Send Recharge data to Google Ads

Optimise Google Ads for new subscription revenue

A first subscription order is worth far more than its checkout value, because it recurs. Sending a subscription-specific purchase event to Google Ads lets you bid on the campaigns that start subscriptions, not just one-off purchases.

1. 1

   Install Littledata on your Shopify store

   Add Littledata from the Shopify App Store. Server-side tracking starts automatically, and Littledata picks up Recharge data through your Shopify store — there is nothing extra to install.

2. 2

   Connect Google Ads as a data destination

   Add the Google Ads connection as a destination in your Littledata settings.

3. 3

   Check how Recharge tags subscription orders

   Recharge tags every subscription order in Shopify with Subscription, plus either Subscription First Order or Subscription Recurring Order. Read Using Shopify order and customer tags for the full list.

4. 4

   Clone the purchase event in Littledata's Event Editor

   Open the Events tab for your Google Ads destination and add a clone customisation to the purchase event. Name the cloned event new_subscriber_purchase. See the Event Editor overview for how customisations work.

5. 5

   Add a trigger condition for the Recharge tag

   Add a trigger condition to the clone so it only fires when a subscription starts: choose the order tags field, the contains operation, and the value Subscription First Order. Save the customisation.

6. 6

   Import the new conversion in Google Ads

   In Google Ads, go to Goals → Conversions. Once the first new_subscriber_purchase event arrives, it appears as a new conversion action you can import.

7. 7

   Optimise campaigns for new subscribers

   Set new_subscriber_purchase as the primary goal on the campaigns you want to win subscribers. Google Ads bidding then optimises for purchases that start a subscription, and the conversion column shows which campaigns — and keywords — actually create recurring revenue.