Conversion lag

Conversions are credited to the day of the click. If people take a week to decide, last week's numbers keep growing for another week, and a campaign that looks weak on Monday may be fine by Friday.

Smart Bidding accounts for lag. People reading dashboards often do not, and pause campaigns whose conversions are still on the way.

1. Open Campaigns, then Segment, then Conversions, then Days to conversion.
2. See what share of conversions arrives on the same day, within a week, and later.
3. Compare with the period you usually judge on.
4. Check that the conversion window is longer than the slow buckets.

A B2B software account finds that 40% of its demo requests arrive more than a week after the click. Its weekly report now leaves the last seven days out of any decision.

• Pausing a campaign on last week's numbers when lag is long.
• Comparing a recent week with an older one that had time to mature.
• Setting a conversion window shorter than the lag.

The audit checks Oppy runs on this, each with its own page.

• Conversions that arrive after the report is read

• Conversion window: How long after a click a conversion can still be counted for it, from 1 to 90 days.
• Conversion: An action you count as a result of an ad: a purchase, a lead form, a call, a sign-up or a store visit.
• Learning period: The time Smart Bidding needs to recalibrate after a new strategy or a large change.