Activate customer lifecycle goals

Step 2 of 5: Configure your lifecycle goals

Having a "Purchase" conversion goal is required to optimize campaigns to all lifecycle goals, except New Customer Only Mode which can be used with non-Purchase conversion goals:

Customer Lifecycle Modes Eligible Conversion Goal Types
New Customer Value Mode
High Value New Customer Mode (Beta)
Win-Back Mode (Beta)
High Value Win-Back Mode (Beta)

Purchase conversion goal is required

New Customer Only Mode

Purchase conversion goal is not required

Depending on what type of conversion goals you have, there are 2 options:

  • Configure Lifecycle Goals using Purchase conversion goals
  • Configure New Customer Only Mode

Option 1: Configure Lifecycle Goals using Purchase conversions

If applicable, you can set up a new "Purchase" conversion action or if you’ve already set up your conversion action, ensure that you set the goal type to "Purchase" with Website as the conversion source and the conversion action set to Primary.

If you haven’t configured your lifecycle goal yet, use the following steps to set it up. If you use cross-account conversion tracking, configure your lifecycle goal from the main account where conversion tracking is set up.

  1. Go to Summary within the Goals menu Goals Icon.
  2. Under the “Customer acquisition” panel, select Set Up.
  3. Depending on which modes you have access to (some modes are still in beta) you’ll find one or more of the following options:
    • New customers
    • New customers (high value) - Beta
    • Lapsed customers - Beta
    • Lapsed customers (high value) - Beta
  4. For each mode you wish to use, add the relevant audience lists as detailed in the table in Step 1. Your audience lists may include:
    • Existing customers
    • High value customers
    • Lapsed customers

The definitions for each customer segment are business specific, so use your own definitions to organize your first-party data into each of these customer segments.

Important: Verify all of your existing customer lists so that Google's detection is as accurate as possible. Without this information, Google Ads won't be able to identify which customers are in your desired segments. If you use a manager account (MCC), ensure automatic sharing is on.
  1. Set the value assigned to your customer segment. This is used in the New customer value mode. This is used in the New Customer Value Mode, High-Value New Customer Mode, Win-Back Mode, and High-Value Win-Back Mode. It is added to a customer's purchase conversion if they fall into one of your defined segments, which is reflected in reporting, but also helps Smart Bidding to optimize towards your desired customer segments. The higher this value is, the more the campaign will be optimized towards your specified customers. This value will be used by default in all campaigns that optimize to new customer acquisition or retention goals. Review the table below for our value-setting guidance.
    • If you’re unsure what your customer value should be, you can use the recommended value that’s suggested when you select the lifecycle goal. This recommended value is based on your average order value across your prior campaigns. Or, use the value-setting guidelines below.
  2. Proceed to the next step.

We recommend setting values for your customer segments according to the guidelines below as a starting point and adjusting as needed based on performance.

Mode Customer Segment Value Setting Guidance
New Customer Value Mode New customers 2x of a regular customer

High value new customers

Higher than the new customer value

Win-Back Mode Lapsed customers

Lower than the new customer value, higher than existing customers

High value lapsed customers

Higher than lapsed customers, lower than new customers

The values set for each customer segment are business specific, so the above guidance is directional to help you set the right values for your business.


Option 2: Configure New Customer Only Mode

If you are tracking conversions other than Purchases, you can enable New Customer Only Mode to optimize towards new customers. If you use cross-account conversion tracking, configure your new customer acquisition goal from the main account where conversion tracking is set up.

  1. Go to Summary within the Goals menu Goals Icon.
  2. Under the "Customer acquisition" panel, select Set Up.
  3. Define your existing customers by choosing one or more audience lists that include your existing customers. This will be used to identify which customers are new.
Note: If you’d like to use New Customer Only Mode with Store Visits or other offline events, you’ll need to upload existing customers via Customer Match, as Google autodetection doesn’t work with offline conversions.

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