How Do You Import Offline Conversions Into Microsoft Advertising?

You import offline conversions into Microsoft Advertising by uploading a file — either once or on a recurring schedule — or by sending the data through the Campaign Management API, matching each offline event to the Microsoft Click ID (MSCLKID) that was captured when the original ad click happened. Before any of that works, you have to wait two hours after creating the offline conversion goal itself, or the data you send won't be applied.

The Three Ways to Send the Data

Microsoft Advertising gives advertisers three paths for getting offline conversion data into an account: a one-time file upload for a single batch, a scheduled file upload that repeats automatically, or a direct API integration using the Campaign Management service. The file-based options work well for a business uploading CRM exports on a regular cadence; the API path suits advertisers who want offline data flowing in continuously without manual exports.

What Each Offline Conversion Record Needs

A basic offline conversion record needs four things: the date, the time, the Microsoft Click ID from the original ad click, and the name of the conversion goal it should count against. Bulk uploads carry a few more required fields — Conversion Currency Code, Conversion Name, Conversion Time, Conversion Value, and the Microsoft Click ID — since a bulk file has to stand on its own without the context a single API call would carry. The Microsoft Click ID is the piece that makes the whole system work: without it, Microsoft Advertising has nothing to match the offline event back to.

The Two-Hour Wait Is Not Optional

After you create an OfflineConversionGoal, Microsoft Advertising needs two hours before it will accept any offline conversion data tied to that goal. Send data before that window closes and it may simply not get applied — with no retry happening on Microsoft's end. Once you're past that setup wait and start sending real conversions, expect up to six hours before the data shows up in reporting; pulling a report five minutes after an upload will look emptier than it should, not because the upload failed but because the data hasn't propagated yet.

Volume Limits and Corrections

Each upload request can carry up to 1,000 offline conversions — advertisers with larger volumes need to batch requests rather than pushing everything through in one call. Mistakes are recoverable: the Adjustment Type field lets you restate (correct the value or timing of) a previously uploaded conversion, or retract (delete) one entirely, referencing the original Conversion Name, Conversion Time, and Microsoft Click ID to identify which record to change.

Where This Differs From Regular Conversion Tracking

Offline conversion import is a separate mechanism from the Universal Event Tracking (UET) tag that most Microsoft Advertising accounts already run for on-site conversions like form fills or purchases. UET captures what happens on your website in real time; offline conversion import is for everything that happens after the click but away from your site — a sale closed over the phone, an in-person purchase, a deal that closed in a CRM weeks later. Both can feed the same account, but they're built to capture fundamentally different kinds of conversion events.

Bottom Line

If your sales cycle includes any step that happens off your website — a phone close, a showroom visit, a CRM-tracked deal — set up an OfflineConversionGoal now, wait out the two-hour activation window, and start sending data through either the scheduled file upload or the API rather than relying on UET alone to capture the full value of your Microsoft Advertising traffic.

Sources: Microsoft Advertising documentation (learn.microsoft.com), "Tracking offline conversions," "OfflineConversionGoal Data Object," and "Offline Conversion Record - Bulk."