Lesson 3.2: The Conversion Map: Form → Qualified → Sale
By the end of this lesson, you'll have the template for the conversion map (the core deliverable of this course), along with guidance on how to handle the three most common edge cases.
The conversion map is the document that connects your CRM reality to your Ads architecture. If you only do one thing from this course, do this.
Here's the template:
| Stage | Business definition (one sentence) | Where it lives in CRM | Candidate Google Ads action | Role in Ads | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Form submit | Human completed the form on our site | Lead created | Lead - Form |
Secondary (or observation if spammy) | Fires fast; easy to game |
| Sales accepted | BDR or AE marked SQL | Opportunity stage | Lead - Qualified |
Primary when volume is sufficient | Requires a real process |
| Revenue | Invoice or closed-won | Closed-won | Offline import | tROAS / value-based when possible | Lagging signal |
Edge cases worth naming
Long cycles. If you're selling something that takes six months to close, you'll likely rely on "qualified" as your optimization target for a long time before revenue data is stable enough for value-based bidding. That's fine. Plan for it explicitly rather than hoping it resolves itself.
Low volume. If "qualified" only generates a handful of events per month, that's not enough to reliably guide Smart Bidding. Use a bridge metric (something like a booked call or completed appointment) that happens more frequently and still correlates with real outcomes. A good bridge metric isn't perfect. It's useful.
Phone vs. form. These are different conversion actions, full stop. They have different intent profiles, different fraud patterns, and often different values. Split them. The only reason not to is laziness, and laziness is expensive here.