03. Using Google Ads to Promote
Your Event:
The Complete Guide

For event creators, marketing your event is a key part of the business. “With events, so much goes into the idea, creation, and implementation side of it — marketing is one of the many arms of an event,” says Patty Pforte, the Senior Marketing Manager for Public Programs at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco.

Fortunately, marketing platforms like Google Ads offer you the chance to have your website or event page ranked towards the top of relevant search results — for a cost, of course. That way, you’re guaranteed to rank at a certain level in any search results, which can definitely help the public learn about your event.

Before you pull out your wallet, though, you’ll want to do some research and learn how to create a Google Ads pixel, how to build a Google Ads campaign, and where to carry out essential keyword research. Search engine ads are text-based advertisements that appear on top of or alongside search results. These ads, often tagged “Sponsored” or “Ad” in the results listing, are triggered by the words or phrases a user inputs into a search engine. This practice is referred to as “paid search” and it’s something you can set up yourself without having to engage the services of an expensive advertising agency.

Read on for expert advice for getting the most out of Google ads from Jaoa Santos, Senior Manager – Paid Search at Eventbrite.

Creating a Google Ads pixel

Eventbrite’s self-service pixel tool supports conversion tracking in Google Ads, allowing you to track specific actions, like purchases resulting from your paid search ads. To get started, you’ll need to set up conversion tracking in Google Ads, and then input your Conversion ID and label into the Eventbrite pixel tool. Follow these instructions carefully for setup:

Set up conversion tracking in Google Ads

From your home screen in Google Ads, navigate to the “Tools” wrench icon (located at the top right of the navigation bar) and click “Conversions.” This will bring you to a “Conversion Actions” table, where you’ll be able to track all of your conversion actions. Click the blue + symbol to create a new conversion action and follow these steps:

1. Select “Website” as your conversion source: this tracks when an event-goer completes an action, like making a purchase.
2. Select “Purchase” as your website conversion action and give your campaign a name, such as “Event Name – Conversion Tracking.”
   
3. Select “Use different values for each conversion” as your value if you have tickets listed at different prices. If your tickets are priced identically, select “Use the same value for each conversion” and assign the value of the ticket.
   
4. Under “Count,” specify how many conversions to count per interaction.
   
5. Add in your attribution settings.
   
6. Click “Create & Continue” and select “Install the Tag Yourself” as your method of installation
   
7. Scroll down to the event snippet. Choose “Page Load” as your event to track, which will track when event-goers reach the order confirmation page after making a purchase. You can also track when they click on a button on Eventbrite (for example, “Buy Tickets”) by selecting “Click.”

Add your conversion pixel to Eventbrite’s pixel tool

Once your Google Ads conversion pixel is created, you’ll see two types of HTML code generated: 

• Global site tag adds visitors to your basic remarketing lists and will store information about actions that brought event-goers to your website.
• Event snippet works with the global site tag to track conversions.

Both of these bits of code are necessary to install your pixel on Eventbrite.

Get the most from retargeting audiences

How to create a Google Ads retargeting pixel
Leveraging Google Ads allows you to build retargeting audiences and target an event-goer who previously visited your event listing pages. Similar to conversion ads, you’ll first need to set up conversion tracking in Google Ads, and then input your Conversion ID and label into the Eventbrite pixel tool. Instructions for Google Ads retargeting pixels are slightly different, so take note of the following:

• Set up page view tracking in Google Ads
  From your home screen in Google Ads, navigate to the “Tools” wrench icon (located at the top right of the navigation bar) and click “Conversions.” This will bring you to a “Conversion Actions” table, where you’ll be able to track all of your conversion actions. Click the blue + symbol to create a new conversion action and follow these steps:

1. Select “Website” as your conversion source: this tracks when a fan completes an action, like making a purchase.
2. Select “Page View” as your website conversion action and give your campaign a name, for example, “Festival Name – Event Listing Page Visits.”
3. Select “Use the same value for each conversion” and since you’re only tracking page views, assign any number as your dollar amount.
4. Under “Count,” choose “One.”
5. Add in your attribution settings
6. Click “Create & Continue” and select “Install the Tag Yourself” as your method of installation.
7. Scroll down to the event snippet. Choose “Page Load” as your event to track for the event snippet, as this will track when a new page is loaded. You can also track when event-goers click on a button on Eventbrite (for example, “Buy Tickets”) by selecting “Click.”

Add your retargeting pixel to Eventbrite’s pixel tool

Once your Google Ads conversion pixel is created, you’ll see two types of HTML code generated:

• Global site tag adds visitors to your basic remarketing lists and will store information about actions that brought event-goers to your website.
• Event snippet works with the global site tag to track conversions.

Both are necessary to install your pixel using Eventbrite’s self-serve tool.

How to install a Google Ads pixel on your Eventbrite purchase pages

Eventbrite’s self-service pixel tool supports conversion tracking in Google Ads, allowing you to track specific actions, like purchases that resulted from your paid search ads. To begin, first set up conversion tracking in Google Ads, and then input your Conversion ID and label into the Eventbrite pixel tool. Once your Google Ads conversion pixel is created, you’ll see two types of HTML code generated: a global site tag and an event snippet. The global site tag adds visitors to your basic remarketing lists and will store information about an action that brought an event-goer to your website. The event snippet works with the global site tag to track actions like conversions. You’ll need both of these bits of code to install your pixel.

Having set up conversion tracking in Google Ads, follow these instructions carefully for setup in Eventbrite.

1. You’ll see a line of code that looks like gtag(‘config’, ‘AW-1003687596’) in the global site tag HTML. The 10-digit code after “AW” is your Conversion ID.
2. Open the Google Ads pixel tool (Analyze > Tracking Pixels > AdWords) in Eventbrite and copy your Conversion ID into the box labeled “Conversion ID.”
3. Then, in your event snippet HTML you’ll see a line of code that looks like ‘send_to’: ‘AW-1003687596/EujfCIyy9JcBEKydzN4D’. The string of text that comes AFTER the slash is your Conversion Label (the first portion of numbers BEFORE the slash is your Conversion ID). Copy your Conversion Label but do NOT copy any quote marks in the code.
4. In the Google Ads pixel tool, select “Add Conversion Event,” choosing “Event Order Confirmation” as your trigger (meaning the page you’ll place the pixel on). If you’re using embedded checkout on your website, select “Ticket Form Widget” as your trigger.

If you’re leveraging Google Ads to build retargeting audiences, you’ll also need to set up conversion tracking in the platform prior to installation on Eventbrite. Tracking specific retargeting actions, like website visits or carting tickets, should be set up as conversion events separate from those tracking ticket purchases, so your Conversion Label and ID for these actions will be different. To configure a Google Ads pixel for retargeting in Eventbrite, repeat steps 1-3 in the Google Ads pixel tool, using the Conversion Label and ID corresponding to your retargeting conversion event. Then select ‘Add Conversion Event’ and choose ‘Event Listing’ or ‘Event Register’ (for cart adds) as your trigger.

1. To configure a Google Ads pixel for retargeting in Eventbrite, repeat steps 1-3 in the Google Ads pixel tool, using the Conversion Label and ID corresponding to your retargeting conversion event. Then select “Add Conversion Event” and choose “Event Listing” or “Event Register” (for cart adds) as your trigger. Paste your Conversion Label in the “Conversion Label” box.
2. Your final product should have a specific page selected as your trigger, with your corresponding Conversion Label and Conversion ID copied in the pixel tool.
3. Click “Save.”

How to build a retargeting audience in Google Ads

You can also create retargeting lists in Google Ads to show ads to potential event-goers who have already visited your event listing pages or website, or have taken a specific action tracked through your pixel. To do this:

1. Sign in to your Google Ads account.
2. Navigate to the “Tools” wrench icon (located at the top right of the navigation bar) and click “Audience Manager” under Shared Library.
3. Click “Audience Lists.”
   
   
4. To create a website visitors list, click the blue + button and select “Website Visitors.”
5. Give your audience a descriptive name (for example, Capitol Theater website visitors) and select “Visitors of a Page.”
6. Choose a set of rules from the “Visited Pages” dropdown.
7. For each URL option, add the conditions for web pages where you’d like to collect information, for example, URL + contains + your event EID or your website URL.
   
   
8. Set your list size and membership duration.
9. Click “Create Audience.”
10. In the Audience Lists manager, click the checkbox next to your new remarketing list. You will see a blue column appear above the “Audience Name” tab.
    
    
11. Click the “Add To…” dropdown and select an ad group or campaign to target your list.

To retarget potential event-goers who took a specific action on your event listing pages, like visiting your page, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to your Google Ads account.
2. Navigate to the “Tools” wrench icon (located at the top right of the navigation bar) and click “Audience Manager” under Shared Library.
3. Click “Audience Lists.”
4. To create a website visitors list, click the blue + button and select “Website Visitors.”
5. Give your audience a descriptive name (for example, Capitol Theater website visitors) and select “Visitors of a Page.”
6. Choose a set of rules from the “Visited Pages” dropdown.
7. Select the conversion event you want to target.
8. Set your list size and membership duration.
9. Click “Create Audience.”

In addition to reaching specific audiences with retargeting ads, you can exclude unrelated audiences — like people who’ve already purchased a ticket to a specific event. Follow these steps to exclude a specific audience in Google Ads:

1. Sign in to your Google Ads account.
2. Click “Audiences” in the left-hand navigation bar.
3. Click “Exclusions.”
4. Click “+ Audience Exclusions” to add a new exclusion.
   
   
5. Select “Campaign” or “Ad Group” from the drop-down.
6. Select as many specific audiences as you would like to exclude, either by using “Search” or by clicking the box next to each audience. Your audience will appear in the “Selected” column.
7. Click “Save.”