With custom variables, you can assign custom dimensions with the conversion events that matter to your business. This adds richer data to your conversions, so that you can further segment your reports. This will help you understand, at a more granular level, which kind of conversions were driven by your campaigns.
This article explains what custom variables are and how they work.
How it works
You can create a custom variable by using conversion tracking tags or uploading offline conversions:
- Conversion tracking tags: You can define and add new parameters to your conversion tracking tag. Those new parameters will populate automatically in Google Ads shortly after you add them to your conversion tracking tag. For that data to be recorded, you’ll need to 'activate' those parameters from within Google Ads. After you activate the custom variables in your account, the data will start recording and become available for you to segment your reports in a few hours.
- Offline conversions: You can include custom conversion values in offline conversions that are uploaded manually, imported automatically through a third-party, or through Google Ads API. After you create and activate the custom variables in your account, you can use this information to add custom variable columns to your offline upload.
Benefits
Custom variables allow you to better understand the value of your advertising investment by getting more business-specific data on the actions that users are taking when they do things like make a purchase on your website or submit a form. This is especially useful when you want to get insights into your conversions in dimensions that are specific to your business.
Example:
A hotel chain might want to see its conversion numbers split by these core dimensions:
- Hotel name
- Room rate category (high, medium and low)
- Customer loyalty status
This already enables a host of reporting options to answer important business questions, for example:
- How many customers clicking on an ad for hotel A end up booking another hotel?
- Do loyalty card owners who interacted with my ads spend more per booking than non-loyalty customers? Do they book higher-value rooms?
- Which generic keywords are more often resulting in bookings for higher-rated hotels?
When you’re ready to set up your custom variables, read Set up custom variables for conversions.
