is by using multipliers less than 1, effectively cutting the value by a percentage. For instance, a multiplier of 0.5 would halve the original value. This approach is possible for any adjustment between 0.5 and 0.99. However, this tactic appears intended for incremental increases rather than substantial decreases. If a large portion of your converters hold a lower value than your current setting, and the limitations of conversion value rules hinder accurate reflection, adjusting the value within the conversion tracking section might be more appropriate. Subsequently, you can utilize value rules to highlight valuable exceptions rather than devaluing the entire group.

How to know if conversion value rules are right for your business

Conversion value rules can greatly enhance the tracking of your Google Ads campaigns’ ROAS by incrementally adjusting the associated conversion value based on specific conditions. These rules offer flexibility and can be modified at any time. Their purpose is to leverage your customer insights and Google’s machine learning capabilities to maximize your account’s value. If tracking dynamic conversion values directly isn’t feasible, but you’re confident about the higher value of certain audiences, geographical locations, or device categories, conversion value rules can effectively represent your campaigns’ success.