Question from Reddit:
Hi all,
I am looking to connect the ad clicked from Google Ads to the customer name of the lead in the CRM (NetSuite). I want to know what ad induced what lead, and ultimately, what sale.
I have a manual method for solving this, but cannot figure out the first step in automating it.
GCLID seems to be the closest thing to what I am looking for – but does this implementation require an external plugin like Zapier?
This seems like pretty vital information for understanding the non-ecommerce leads being generated by Google Ads… and I am not sure why it isn’t talked about more (or maybe I just don’t know how to search for it).
All thoughts and suggestions are welcome!
Answer from Nabil:
The short answer is:
You are absolutely on the right track; the Google Click ID (gclid) is the essential piece of information for connecting an ad click to a lead in your CRM.
You don’t need a third-party tool like Zapier for the core process, but you will need a robust data infrastructure to automate it.
The best solution is a server-side tracking pipeline that captures the gclid, saves it persistently until conversion, and then uses the NetSuite REST API to push the gclid to the customer’s record.
This, combined with the Google Ads API, creates a complete, closed-loop reporting system for non-ecommerce leads and sales.
The long answer is:
Your goal of connecting the specific ad to the lead and the ultimate sale in NetSuite is vital for non-ecommerce businesses, and you’re right that it’s surprisingly under-discussed, often because the required solution is technical.
You need a reliable, end-to-end mechanism to pass the gclid from the initial click, through your website, and into NetSuite.
Here’s a detailed breakdown of the automated, server-side solution using Google Ads API + NetSuite REST API + GTM + Stape/GCP.
First, you use Google Tag Manager to implement a persistent capture of the gclid.
When a user clicks your ad and lands on your site, the URL contains the gclid parameter.
A client-side GTM script must read this parameter and store it in a first-party cookie or the browser’s local storage so it persists across multiple page loads and remains available when the user eventually fills out a form.
Second, when the lead fills out a form, you need to ensure the stored gclid is captured.
You can use a hidden form field on your website that GTM automatically populates with the value from the persistent cookie before the form is submitted.
This transfers the gclid from the browser to your lead submission data.
Third, instead of relying on limited client-side tracking, you use a server-side tagging solution, such as a GTM server container hosted on a platform like Stape or Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
When the form is submitted, the data, including the gclid and lead information, is sent directly to this server container.
Finally, the server container uses the NetSuite REST API to take the lead’s information and the corresponding gclid and update the lead or customer record in NetSuite.
You will need a custom field in NetSuite (e.g., custentity_gclid) to store this value.
Once the gclid is in NetSuite, you have the holy grail: a direct link between the Google ad click and the NetSuite record.
For sales reporting, your internal NetSuite reports can easily track which sales originated from records with a non-empty gclid.
Furthermore, you can use the Google Ads API to then decode the gclid into granular details like Ad Group, Keyword, and Ad ID, allowing you to feed that information back into NetSuite or generate a custom, unified report that clearly shows what ad induced what lead and sale.
This server-side, API-driven approach is the gold standard for accurate, reliable, and privacy-resilient closed-loop attribution.
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