Microsoft Ads (Bing) Offline Conversion tracking

The primary purpose of offline conversion tracking is to be able to report a conversion that did not happen online, thus couldn’t be reported using scripts we all are so used to.

Let’s say your customer sees your ad, clicks on it, and submits a Contact Us form. If your sales manager closes the deal - you would ideally want to know what has led to this conversion and that’s where Bing offline conversion tracking will become handy.

Keep in mind that in such case you’ll need a small development effort to submit a Microsoft click ID (msclkid query parameter) with every form submitted, e.g. in a hidden input, so you could later send it from your CRM to sGTM (via webhooks for example). 

Additionally, nothing is stopping you from sending your online conversions via the Bing Offline Conversions tag, so you do not have to rely on Bing pixel which can be easily blocked by adblockers.

Benefits of Bing Offline conversion trackingCopy link to this section

• Better tracking. Allows tracking and attribution of events that happened offline (e.g., in-store or over the phone).
• Better ROI. You can optimize your campaigns based on the full online and offline impact of your search ads.
• Pure s2s option. This gives you the ability to send conversion data to your server GTM container via webhooks for example, thus making your reporting completely server-to-server.

How to set up Bing Offline conversion tracking using Stape sGTM tagCopy link to this section

Now if you are a Stape user the process is significantly simplified. Microsoft authentication is fully handled on Stape side, there is no need to create an app in Azure anymore.

Before setting up the tag, please log in to your Stape account -> go to Connections tab -> click sign in for Microsoft Ads and pass the authorization with a Microsoft account that has access to the Microsoft Ads account you want to set up the Bing Ads Offline conversion tag for.

That’s it, now you may use the new section in the Bing offline tag, you just need to enter Customer Account ID, Account ID and Stape Container API key that you may find in your container settings on Stape. The rest of the tag setup process remains the same and is described in the next section.

If for some reason you are still not using Stape, the process gets pretty complicated.

In such a case you will need to obtain Microsoft development token, create your own app on Azure and an endpoint for authentication callback. So sign up on Stape and enjoy how fast you can get your Bing offline conversion tracking up and running.

How to set up Bing Offline Conversions in sGTM containerCopy link to this section

1. Add Bing Offline Conversions tag from sGTM gallery.

2. Log in to your Stape account -> go to Connections tab -> click sign in for Microsoft Ads and pass the authorization with a Microsoft account that has access to the Microsoft Ads account you want to set up the Bing Ads Offline conversion tag for.

3. To get Customer account ID and account ID please go to your Microsoft Ads account where offline conversion is created and check the URL:

• Customer Id is under &cid= query parameter
• Customer Account Id is under &aid= query parameter.

4. You may find the Stape container API key under your Stape account -> select the container -> Settings tab -> Container API Key.

5. Lastly, do not forget to add conversion data. The tag also allows you to send user data for part of the enhanced conversions functionality.

ConclusionCopy link to this section

The ability to report data from the server GTM container to Microsoft Ads Offline conversions brings valuable benefits for advertisers looking to maximize the impact of their campaigns. It gives you the ability to close the gap between the online and offline activities, providing valuable insights and enabling businesses to make data-driven decisions.

Do not hesitate to contact Stape agency if you need help setting up Bing Offline conversion tracking - we’ll be happy to help!