Hey folks, I’m in a pickle with my B2B company’s ad tracking. We’re using Google Ads, Calendly, and Zapier, but I can’t figure out how to keep the gclid (Google Click ID) intact throughout the process.
Here’s what I’m trying to do:
- Run Google Ads that send people to our landing page (with gclid)
- Have them book appointments through Calendly
- Use Zapier to mark these bookings as conversions in Google Ads
The tricky part is getting that gclid from the landing page URL, through Calendly, and into Zapier. I’ve looked at Calendly’s UTM tracking and thought about adding custom questions, but nothing seems quite right.
Has anyone cracked this nut? How did you get the gclid to stick around? Any tips or tricks would be awesome. I’m totally stuck and could use some help!
Thanks a bunch!
hey mike, i tried somethin similar. have u looked into using google tag manager? it can grab the gclid and store it in a cookie. then u can use custom html in calendly to read the cookie and add it to a hidden field. zapier picks it up from there. bit technical but works great for us
I’ve actually dealt with this exact issue in my agency. We ended up using a combination of custom URL parameters and hidden fields in Calendly to solve it. Here’s what worked for us:
We appended the gclid to our Calendly booking link as a custom parameter. Then in Calendly, we added a hidden field that captured this parameter value.
When the booking info gets sent to Zapier, it includes the hidden field data. From there, we could use Zapier to pass that gclid to Google Ads for conversion tracking.
It took some trial and error to get it working smoothly, but it’s been reliable once set up. The key was making sure the gclid persisted through each step of the funnel.
Hope that helps give you a potential solution to try! Let me know if you need any clarification on the implementation details.
I’ve faced this challenge before, and there’s a workaround that might help. Instead of relying on Calendly to pass the gclid, consider using a custom landing page builder or CRM that can capture and store the gclid when visitors arrive. Then, integrate this system with Calendly and Zapier.
When a booking occurs, your CRM can send the stored gclid along with the appointment details to Zapier. This method maintains the connection between the initial ad click and the eventual booking, allowing you to accurately track conversions in Google Ads.
It requires some additional setup, but it’s more reliable than trying to force Calendly to handle the gclid directly. Plus, you’ll have more control over your data and can use it for other marketing efforts too.