Tracking WhatsApp leads as conversions in Google Ads.
This is for you if:
- You use Google Ads to generate leads.
- You're in a country where people use WhatsApp.
Here’s the problem...
There’s currently no built-in way to track WhatsApp leads as conversions in Google Ads. This means you’re flying blind when it comes to WhatsApp leads from your website or landing pages.
- It’s impossible to tell which keywords are driving conversions and which are wasting money.
- You can’t use conversion-based bid strategies like Maximize Conversions, Target CPA, Target ROAS, or Maximize Conversion Value.
- You’re stuck relying on vanity metrics like impressions or clicks.
- Scaling using broad match keywords is risky. Without conversion data, you end up paying for irrelevant clicks.
- Without tracking, you have no way to know if your campaigns are profitable.
The bottom line: If you’re not tracking conversions, you’re at a major disadvantage. Without conversion tracking, it’s impossible to get the best return on your ad spend.
I’ve solved this problem.
I won’t go into the details here because I want to focus on my thinking behind which WhatsApp conversions I track. But if you run Google Ads and have a WhatsApp button on your site, this solution will significantly improve your ROI. Details here.
I like to track each step of the lead-to-sale process as a conversion. For leads from WhatsApp, the conversion process is usually:
- Your website visitor clicks the "Contact us via WhatsApp" button.
- They send a message. I track this as a "lead created" because when they send the message, you’ve got their phone number and can respond.
- Some of these leads are a good fit for your business. I track these as "qualified leads."
- Some of the qualified leads turn into customers or clients. I track these as "converted leads."
I’ve seen too many accounts with meaningless conversion names like GAds-AllFormSuccess or GA_visit_new. Often, the person now managing the account has no idea what these mean, if they’re still relevant, or if they can be deleted.
I try to make it obvious by using the following naming convention:
- Convertista.com: WhatsApp button clicked.
- Convertista.com: WhatsApp lead created.
- Convertista.com: WhatsApp qualified lead.
- Convertista.com: WhatsApp converted lead.
People sometimes question why I track clicks on the button, as a click doesn’t necessarily mean much. I agree with that. Tracking only the click on a WhatsApp button (the only built-in thing you can track with Google Ads) isn’t useful at all. Tracking the click doesn’t tell you what happened afterward. Did the person send a message? Were they a good fit for the business? Did they turn into a sale? How much was the sale worth?
However, tracking the click on the button is useful as a diagnostic tool.
If we don’t get as many clicks as we’d expect, it means we’ve got a conversion rate problem. Either we’re sending the wrong people to the landing page, or the landing page isn’t effective.
If we get a lot of clicks on the button, but few of those clicks turn into messages (i.e., lead-created conversions), that’s also a problem.
- We might be getting bot traffic instead of humans.
- We might need to change the words on the site to build more trust.
- Maybe we need to adjust the design to prioritize the contact form when the visitor is on a computer rather than a phone.
If you advertise on Google, and live in a place where WhatsApp is popular you're likely to get better value if you track conversions. Take a look at Convertista.
I offer 1-to-1 mentoring and consulting. You’ll get help, advice, support and answers without having to commit to a long-term contract. Details here.
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