Are you pouring ad spend into Google Ads campaigns that reach people who’ve already shown interest in your brand via email—or worse, missing out on high-intent users who engaged with your Drip campaigns but never saw your ads? Connecting Drip and Google Ads solves this gap, letting you build laser-targeted audiences based on real email behavior.
Why Sync Drip and Google Ads for Email-Based Audiences?
Most marketers treat email marketing and paid ads as separate channels, but they work best when combined. Drip tracks every email open, link click, purchase, and unsubscribe action from your subscribers. Google Ads lets you target those exact users across search, display, and YouTube campaigns.
When you sync the two platforms, you eliminate guesswork: no more showing ads to people who don’t care about your brand, and no more missing high-intent users who already engaged with your emails. This integration cuts wasted ad spend and boosts conversion rates by up to 30% for many brands.
Prerequisites for Connecting Drip and Google Ads
Before you start building audiences, make sure you have these basics in place:
1. Active Drip and Google Ads Accounts
You’ll need a paid Drip account (the free trial supports integrations) and a Google Ads account with admin access. Ensure your Google Ads account is compliant with all platform policies to avoid sync errors.
2. Google Ads Global Site Tag Installed
The Global Site Tag (gtag.js) must be installed on your website to track ad conversions and sync audience data. If you already run Google Ads campaigns, you likely have this tag set up.
3. Drip Integration Permissions
When connecting the two platforms, grant Drip permission to manage your Google Ads customer match lists and audience data. This is required to push email behavior segments to Google Ads.
Step-by-Step: Build Email Behavior Audiences in Google Ads via Drip
Follow these four steps to sync your first email behavior audience:
Step 1: Connect Drip to Google Ads
Log in to your Drip account, navigate to Settings > Integrations > Google Ads, and click “Connect”. Authenticate your Google Ads account and grant the required permissions. Drip will confirm the connection once the sync is authorized.
Step 2: Define Email Behavior Segments in Drip
First, create targeted segments in Drip based on email behavior. Common high-performing segments include:
- Users who opened 3+ emails in the last 30 days
- Users who clicked a link in your last product launch email
- Users who made a purchase after clicking a Drip email
- Users who unsubscribed from your welcome series
Keep segments niche: the more specific the email behavior, the higher your ad conversion rate will be. We recommend pairing this with our guide to Drip email segmentation best practices for more advanced segment ideas.
Step 3: Sync Drip Segments to Google Ads Audiences
Map each Drip segment to a new Google Ads customer match audience. Drip will automatically hash all email addresses in the segment (per Google’s privacy requirements) and push them to your Google Ads account. Initial syncs take 24-48 hours to complete.
Step 4: Use Audiences in Google Ads Campaigns
Apply your new audiences to relevant campaigns. For more campaign setup tips, refer to our Google Ads remarketing guide.
- Target “email clickers” with product upsell ads
- Exclude “unsubscribed users” from all ad campaigns to avoid wasted spend
- Remarket to “cart abandoners who opened your recovery email” with limited-time discount codes
Top Email Behaviors to Target (and Avoid) in Google Ads
Not all email behavior is worth targeting. Use this quick list to prioritize your audiences:
- Target: Email openers with 2+ opens in 7 days (high recent intent)
- Target: Link clickers from your highest-converting email campaigns
- Target: Purchasers who haven’t bought in 90 days (win-back opportunity)
- Avoid: Unsubscribed users (violates Google’s policies and wastes spend)
- Avoid: Hard bounce email addresses (invalid contacts, Drip filters these automatically)
3 Tips to Maximize ROI with Drip + Google Ads Audiences
- Refresh audience syncs weekly: Drip auto-syncs updates every 24 hours, but check that new email engagements are pushing to Google Ads correctly each week.
- Layer behavioral audiences with keyword targeting: Don’t just target email engagers—pair them with high-intent keywords to reach users when they’re actively searching for your products.
- Exclude converted users: If someone already purchased via an email link, exclude them from ad campaigns to stop overspending on users who already converted.
FAQ
Can I sync historical email behavior data to Google Ads?
Yes, Drip will push all existing contacts in your selected segments to Google Ads when you first connect the integration, provided their email addresses are valid and hashed per Google’s requirements.
Is it compliant to share email data between Drip and Google Ads?
Absolutely. As outlined in Google’s official Customer Match policy, both platforms follow GDPR and CCPA guidelines. Drip only shares hashed email addresses, and Google Ads only matches them to logged-in users who have consented to ad personalization.
How long does it take for Drip audiences to appear in Google Ads?
Initial syncs take 24-48 hours. After that, Drip pushes updates to Google Ads every 24 hours, so new email engagements are reflected in your audiences within one business day.
Can I use these audiences for YouTube ads?
Yes! All customer match audiences synced from Drip work for search, display, discovery, and YouTube campaigns in Google Ads.
Conclusion
Syncing Drip and Google Ads turns your email engagement data into a powerful ad targeting tool. You’ll stop wasting spend on cold audiences, and start reaching users who already know and trust your brand. The setup takes less than an hour, and the ROI lift is almost immediate for most brands.
Ready to build your first email behavior audience? Connect your Drip and Google Ads accounts today, and launch your first targeted campaign in under 30 minutes.
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