Google’s Great New Feature for Advertisers: Local Conversion Actions

Ever wish you had a better sense of what steps consumers take after seeing Google ads for your brick-and-mortar business?

Now you do. Recently the company rolled out local conversion actions, a useful new feature that gives advertisers much greater insight into consumer activity on its services.

What exactly is this new offering? How does it help firms? Here’s what we know so far:

What problem is being addressed?

When consumers engage with Google ads for local businesses they often take actions on Google services beyond immediately clicking, such as hitting the call button, getting directions via Google Maps to the location, or checking the restaurant menu.

“Tracking and understanding this sort of consumer behavior has been difficult for advertisers since it hasn’t been displayed clearly in Google’s advertising platform,” says Stuart Smith, search marketing manager at MDG. “This new feature makes it much easier to see the information.”

What is a “local conversion action“?

Google is defining local conversion actions as “whenever people complete an action that’s specific to an advertiser’s physical location (like a store), during or after interacting with an ad for that advertiser.”

In other words, a local conversion action involves a Google ad, a local consumer, a business with a physical location (or multiple locations), and a trackable action taken after seeing the ad.

In its support materials about the feature, Google list six specific types of local conversion actions that can be tracked:

1. Clicks to call: Clicks on the “Call” button on any Google location-based ad or service after an ad interaction.
2. Local actions—Directions: Clicks on the “Get directions” button on any Google location-based ad or service after an ad interaction.
3. Local actions—Website visits: Clicks on the website link on any Google location-based ad or service after an ad interaction.
4. Local actions—Other engagements: Clicks on other tracked user actions (for example: share location, save, etc.) on any Google location-based ad or service after an ad interaction.
5. Local actions—Orders (vertical specific): Clicks on the “Order” button on any Google location-based ad or service after an ad interaction.
6. Local actions—Menu views (vertical specific): Clicks on the menu link on any Google location-based ad or service after an ad interaction.

Where can I see the location conversion actions?

Since this feature is for firms that utilize Google ads, the location conversions actions can be found in the AdWords (soon to be Google Ads) platform. You can see the information in the conversions action table as well as if you segment the “All Conversions” column by conversion action.

Do local conversion actions impact ad pricing?

They should not (at least for now).

Although local conversion actions appear in the “All Conversions” column, they’re not included in the in “Conversions” column by default and thus will not affect your bidding strategies.

What if I have more than one brick-and-mortar location?

If you have one AdWords account and your business has multiple brick-and-mortar presences, you can see the location conversion actions for each in the per store report.

Can I see which actions a specific person takes after seeing an ad?

No. All local conversion action data is aggregated and anonymous, so the information will give you an overall sense of what’s going on, not a one-to-one look at the effect an ad had on a particular consumer.

One final thing to note is that local conversion actions are new and still being rolled out, so some functionality may change or be added. Make sure to check Google’s Help Center for the most current information.

Stay up-to-date on the latest trends in digital advertising. Contact MDG today at 561-338-7797 or visit www.mdgsolutions.com.

MDG, a full-service advertising agency with offices in Boca Raton and New York, NY, is one of Florida’s top branding firms. MDG’s capabilities include print advertising, direct mail marketing, branding, logo design, creative, media buying and planning, radio and TV advertising, outdoor, newspaper, digital marketing, website design and development, online video advertising, infographic development, email marketing, video marketing, mobile marketing, content marketing, social media marketing, paid search marketing, and SEO. To learn more about the latest trends in advertising and branding, contact MDG today at 561-338-7797 or visit www.mdgsolutions.com