Getting HubSpot deals into Google Ads, with or without us
HubSpot can already send some CRM events to Google Ads, and for plenty of accounts that’s the right answer. We build the sync for the cases it can’t reach: custom stages, real deal values and more than one system.
- HubSpot
- Google Ads
- Data Manager API
HubSpot offline conversions send qualified leads and closed deals from your CRM back into Google Ads, so Smart Bidding can learn which clicks became revenue. HubSpot has its own connector for this and Google names HubSpot as a third-party route for importing conversions, so check that first before paying anyone, including us.
Left alone, Google Ads treats a student downloading a PDF and a finance director asking for a quote as the same achievement. Feeding it what happened next is the fix, and the only real question is which pipe to use.
Native connector, middleware or bespoke: how do they compare?
| HubSpot’s own connector | Middleware such as Zapier | Bespoke sync | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suits | One portal, standard stages, one ad account | One simple trigger into one conversion action | Custom stages, several systems, calculated values |
| Set-up | Inside HubSpot | Built by you in the automation tool | Scoped and built by developers |
| Deal value | Check what your subscription passes today | Any field you can map | Any field or calculation you agree |
| One contact, several deals | Depends whether the event is contact-based | You have to design for it | Each deal sent with its own key |
| Repeat stage changes | Test how re-entry is treated | Easy to fire twice | Blocked by the deal key |
| A send fails | Limited detail, if any | Task history, if someone reads it | Logged per record, with a warning |
Features in HubSpot change and vary by subscription, so treat the left-hand column as a list of things to test in your own portal.
When HubSpot’s own connector is enough
If your funnel maps neatly onto HubSpot’s lifecycle stages, you run a single Google Ads account and your deals are roughly the same size, the built-in route is probably your answer. It needs no developer time, and nothing is easier to maintain than a feature someone else maintains. Give it a proper test by sending one stage and checking the conversions in Google Ads line up with the deals HubSpot says reached it. We’ll say so in an audit if that’s what we find.
Where the built-in route tends to run out of road
Five situations usually push a HubSpot account beyond it:
- Stages your business invented. “Technical review passed” or “Procurement signed off” may mean far more than any lifecycle stage, and those are the moments you’d want to bid on.
- Deals rather than contacts. One contact can sit on three deals across two years, and a contact-level event can’t tell Google Ads which of them was the big one.
- Values that need working out. Annual contract value, first-year margin or a figure held on a line item all need calculating before they’re sent.
- More than one system. If the deal closes in HubSpot but the real invoice value lives in an ERP or billing platform, someone has to join those records.
- Failures nobody sees. An upload that stops working rarely sends a thank-you note, so a sync you depend on needs proper error handling and someone watching it.
How does a HubSpot deal get matched to a click?
A deal can only be connected to an ad if something ties the person to the click. That’s usually a click identifier (GCLID, or gbraid and wbraid on some Apple traffic) saved in a hidden field when the enquiry arrives, or their email and phone number collected on the form and sent hashed. We store those on the contact, copy what’s needed onto the deal and check they survive HubSpot’s forms, meeting links and imports.
Deals that started with a referral, a trade show or a direct phone call have no click behind them, so they can’t be attributed and shouldn’t be forced to. Consent counts too: with ad_user_data denied, the hashed details for enhanced conversions aren’t collected.
Which stage should Smart Bidding chase?
Volume decides. Smart Bidding learns from the conversions you give it, so a firm closing four deals a month might bid on qualified leads as the primary action and report on closed deals as a secondary one. A firm closing forty can often afford to go straight to revenue. Each action also needs the right counting setting, since “one” and “every” give very different answers once a contact comes back for a second deal.
Our lead quality feedback work covers those choices, and if you’d like the wider view we’ve compared the ways to send CRM data to Google Ads.
Starting small, and what it costs
The sensible first step is a Tracking Audit, from £395 ex VAT, which tests the connector you already have and reports back in red, amber and green. If HubSpot can do the job, you’ll be told how to set it up. If it can’t, a HubSpot sync starts from £2,500 ex VAT with a fixed quote agreed after scoping, and it lives in your own HubSpot and Google Ads accounts so you keep every part of it. Anything bespoke we build goes through the Data Manager API, Google’s stated replacement for custom uploads.
Common questions
Straight answers to what people ask before they get in touch.
Does HubSpot have its own way of sending conversions to Google Ads?
It does. HubSpot offers its own route for sending CRM events to Google Ads, and Google lists HubSpot among the third parties that can import conversions. What you can send depends on your subscription and has changed over time, so we’d test it in your portal before recommending anything else.
Can HubSpot send the actual deal amount to Google Ads?
Sometimes, depending on the event type and your set-up. The catch is usually deciding which number you want. A deal amount may include VAT, a multi-year term or a rough estimate from an early stage, so we agree what the figure means first and then check whether the built-in route can carry it.
Will moving from HubSpot’s connector to a bespoke sync double count our conversions?
It would if both ran against the same conversion action. We retire one route as the other goes live, use separate conversion actions during any overlap and set only one as primary. Each deal carries a stable key, so a stage change that fires twice doesn’t get counted as two sales.
Do contacts created from HubSpot meeting links keep their click ID?
Not automatically. Meeting links, chat and imported lists each create contacts in a different way, and a hidden field on your main form does nothing for them. We look at every route that creates contacts in your portal and capture the click identifier or hashed email wherever the page allows it.
We also use an ERP or billing platform. Can HubSpot still be part of this?
Plenty of businesses capture leads in HubSpot and record the sale somewhere else. A bespoke sync can take the click details from HubSpot and the real value from the other system, then join them on an email address, deal reference or customer number agreed during scoping.