How Does Google Ads Differentiate Primary and Secondary Conversions?

In Google Ads, actions you want your consumers to take, known as conversion actions, are organized into conversion goals. For example, the "Purchase" conversion goal includes all of the conversion activities in which customers make a purchase.

You aim to determine which conversion activities should be used for bidding optimization and included in your reporting. Those crucial actions are known as "primary conversion actions". The term "secondary" refers to possible conversion actions not directly employed for campaign optimization. The majority of conversion actions can be set to primary or secondary, but some cannot.

• Primary actions: Those conversion actions which appear in the "Conversions" column of your reports and can be utilized for bidding as long as the standard objective to which they belong is employed.

• Secondary actions: Those conversions which act as intended for observation only. These actions are used for reporting in your reports' "All conversions" column, but not for bidding, even if the objective they are associated with is used for bidding. It is a part of a custom goal, in which case it is utilized to bid. It is important to remember, however, that store sales direct conversion actions, even when utilized in a custom goal, cannot be bid on.

In today’s blog, I will specify the major differences between primary and secondary conversion actions, as well as how they are used.

Primary conversions

Those major actions you want your users to perform after clicking on your ad is called Primary Conversions, or "Conversions". These are inextricably linked to your business goals and frequently have a direct impact on revenue. A completed transaction could be considered a primary conversion on an e-commerce site. For a service-based business, it could be submitting a form to request a quote or arranging an appointment.

• Primary conversions measure the success of ad campaigns in reaching their core objectives.

• Optimize your campaigns with automated bidding techniques aimed at maximizing conversions.

• Calculate important performance metrics such as cost per acquisition (CPA) and return on ad spend (ROAS).

Secondary conversions

Those actions that users can take that are nonetheless useful but do not directly contribute to the ultimate goal are called Secondary Conversions, they are also known as "secondary actions" or "micro-conversions". Consider it as those stages building up its way to a primary conversion, or as actions that reflect engagement but do not directly generate revenue. Examples include downloading a product brochure, subscribing to a newsletter, and viewing a promotional video.

• Secondary conversions offer insights into the customer journey and highlight bottlenecks or places for improvement in the conversion funnel.

• Assessing user engagement and interest before conversion action.

• Assisting with audience segmentation for remarketing campaigns, targeting visitors who have expressed interest but have not taken a primary conversion action.

What Are the Major Differences Between Primary and Secondary Actions?

When you create a conversion action in Google Ads, you can specify whether it should be the primary or secondary target in your account.

This parameter will always be seen in your account's Conversion section and given at the Conversion level. 

As the language in the photos above demonstrates, there are two major distinctions between primary and secondary conversion actions. 

1. Performance Tracking

First, Primary Conversions will be included in the Conversions column, but Secondary Conversions will not. Both conversion types will be included in the All Conversions column. 

When reviewing your performance data, you will be able to observe the performance of both types of conversions, but you will need to alter your view slightly. 

First, modify your columns to add the All Conversions column. 

Then you'll need to segment your data by Conversions and Conversion Action. 

The final result will look like this, with rows representing your conversion actions and columns containing performance metrics. 

The primary actions for this account are Instacart Order Submissions and Store Visits. As you can see, the data appears in both the Conversions and the All Conversions columns. Secondary actions, such as Local actions - Directions, have zeros in the Conversions column, whereas All Conversions indicates the number of events that occurred. 

2. Smart Bidding Optimization

Second, only Primary Conversions will be counted and used in automated bidding techniques, whilst Secondary Conversions will not. 

For the campaigns in the example account above, we use the Maximize Conversions with Target CPA bidding method. Since we're using Instacart Order Submitted and Store Visits as Primary Conversions, the algorithm will utilize those as a success signal and try to locate more users who will convert on those precise activities, aiming for a Cost Per Conversion around our Target CPA. 

Location actions - Directions and other Secondary Actions will not be optimized but will be noted in the platform as they occur. 

Now Let’s Conclude, the main point of the whole blog is that Google Ads differentiates between primary and secondary conversions. Primary conversions are the main actions that advertisers want users to take, such as making a purchase, while secondary conversions are actions that are beneficial but do not directly contribute to the main objective, such as downloading a brochure or subscribing to a newsletter. Primary conversions are used for bidding optimization and included in reporting, while secondary conversions are only used for observation and reporting purposes. Setup Google Ads Conversion Tracking today and study these conversion actions in detail.