What Are Offline Conversions? Setup and How to Use Them [2026]

In digital marketing, conversions are generally tracked on the basis of tracking on digital channels such as the web and advertising.

In real business, however, there are cases where value attaches offline to a conversion that happened digitally.
If you only track online, that offline value is not taken into account and is not put to use in your digital strategy and operations.

So taking offline conversions into account as well lets you build an effective web advertising strategy.

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This article covers the basics of offline conversions through to the steps for setting them up, for anyone about to start using them.

Summary
・An offline conversion is a way of tracking results that happen offline — a store visit, a phone call, a purchase in a shop — prompted by web advertising or a campaign
・For businesses that are not purely e-commerce (retail, food service, travel, cars, property and so on), it is important for seeing advertising performance correctly
・Tracking it gives you an accurate picture of advertising ROI, better targeting accuracy, and visibility of customer behaviour
・The mechanism is to tie the Google click ID (GCLID) assigned when the ad is clicked to the offline action, then import that into the advertising platform
・Setting it up comes down to creating a conversion action and importing data in Google Ads, and it can also be automated through a CRM connection such as Salesforce, HubSpot or Zapier

1. What is an offline conversion?

First, what an offline conversion is. We will look at how it differs from an ordinary conversion, and why it matters.

1.1 What is an offline conversion?

An offline conversion is setting a user’s offline action as a conversion and tracking it.

It refers to actions users take offline after responding to web advertising or a campaign — buying a product at a physical shop, or using a service.

1.2 How it differs from an online conversion

Online conversions focus mainly on user behaviour on the website. Clicking a web ad, visiting the site and buying a product in an online shop, for example, is an online conversion.

Offline conversions, on the other hand, focus on actual offline behaviour and purchases.
Visiting a shop or actually buying a product would count.

1.3 Why offline conversions matter

If the whole process up to purchase is completed online — selling only through an online shop, for instance — there is no need to think about offline conversions.
But if you run shops, for example, and offline results matter, offline conversions are essential to seeing the whole picture of your digital marketing accurately and building an effective strategy.

That is because tying offline results to web advertising and the like makes a more precise advertising strategy and better targeting possible.
Offline conversion data helps you understand how online and offline interact, and lets your marketing strategy evolve in a more strategic and effective direction.

1.4 The main conversion points for offline conversions

Store visit conversions
The conversion point is a visit to the shop.

That is because a booking taken online does not yet confirm the visit, and no revenue has been earned at that point.
It works well where a web booking leads to a visit, as with hair salons and accommodation, or where local search is a good fit, as with restaurants and car dealerships.

However, because tracking relies on the location feature on the phone, visits are missed when it is switched off.

Phone conversions
The conversion point is a purchase or an application taken over the phone.

This is for cases where you sell online but also take orders by phone. It often matters particularly for products aimed at older customers.

Phone conversions can be tracked by setting up event tracking on the website or by bringing in a call tracking service.

In-store purchase conversions
The conversion point is a purchase or use of a service at a physical shop.

It is hard to obtain information that usefully links in-store purchases with web advertising, so as a rule the two conversion points most often used are store visits and phone calls.

2. Businesses that should use offline conversions

Next we look in concrete terms at the cases where offline conversions can be used to good effect.

2.1 When you have physical shops (retail and services)

For retailers with physical shops, tracking offline conversions is particularly important.
That is because web advertising and online promotions often draw customers who ultimately buy in the shop.

And in service industries such as food service, travel, accommodation, hair salons and recruitment agencies, the action centres on advance bookings and happens offline. You can see how much your online advertising influences offline bookings and service use, and optimise your marketing strategy accordingly.

2.2 When the decision takes a long time (cars, insurance, property and so on)

Tracking offline conversions is especially useful for expensive products that need careful consideration, or where the feel and quality of the actual item affects the decision to buy. That is because users often gather information online, then come to a purchase after seeing and touching the product in a shop.

3. The advantages of tracking offline conversions

There are many advantages to tracking offline conversions.

Understanding those advantages here will show you how to put the data you track to use.

3.1 An accurate picture of advertising ROI

Tracking offline conversions lets you assess the return on investment (ROI) of your online advertising and digital marketing accurately. Knowing which ads lead directly to offline results lets you optimise the budget and concentrate resources on the advertising campaigns that pay.

3.2 Optimising targeted advertising

Tying offline conversion data to your web advertising shows you how much particular ads or keywords contribute to actual shop visits and purchases. That lets you tune your targeting more precisely and run more effective campaigns. Optimising on the basis of concrete data cuts wasted ad spend and maximises results.

3.3 Optimising the buying process by understanding customer behaviour

Seeing customer behaviour both online and offline, tying it together and making it visible deepens your understanding of your customers. Analysing the data you collect lets you offer products and services that sit closer to the customer, which lifts satisfaction and revenue.

4. How offline conversion tracking works

Here I explain how offline conversion tracking works.

First, when someone reaches the site from an ad, an identifier called a click ID is assigned and tied to that user’s customer record.

Then, when the same user converts offline, you record details such as the type and the date and time, and import that data into the advertising platform; by looking at the click ID attached to it, you can see what that user did online.

5. How to set up offline conversions

Offline conversion data can be imported into each advertising platform. Here I explain how to set it up in Google Ads, which is likely to be in greatest demand.

5.1 Preparing an import file and importing the conversion data

Reference:Use a file (the traditional method) to import conversion data from ad clicks into Google Ads

• Creating the conversion action

1. In Google Ads, go to Tools and settings and choose Conversions under Measurement

2. Choose New conversion action

3. Choose Import

4. Choose “Manual import using API or uploads”
→ Track conversions from clicks

5. Goal and action optimisation → choose the action
Conversion name → enter a name that is easy to understand
Value → assign a value to each conversion.
Click-through conversion window → up to 90 days

6. Choose Create and continue

7. Choose Continue with Google click ID

If you have not set up the Google click ID (GCLID), this will not appear.

Follow the Google Ads help pages to set it up.

Reference:Set up offline conversion imports using the Google click ID (GCLID)

• Importing the offline conversion data

1. In Google Ads, go to Tools and settings and choose Conversions under Measurement

2. Choose Uploads, then the ⊕ button

3. Choose the file format and the file to upload, then apply

※ For recurring imports, use Schedules.

※ Example fields for building the import file

Email	Enter the address
Phone Number	Enter the phone number
Google click ID	Pull the GCLID stored in your customer management tool
Conversion Name	The offline conversion you want to measure The name of the conversion action
Conversion Time	Enter it in the format yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss+z Example: 2012-08-14 13:00:00+0900
Conversion Value	Enter a value in currency, or a relative value such as 1-10.
Conversion Currency	No entry needed.

5.2 Importing conversion data from an external CRM

By integrating your Google Ads account with an external tool, you can automate the import of conversions from your CRM system.

Three tools can be used: Salesforce, Hubspot and Zapier.

See the following Google Ads help page for details.

Reference:Track offline conversions