How to See Which Bing Ads Turn Into Paying Customers

Your Microsoft Advertising report shows clicks, and it shows form fills. What it does not show is who paid you, because the sale happened later on the phone, in an email thread or inside a CRM. So, you stare at a campaign list and cannot say which ads brought customers and which only brought traffic. Bing ads conversion tracking starts at the website, and it stops there until you send later outcomes back. The sale itself lives somewhere the ad platform cannot see until you send it back. You may also have heard that Microsoft Advertising now connects to HubSpot, and you would like to know if that closes the gap for you. This post walks the steps in the order you would do them, covers the HubSpot option and the route without it, and ends with a ten-minute check you can run in your own account.

Bing ads conversion tracking reaches the sale only when you send the sale back

Microsoft Advertising can follow a visitor as far as your website. After that, it knows only what you tell it. A phone call that turns into a signed estimate, an email thread that ends in an invoice and a CRM deal marked won are all invisible to the platform until that outcome is sent back to Microsoft Advertising.

That gives you three different things to keep apart. A click is a visit paid for by your ad. A lead is someone who took an action you defined, such as submitting a form. A customer is a lead that became revenue. Your report counts the first two out of the box, and the third needs a short chain of steps.

The chain has five links, and you can set up each one yourself:

1. Install the UET tag and create conversion goals for the actions that happen on your site.
2. Turn on auto-tagging so each ad click carries a Microsoft click ID.
3. Save that click ID with every lead, whether it arrives by form, phone or email.
4. Create an offline conversion goal for the stage that counts as a customer.
5. Upload that stage to Microsoft Advertising on a regular schedule, by hand, by API or through a connector.

The sections below take them one at a time. If you already run HubSpot, links three to five can be handled by the connection described further down. If you do not, the same links work with a spreadsheet.

UET and conversion goals count the actions that happen on your website

Universal Event Tracking, or UET, is Microsoft's tag. You add it to your site, and it records activity such as page views and the actions you choose to track. Microsoft's UET and conversion goal help explains that UET supports conversion goals and remarketing, and that it has to be installed on your website for browser-based tracking to work.

A conversion goal tells Microsoft which action counts, for example a thank-you page after a contact form, a booked appointment or a purchase. Start with the action that best signals a real inquiry, and give each materially different action its own goal. A phone-number click, a form submission and a scheduled call are different signals, and mixing them in one goal makes your numbers hard to read later.

The first row is where tutorial setups usually stop. A tag and a goal tell you a form was sent. They cannot tell you the person later bought, unless you report that stage.

The Microsoft click ID gives every lead a trail back to its ad

When auto-tagging is on, Microsoft appends a click ID, called MSCLKID, to the landing-page URL. Microsoft's offline conversion help describes it as the identifier an offline import needs, and the UET documentation notes that the ID is included in later UET events.

Think of the click ID as a claim ticket. The ad click hands it to the visitor, and your job is to keep it with that person until they become a customer. That means capturing it from the URL when the form loads, storing it in a hidden field and saving it in your CRM or spreadsheet next to the lead.

A few habits keep the ticket from getting lost:

• Check redirects: A redirect that drops the query string removes the click ID before your form ever sees it.
• Store it with the record: A click ID that sits only in the browser is gone once the visitor closes the tab.
• Cover phone and email leads: If the first contact is a call, ask what ad or search brought them in, then match that call to a recent form or click record where you can.
• Keep the original value: Do not shorten it, reformat it or overwrite it when a second visit comes in.

A lead that arrives without a saved click ID can still be counted as a lead. It just cannot be sent back to Microsoft Advertising as a sale later, so it will not show which ad earned it.

Offline conversion import tells Microsoft which leads became customers

Offline conversion import is how a phone sale, an email sale or an in-person sale reaches your ad report. You create an offline conversion goal, then upload rows that say which click ID led to which outcome and when. Microsoft's offline conversion goal reference lists the required pieces: the click ID, the conversion time and the goal name. Value and currency are optional, and a value you send with an upload can override the goal's default.

Microsoft's ApplyOfflineConversions documentation adds some details that shape your routine:

• An API request can carry up to 1,000 offline conversions.
• A duplicate with the same click ID and conversion time is ignored.
• Offline data can take up to six hours to appear after you submit it.
• Microsoft recommends timely uploads when you use automated bidding.

When you create the goal, you also choose how repeat conversions from one click are counted. Microsoft's reference identifies Unique as the usual choice for leads and All as the usual choice for sales. Use Unique when one click should produce one lead, and All when repeat sales from the same click should each count.

The HubSpot connection is one current way to automate the trail

If your leads and deals already live in HubSpot, Microsoft Advertising and HubSpot now offer a connection built for this job. Microsoft Advertising's September 30, 2026 announcement says it connects Microsoft campaign clicks with HubSpot contacts and deals so you can see which campaigns drive pipeline and revenue. It also describes CRM-based audiences, retargeting, lead follow-up and HubSpot actions such as assigning a sales representative or sending a nurture email.

HubSpot already offered a Microsoft Ads connection before this. HubSpot's documentation describes campaign tracking, reporting, auto-tracking, UTM parameters and ad-account management. What Microsoft's announcement adds is the CRM audience, lead-action, pipeline and revenue workflow on top of that.

HubSpot's connection guide covers who can set it up:

• You connect in HubSpot under Marketing, then Ads.
• You need HubSpot Ads publishing access, and Super Admin access to the individual Microsoft Advertising account.
• Customer accounts cannot be connected directly; you connect the individual ad account.
• HubSpot lists the connection as available with its listed products and plans, and the Microsoft Advertising integration may still appear as a beta opt-in on some accounts.

The documented setup runs in this order: connect the account, authorize Microsoft access, select the individual ad account, turn on auto-tracking, keep the account-level Final URL Suffix in place, and check that the click ID and UTM parameters survive any redirects on your site.

Connecting the account is not the finish line. The tracking parameters still have to reach HubSpot, your lead and deal stages still have to be defined, and your closed deals still have to be recorded against the right contacts. Confirm your market, plan, beta status, permissions and campaign type in your own Microsoft Advertising and HubSpot accounts before you plan around the connection. Then submit one test lead and follow it from ad click to deal before you trust any report.

Without HubSpot, a spreadsheet and a regular upload do the same job

You do not need a CRM to close the gap. A disciplined spreadsheet is enough for a low-volume business, as long as it holds the click ID and you upload on a schedule. The steps are the same five links from earlier, with the spreadsheet standing in for the CRM.

Keep one row per lead with these columns: the click ID, a lead ID, the goal name, the conversion time, a status, the value, the currency, the upload date and the upload result. When a lead becomes a qualified opportunity or a sale, fill in the goal name, time and value. Then upload the finished rows to Microsoft Advertising through the offline conversion interface, the API or a connector that supports the click ID.

A weekly rhythm suits a small team, and a daily one suits steady volume. Pick one and keep it, because an upload routine you remember beats a perfect one you skip. Microsoft's Conversions API is the server-side option when you have a developer or a CRM that can send events directly, and the Conversions API guide covers website, CRM, offline-sales and mobile events.

Count the lead stage that matches a real business outcome

Not every early action deserves to be counted as a win. A form fill is a start, and a closed sale is the finish. Count the stage that represents a business outcome, and use a separate goal when two stages mean materially different things.

Give a stage a fixed value when its expected worth is stable, and use a variable value when your CRM or spreadsheet can send the actual revenue. In your reports, compare Conversions with All conversions, and look at conversion rate, cost per conversion, revenue and return on ad spend by campaign, ad group, ad, keyword and goal. Microsoft's conversion goal reporting help explains that goals excluded from Conversions still appear in All conversions but do not influence automated bidding.

That last point matters if you let Microsoft bid for you. Early-stage goals can pull bidding toward cheap form fills, so move bidding toward a qualified-lead or sales goal once you have enough reliable data behind it. For a wider look at what a healthy form-to-lead rate looks like, see what a good website conversion rate is.

A short list of causes explains tracking that does not match your sales

When your Microsoft report and your sales records disagree, work through the causes in this order. It is a practical troubleshooting sequence, so start at the top and stop when you find the break.

1. The click ID is lost during a redirect or never captured.
2. UET is missing, installed twice, blocked or present on only part of the site.
3. A goal watches the wrong URL, event, form or page.
4. The CRM stores the lead but not the original click ID.
5. Offline conversions are not uploaded consistently.
6. The same sale is counted twice, once by browser tracking and once by offline import.
7. Conversion times, time zones, goal names or values are wrong.
8. Consent settings stop some events from being used.
9. The account, campaign type or connector sits outside what is supported.
10. Bidding is aimed at cheap leads instead of qualified or closed outcomes.

Double counting deserves a second look, because it inflates results quietly. If a purchase is recorded by a website goal and again by an offline upload, keep one of them in your Conversions column and leave the other out. Uploading outside the conversion window is another common slip, and so is treating every form fill as a sale.

Consent can also affect what gets measured. Microsoft's UET help calls for Consent Mode or the TCF consent standard for visitors from the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, and its advertising agreement expects advertisers who use UET to explain the collection in their privacy and cookie policies and link to Microsoft's privacy statement. The UK Information Commissioner's Office published updated guidance on storage and access technologies on April 29, 2026, and it says advertising measurement and performance tracking need consent. That is regulatory guidance, not legal advice, so confirm what applies in the markets you serve with a qualified privacy professional.

Small mismatches between reports are normal. Attribution windows, consent choices, delayed uploads, time zones and different definitions of a conversion can all separate two numbers that are both correct. A gap alone does not mean Microsoft Ads is failing, so find the cause before you cut the budget.

A ten-minute account check shows where your trail breaks

You can find your own gap this afternoon. Open Microsoft Advertising and work through these checks:

1. Go to the UET tag page and confirm the tag exists and its status is active.
2. Open your conversion goals and note each goal's status, type, count setting, conversion window, value setting and whether it is included in Conversions.
3. Pull the campaign and goal reports for last month: clicks, spend, conversions, all conversions, cost per conversion and revenue.
4. Export last month's customers from your CRM or sales records and look for a source field, a click ID, a campaign or UTM values.
5. Pick one customer you know and trace them from ad click to lead to opportunity to sale.

If your customer list has no click ID or campaign source, the check has still done its job, because it shows you where the trail breaks. Past sales without that data cannot be matched to ads reliably, so fix the capture first and let new leads build the record from here.

Paid help makes sense when the chain has many parts

An owner can do the basics without an agency. One campaign, one form, a click ID saved in a spreadsheet and a weekly upload is a manageable job for someone who is comfortable in their ad account. If your lead volume is low, that routine may solve the problem on its own, and a new platform or a large CRM project would be more than you need.

Paid help earns its fee when the chain gets longer: several campaigns or locations, several sales stages, call and email matching, consent controls, revenue-based bidding or a connector that needs configuring. A small error in that chain can steer bidding toward the wrong outcome for months, which is why a tested setup matters more than a fast one. Whoever does the work should leave you with documented click IDs, conversion definitions, upload rules, test records, report views and an account you own.

If you want to see whether Bing is worth your budget before you invest in tracking, read is Bing worth it for a small business. If you run Microsoft ads and want to test changes without risking your whole budget, Microsoft Advertising experiments cover that. And if your leads arrive by phone, tracking phone calls from Google Ads shows the same idea on the other platform, and tracking contact form leads in Google Analytics covers the form side.

Frequently Asked Questions About bing ads conversion tracking

Can Microsoft Ads track customers who buy later by phone?

Yes, if you keep the Microsoft click ID with the lead and send the later outcome back as an offline conversion, or use a supported CRM or server-side connection.

What is MSCLKID?

It is Microsoft Advertising's click identifier. With auto-tagging on, it is appended to your landing-page URL so a later conversion can be matched to the click.

Is UET enough to track closed sales?

No. UET records activity on your website. Phone, email and in-person sales need CRM or offline conversion data.

Does HubSpot automatically track Microsoft Ads revenue?

The integration connects campaigns with HubSpot contacts and deals, but your tracking parameters, records, lead stages and permissions still have to be set up correctly. Run a test lead before you rely on it.

Can I do this without HubSpot?

Yes. Microsoft supports offline conversion import, API workflows, the Conversions API and spreadsheet routines, and a spreadsheet can cover a low-volume business.

How long do offline conversions take to appear?

Microsoft says offline data can take up to six hours to appear after you submit it.

What This Means for You

Bing ads conversion tracking reaches your customers when three things connect: a tag that records website actions, a click ID saved with every lead, and a regular upload of the stages that count. HubSpot can automate part of that chain if you already use it, and a spreadsheet can do the same work if you do not. Either way, you pick one stage that represents a real outcome and keep each sale from counting twice.

With that in place, your report starts answering the question you opened it with. You can see which campaigns and keywords lead to customers, move money away from the ones that only bring clicks, and read a cost per customer instead of a cost per form fill. The setup takes some care at the start and then runs on a routine.

If you want a second pair of hands, Web Leveling can test the whole chain with you, from your landing pages and redirects to your CRM and your offline uploads, as part of our pay-per-click management work. If a spreadsheet and a weekly upload cover what you need, we will tell you to start there. We work with small and medium businesses across the country and overseas. Tell us how your Microsoft ads and sales records line up today, and we will help you find the gap.

Terms