Offline Conversion Tracking, Google Ads VS Meta
Offline Conversions in Facebook Ads: Nice-to-Have, Not Need-to-Have
Google Ads can learn from sales that close months later; Meta mostly can’t. Anything that happens after 7-day click / 1-day view is reporting only for Facebook/Instagram.
Meta’s delivery models only “listen” to conversions that land within the Attribution Setting (max = 7-day click). Implementation docs: events outside that limit are tagged observed—they never feed the bidding brain.
Getting real value on long sales cycles in Meta
Optimise on a faster proxy event
E.g. “Booked showroom visit” or Qualified lead fires within 1-2 days → stays inside 7-day window.
Pass predicted value with that proxy (Value-Based Optimisation) so Meta still chases high-revenue users.
Keep uploading the final sale anyway—for ROI reporting and stronger lookalikes.
In Google Ads Importance of Offline conversions is High – upload within ≤ 90 days, tick “Include in Conversions”, and Smart Bidding treats the sale like it happened online. Crucial for long funnels!
Take-away:
Offline tracking on Google Ads is super important.
Offline tracking on Facebook is great for measurement and audiences, but if your sale happens later than 7 days, don’t expect it to boost performance—teach the algorithm with a quicker proxy instead.