If you’re at all serious about using Facebook ads to grow your business, you need to be using the Facebook pixel to optimize your ad campaigns. After all, it’s much easier to lead a warm audience along the journey from prospect to customer than a cold one. In fact, as Facebook’s ad space becomes more competitive — and more expensive — it’s almost impossible to run a truly effective campaign without using the pixel.
Read on to learn how to apply the Facebook pixel to your sales funnel from installation to implementation.
What is a Facebook pixel?
The Facebook pixel is a snippet of JavaScript code that helps you analyze how users behave on your website and then use the resulting data to create better-performing Facebook ads.
It reflects a major advancement in conversion attribution, in that it helps marketers begin to solve the perennial question: What’s the ROI? While similar to traditional cookies, the Facebook pixel tracks users — not devices. For example, if a prospect visited your website from his iPhone and his desktop, Facebook knows both visits were from the same person (as long as he’s logged in on Facebook). Most other cookies would log two separate users.
The bottom line: The Facebook pixel tells you exactly who you’re marketing to and judges how well your ads are performing.
How will a Facebook pixel benefit my business?
Using a Facebook pixel has three main benefits:
- Remarketing: You can create Custom Audiences made up of Facebook users who visited specific pages of your website. Then, you can serve them highly targeted remarketing ads.
- Tracking conversions: What call-to-action do you want your prospects to complete on your website? Order online? Make an appointment? Join your email list? The Facebook pixel will allow you to tie these events to specific ads. If one ad in your ad set is converting better, you can reallocate your ad budget to serve that ad more often.
- Optimizing bids: Having the Facebook pixel installed allows you to tell Facebook to optimize your ads for website conversions, meaning Facebook will serve your ads to users it believes are more likely to convert. (You can also use the Custom Audiences mentioned above to create Lookalike Audiences of new prospects who are similar to your website visitors.)
How do I install a Facebook pixel?
Part 1:
If you haven’t done so, you’ll need to create a Facebook pixel for your website.
- Visit the Facebook Pixel tab in your Ads Manager, name your pixel and accept the terms.
- To install the pixel base code, go to your Facebook Pixel tab. Click Action > View Pixel Code. Copy the code. Add the code to you website’s HTML (in the header tag).
- Test that your pixel is working by using the Facebook Pixel Helper extension for Google Chrome.
Part 2:
To track events, you’ll need to add additional code for a standard event or custom conversion on the specific page(s) you want to track.
- There are nine standard events: view content, search, add to cart, add to wishlist, initiate checkout, add payment info, make purchase, lead, and complete registration. Go to your Facebook Pixel tab. Click Create Conversion > Track Conversions with Standard Events. Copy your desired event code and add it to the header tag of the specific page(s) you want to track.
- If the action you want to track is not one of the nine listed above, you’ll need to use a custom conversion instead. Implement custom events in your page code, as described in this guide. Go to your Facebook Pixel tab. Click Create Conversion > Track Custom Conversions. In the “Rule” section, click the drop-down menu and change “URL Contains” to “Events.” In the field underneath the drop-down menu, select the custom event you want to define as a conversion. In the “Category” section, click the “Choose a Category” drop-down menu and select the most appropriate choice. Name the custom conversion.
- Test that your pixel is working by using the Facebook Pixel Helper extension for Google Chrome.
Have your eyes glazed over? If you have a website administrator, just copy the Facebook pixel code, as described in Part 1 above, and email it over to him or her. If you don’t have a tech-savvy member on your team, contact us for some one-on-one help.
For a more in-depth explanation of the technology behind the Facebook pixel, check out Facebook’s guide.
How do I use a Facebook pixel to create Custom Audiences?
After you install your Facebook pixel, you’ll want to begin adding users to your Custom Audiences straight away. Follow the prompts associated with the Create a Custom Audience from your Website feature. You can log all website visitors or just visitors who visited specific pages, and you can set specific date ranges.
Use these Custom Audiences as you would other audiences already stored in your Ads Manager.
What types of campaigns can I now run?
The Facebook pixel opens up a new world of advertising options to you. Here’s a rundown of a few of our favorite campaign strategies that the Facebook pixel makes possible:
- Thematic outreach: Let’s say your star bartender films a behind-the-scenes mixology video each week. Of course, you incorporate the series into your social media and newsletter strategies, but you want to monetize it more directly. You plan an in-person event, during which he’ll teach attendees a few tricks of the trade. To promote it, you create a Custom Audience of users who’ve visited your video page and watched their to-be instructor in action. This gives you an enthusiastic fan base primed to purchase tickets.
- Event promotion: You’ve found that email outreach is perhaps the most effective strategy for promoting your events. Sadly, though, not everyone who visits the event page of your website is on your contact list. Create a Custom Audience of users who’ve visited your event page and exclude your Custom Audience made up your email subscribers. Then, run an ad campaign to entice those users to sign up for your email list. Hook them by promising to keep them in-the-know about your events … without them having to check your website manually.
- Abandoned cart: It’s frustrating to see a lead almost hit that buy button and then abandon the transaction! But we all know it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re not ready to buy. They may have gotten distracted, or they may be out and about on their iPhone but only make purchases at home via their iPad, for instance. By creating a Custom Audience of these leads, you can run ads to them with an exclusive discount code in the days immediately following the cart abandonment.
- Back-end sales: It’s usually easier and cheaper to earn repeat business from current customers than to convert new customers. If your restaurant offers online ordering, for instance, create a Custom Audience of users who’ve reached your confirmation page. Then, run an ad campaign that encourages them to buy again — and perhaps offer a discount on orders over a certain spending threshold to increase their average spend.
Need help getting your Facebook pixel set up on your website? Give us a call today!
