Question from user:
The current situation is my client uses Pipedrive to manually record leads and deals. We’re looking to move this along to be fully automated from their website forms.
I believe that currently, they are using some kind of WordPress form. My understanding is that in order to build the connection required in Zapier, we’d need the GCLID to be recorded from within the form submission – my first question is: is this only possible using Pipedrive’s form solutions?
My second question would then be, if we switch to Pipedrive forms then are these forms fully adaptable to the same look and feel of the current lead form and website as a whole?
We ultimately need a solution where 1) Pipedrive leads are recorded as conversions in Google Ads (and attributed correctly) and 2) If and when those leads convert, the conversion value information is pulled into and updated in Google Ads (scenario being: we want to optimise for leads/conversions of a higher value).
Apologies as my area of expertise is Google Ads, so this is slightly on the peripheral of my territory. Any advice on the most cost-effective and reliable way of achieving this would be hugely helpful.
Answer from Nabil:
The short answer is:
Absolutely, you don’t need Pipedrive’s form solution to capture the GCLID, and a custom solution involving your current WordPress form data, Pipedrive, and the Google Ads API will be the most reliable and future-proof way to achieve value-based bidding.
This approach gives you full control over the form’s look and feel while enabling you to send initial lead conversions and then value updates back to Google Ads, which is crucial for Maximize Conversion Value bidding.
The long answer is:
Your understanding that the GCLID needs to be captured with the form submission is correct, but this is definitely not only possible using Pipedrive’s form solutions.
Most WordPress form plugins, like Gravity Forms or WPForms, have ways to capture URL parameters, or you can use a small piece of JavaScript, often managed via Google Tag Manager, to pull the GCLID from the landing page URL and push it into a hidden field in your existing WordPress form before submission.
There are also third-party tools specifically designed to capture the GCLID and other attribution data and store them in a hidden field, which simplifies this step significantly.
Regarding your second question, Pipedrive’s native Web Forms, which are part of the LeadBooster add-on, offer a decent level of customization for colors, fonts, and basic layouts, but they will likely have limitations compared to a form deeply integrated into your WordPress site’s theme, so switching to a Pipedrive form might compromise your site’s current look and feel.
Staying with your existing WordPress form and capturing the GCLID there is generally recommended for maximum design flexibility and conversion optimization.
For your ultimate goal of reliable, value-based bidding, the most robust and cost-effective approach long-term is to use a server-side solution to connect the systems.
Here’s a breakdown of the suggested architecture:
The lead submission from your current WordPress form should push a DataLayer event to Google Tag Manager and also send the captured GCLID and lead information to Pipedrive.
The DataLayer event can trigger a client-side Google Ads conversion for the initial lead, ensuring you get immediate feedback.
However, for the crucial second step – sending the updated conversion value when the deal is created or won in Pipedrive – a server-side approach is best because it involves data updates that happen after the user has left the site.
This is where the combination of the Pipedrive API and the Google Ads API comes in.
When a deal reaches a high-value stage in Pipedrive, a webhook or similar trigger in Pipedrive can send the lead’s unique ID, the initial GCLID, the conversion event name (e.g., ‘Lead to Customer’), and the deal’s value to a server-side endpoint.
You can run this endpoint on a service like Stape or Google Cloud Platform.
This server-side code uses the Google Ads API to update the conversion in Google Ads, correctly attributing the full value back to the original GCLID and click.
This method is the most reliable way to send accurate, late-stage value data back to Google Ads, allowing Maximize Conversion Value bidding to truly optimize for your most valuable deals.
Zapier can handle the conversion value updates, but setting up a custom integration using the APIs or a dedicated server-side Tagging tool like Stape gives you greater reliability, better control over data formatting, and is often more scalable and resilient to browser changes and tracking limitations.
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