B2B Google Ads Conversion Tracking – Should I track "email copy/click" events? How do you handle leads that email directly instead of filling out forms?
Hey everyone,
I'm running Google Ads for a B2B business and struggling with conversion tracking strategy. Would love to hear how others in this space are handling this.
The traditional approach:
- Most B2B advertisers track form submissions as the primary conversion
- Some use offline conversion tracking (importing CRM data back to Google Ads)
My problem:
Offline conversion tracking still depends on form submissions to capture the GCLID in the first place. But in practice, I'm finding that a significant portion of our real, qualified leads don't fill out the form at all – they just email us directly.
The issue is obvious: I have no way to track whether a user who clicked my ad later sent us an email. Those conversions are completely invisible to Google Ads.
This creates a dilemma:
- If I only track form submissions, I'm underreporting conversions and starving the algorithm of signal (especially painful in B2B where lead volume is already low)
- If I track "click to copy email" or "mailto click" as a conversion, I risk polluting the data with bots and low-quality traffic (as many have warned)
My questions to the community:
- Is tracking "copy email" or "click email" events a worthwhile signal in B2B, or is it universally considered a bad practice that should be avoided?
- For those of you who have faced the "direct email leads are invisible" problem – how did you solve it? Is there any clever workaround to capture these conversions without relying on form submissions?
- Has anyone successfully implemented a solution where the email address is still visible but you can somehow tie it back to the ad click? (e.g., dynamic email addresses with UTM parameters, intermediate landing pages, etc.)
- Would you recommend removing the email address from the website entirely to force everyone through the form, even at the risk of losing some leads who prefer email?
I know offline conversion imports are the gold standard for B2B, but they only work if the user fills out a form (or calls a tracked number). Email feels like the biggest blind spot.
Any advice or real-world experience would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!