Requirements
- An always-on connection is required to create an automated pipeline for ensuring data freshness.
- You must have an ActiveCampaign API Access URL and Key.
Set up ActiveCampaign as a data source
Apply a use case now
The following sections walk you through a single procedure to link a data source to a use case, such as audience or conversion action creation. Click on your use case to expand the steps. To link the data source only, and apply a use case later, see Apply a use case later .
Customer Match
- In your Google Ads account, select Tools> Shared library> Audience manager .
- Select +> + Customer list.
- Under "Data source", select Connect a new product.
- If you previously linked a data source from the Data manager screen that you want to use, select Use an existing connection.
- Search and select ActiveCampaignfrom the list of data sources.
- Select Authorize, then click Continue.
- Provide your ActiveCampaign API Access URL and Key
.
- To find your API Access URL and Key in your ActiveCampaign account, click Settings, then select Developer.
- Read and accept the customer data policy, then click Continue.
- From your existing list of audience segments, select a single audience list that you want to import data from, then click Continue.
- You can also use a single custom compound filter to further slice your audience list. For example, you can create a filter for users who only converted in the last 7 days after selecting the “All Converters” list from ActiveCampaign.
- After the fields are automatically mapped, you can edit the rows on the mapping fields screen.
- Optional: Apply transformations to your data.
- From the Review screen, complete your ActiveCampaign connection setup.
Offline conversion import and enhanced conversions for leads
Tip: Upgrade from offline conversion import to enhanced conversions for leads for more accurate reporting, easier data import, and engaged-view and cross-device conversion attribution.
To set up enhanced conversions for leads, you can either use an existing offline conversion import conversion action or create a new conversion action (recommended if you are switching to a new upload method like Data Manager).
- In Google Ads , select Goals> Summary > + Create conversion action.
- Select Conversion offline, then click Add data source.
- Under "Data source", select Connect a new product.
- If you previously linked a data source from the Data manager screen that you want to use, select Use an existing connection.
- Search and select ActiveCampaignfrom the list of data sources.
- Provide your ActiveCampaign API Access URL and Key
.
- To find your API Access URL and Key in your ActiveCampaign account, click Settings, then select Developer.
- Read and accept the customer data policy, then click Continue.
- Select your conversion goal.
- After selecting continue, click the drop-down menu and you’ll find the Object as Deals by default.
- Import all the Conversions or Deals from pipelines where you have access. You can optionally filter any specific pipelines you’d like to include or exclude.
- Apply at least one filter using Field, Operator, or Value framework (for example, currency = USD).
- If you have a chosen Deal object, you must apply a “becomes” filter to define the conversion.
- After the fields are automatically mapped, you can edit the rows on the mapping fields screen.
- Optional: Apply transformations to your data.
- From the Review screen, complete your ActiveCampaign connection setup.
If you’re using offline conversion imports , we recommend upgrading to enhanced conversions for leads using Data Manager. Offline conversion import is a legacy feature, and it doesn’t have the durability features that enhanced conversions for leads offers.
Implementation varies depending on what you're measuring and your capabilities. Follow our guide to upgrading offline conversion imports to determine the method that best fits your needs.
Apply a use case later
In this type of setup, you complete each part of the connection at different times. This can be useful when you are ready to link a data source, but you are not ready to set up your use case–for example, you aren’t ready to create a customer list.
Consider the following scenario:
- Step 1: Dana is an engineer who manages data for your company. Dana sets up the data source to be used for activation in Google Ads. The data source is ready to be associated with a use case.
- Step 2: Mahan is a media specialist who needs to measure audience activation. Mahan creates a customer list and then associates it to the data source that Dana has previously set up, to use that data for Customer Match.
Note:It’s recommended that you add an audience segment or conversion action to a connection that you created. You can either set up an audience segment or conversion action before you link a data source or you can create an audience segment or conversion action in the final step of setting up a data source.
Open Tools> Data manager. Select the connection you just made from “Connected products” and under “Usage”, click + Add audience segmentor + Add conversion action.Set up a data source and create a connection to be associated with a use case later.
- In Google Ads, click Tools > Data manager > + Connect Product .
- Under Data source, search and select a data source from the list of products.
- If prompted, select Direct connection.
- Select your use case, read and accept the customer data policy, then click Continue. If you select Audiences, you are prompted to select the data type at this step.
- Enter your data source location and credentials*, then click Next.
- To map fields, select the data source fields from the dropdown lists that match the destination fields.
- Optional: Apply transformations to your data.
- Click Next.
- Enter a name for this connection.
- Optional: Edit connection details .
- Click Finish.
* Use the same credentials and location details for this data source as described in the first part of this article.
- Open the destination you intend to use–for example, begin to create a new customer list or conversion action using the steps from the previous sections. Return to these steps before completing the data source step.
- Under Data source, select Select an existing source.
- Select the data source that was initiated in Step 1 from the list of data sources.
- Continue to follow the remaining steps for your use case in the first part of this article. Note that you will skip further data source-related steps, such as entering credentials, because you completed these previously.
ActiveCampaign custom field naming conventions
When you use ActiveCampaign custom fields for mapping or filtering, ActiveCampaign replaces spaces or special characters with underscores in the field names. It also appends "__c" to indicate custom fields and may include a numeric insertion to distinguish them in case of naming conflicts, collisions, or custom field creation or deletion.
To name your custom fields, follow these steps:
- Create custom field names with distinct spacing and special character placement to prevent arbitrary numeric naming.
- Use clearly differentiated alphanumeric names to keep custom fields identifiable.
- Maintain unique custom field names to avoid confusion within ActiveCampaign.
Examples of custom field names that result in name collisions:
- Zip Code
- Zip-Code
- Zip_Code
All three custom field names resolve to the same identifier “Zip_Code”. To differentiate them, Data Manager generates names such as the following:
- Zip_Code_1__c
- Zip_Code_2__c
- Zip_Code_3__c
Troubleshoot errors
Setup errors
- If you want to select more than one list, you need to create a separate connection by going through the flow again.
- When you don’t filter by pipeline, all available Deals will be imported.
- The pipeline won’t be displayed as an option if you don’t have permission to manage a pipeline.
