In today’s crowded digital landscape, acquiring new customers is crucial for any business. That’s where Google Ads’ new customer acquisition (NCA) feature comes in. This tool is designed to reach and convert prospects who have never engaged with your business before. However, effectively utilizing NCA requires a strategic approach. Simply enabling it won’t automatically deliver new customers. This guide will explore how to leverage NCA the right way to take your new customer acquisition to new heights.
At the core of the NCA goal is Google’s ability to distinguish between new and existing customers. Google leverages three main methods to classify customers as new or existing:
1. Google’s automatic detection: This default method analyzes your account’s conversion data from the last 540 days to create an audience list of existing customers. Users who have converted within that time window are classified as existing customers, while those not on the list are designated as new customers.
2. Customer list uploads: For a more robust way to define your existing customer base, you can upload your own first-party data via customer match lists. Google will designate any user not found on your uploaded list(s) as a new customer.
3. Conversion tracking tags: This method gives you the highest level of control. It uses a custom conversion tracking tag to explicitly label each conversion as “new customer,” “existing customer,” or “unknown.” This requires working with your developer to insert the specialized tag on your conversion pages.
Using a combination of these three approaches is generally recommended for the most reliable new vs. existing customer segmentation.
Even when optimizing for new customers using NCA, you may still see some conversions from existing customers in your reports. This can happen due to identification limitations or multi-conversion scenarios. It’s important to understand why this is happening and find the right balance for your business.
To leverage NCA successfully, you’ll want to pay close attention to a few potential areas of confusion or misconfigurations. These include sharing customer list data, conversions classified as ‘unknown,’ and bid strategy alignment. Ensuring these elements are properly set up will help you make the most of the NCA feature.
Implementing new customer acquisition tracking requires specific code implementation on your website. There are two main methods: using the global site tag or Google Tag Manager. Both methods require adding parameters to the conversion tracking code to identify new customers.
Properly implementing this tagging is crucial for NCA to identify new customers and optimize bids and spending accordingly. It is recommended to follow the documentation guides for your chosen method.
While Google provides a default 540-day window for classifying new vs. existing customers, it’s important to customize this timeline based on your specific business needs. The definition of a “new” customer can vary significantly from industry to industry. Advanced segmentation within your NCA campaigns allows you to customize how Google isolates and prioritizes new audiences based on your unique situation.
One major concern with Google’s new customer acquisition reporting is the potential for inflated and misleading conversion values. This can happen when Google adds a premium directly to the reported conversion value for new customers. It’s important to monitor and test NCA campaigns carefully to ensure accurate data tracking.
When first experimenting with NCA campaigns, it’s wise to start slowly by assigning a very low “new customer” value. This allows you to monitor performance and isolate new customer data without artificially inflating conversion values. Creating an “active customer” audience segment as a negative exclusion list and closely monitoring segmented data are also critical best practices.
Overall, effectively utilizing Google Ads’ new customer acquisition goal requires a strategic approach, careful implementation of tracking codes, and ongoing monitoring and optimization. By following these best practices, you can maximize the potential of NCA and take your new customer acquisition efforts to new heights.
