16 Jul
Even if you’re not yet running Facebook ads, if you haven’t yet set up a “Facebook Pixel” on your website then you’re potentially losing out on a lot of valuable data which you may use at some point in the future.
The Facebook pixel helps you do two things:
- Show your Facebook ads to the right people – The pixel will collect user data and build audiences for your ads based on people who visit your website or take certain actions on your website
- Measure the results of your ads – Provide you with in depth analytics and measure the effectiveness of your Facebook adverts after a person sees them or clicks on them
Once you’ve added the Facebook pixel to your website, it will be triggered when a person arrives on your site and/or when they take an specified action (like adding to cart or completing a purchase). This information is then sent to your Facebook Ads Manager (or Events Manager) page where you can take further actions.
Facebook conversion tracking can seem daunting for many beginners – maybe you’re not how to set it up, what you should be tracking, or how to analyse the data?
Our step-by-step guide will show how to track the actions that are valuable to your business and use this data to create meaningful ROI for your ads.
How to Install the Facebook Pixel
First things first, if you haven’t already, get your Facebook Pixel installed. Go to your ‘Events Manager’ within the Facebook Ads Manager back-end. From here, you’ll be able to install the Facebook pixel using one of 3 methods. You can:
- Install the code yourself on the header of your website.
- Use a partner integration to install it automatically.
- Email installation instructions to a developer.
Don’t worry: it’s easier than it sounds! Here’s how to setup your Facebook Pixel on different eCommerce platforms:
- WordPress: We suggest using the PixelYourSite plugin
- Manually / HTML website: Copy your FB pixel code and paste it into the header of every page (or your header template file) just before the code
- Shopify Instructions
- Wix Instructions
- Squarespace Instructions
Alternatively, if you’re not confident about installing your pixel correctly, you can use Upwork to find a freelancer who can help you with this – it should not cost much at all and would take less than an hour.
How to Decide What Events to Track
Once your Facebook pixel is installed, it will automatically begin tracking ‘landing page views’, but to follow when a user converts, you’ll need to track what’s called ‘standard events’
These standard events are everyday actions people take on websites like ‘add to cart’, ‘purchase’, ‘contact’ etc. To see all the standard event options, see Facebook’s event guide.
Your next step is deciding what events are most meaningful to your business. If you’re selling sample libraries and/or plugins, then you’ll want to track events like ‘purchase’, ‘add to cart’, ‘initiate checkout’ and ‘add to wishlist’.
How to Set up Conversion Tracking
Now you’ve decided what you’d like to track, it’s time to install the code that records each action. Just as there are 3 ways of installing the Facebook Pixel, there are also 3 ways of tracking conversions on your site:
Create Custom Conversions
To create a custom conversion, all you’ll need is the URL of the page your customer reaches once they’ve completed your desired action. Custom conversions are usually complementary to adding standard events and further segmentation of important actions taken on your site.
Standard events can track things like button clicks (adding to the cart, hitting a call button, etc.), whereas custom conversions allow you to track a specific URL.
If you’re selling 3 different plugins, the ‘purchase’ standard event won’t tell you exactly what course was bought. Creating custom “thank you” page URLs for each course and tracking each of them using the custom conversions tool will give you a better insight into what’s working well.
How to create a custom conversion:
- Go to the event’s manager and click ‘create custom conversion.’
- Name your custom conversion, e.g. “Bought product.”
- Define the category of event you’re tracking, e.g. ‘Purchase.’
- Add in the landing page URL you want to track, choosing either URL ‘contains’ or ‘equals’ (if you have a specific thank you page for each purchase, then use “equals“, if your “thank you for purchasing” page is the same for all, then use “contains“)
- Click ‘Next’ and ‘Save.’
You’re done! Now you’re recording your custom conversion.
Add Standard Events Manually
Adding standard events manually to your website’s code requires technical skill. If you’re not used to changing things on your website’s back-end and typically get a developer to help you, installing event tracking should be passed on to them.
If you’re competent in website coding, installing standard events is pretty straightforward to do.
How to install standard events:
- Copy Facebook’s standard event code
- Above the tag in your Facebook pixel code, paste the standard event code that’s relevant to each page.
- Do this for every page that you want to track.
If you’re not comfortable with this, you can use a free tool like Pixel Your Site to add the events for you. Alternatively, you can use Facebook’s event setup tool – more on that below.
Use the Event Setup Tool
The event setup tool can be a godsend for anyone trying to track conversions without the help of a developer. It gives you the option to track standard events, create custom conversions, and add the value of each conversion, all without the use of code.
It’s user-friendly, highlights the buttons on your site you might like to track, and lets you choose from their multiple tracking options.
Here’s how to use it:
- Go to ‘“Events manager”, select your pixel, and click ‘Settings’.
- From there, click ‘Open Event Setup Tool’
- Add in your website URL and click ‘Open Website’
- The event tool will then appear while navigating your site.
- You can click the highlighted CTA buttons you’d like to track on each page, whether ‘contact us’ or ‘purchase’
- You can also add tracking to specific thank you page URLs you hit and mark them as a ‘purchase’ or ‘lead.’
- Then you need to confirm your tracking.
How Test Your Conversion Tracking
Now that you’ve installed your Facebook pixel and conversion tracking, it’s time to test if it’s working. We highly recommend you do this to avoid any confusion or wasted budget. There are two ways you can test if everything is working correctly.
- Install Facebook pixel helper
Facebook pixel helper is a free tool that will allow you to see precisely what tracking is in place on each page of your website. Add it as an extension on your browser, and once you land on your site, it will show you the tracking it’s picking up.
- Test events in Facebook’s events manager
To run diagnostics on your pixel and see if tracking is firing correctly, you’ll need to click on ‘data sources,’ then choose your pixel in Facebook’s events manager. From there:
- Choose ‘test events’
- Add in your website URL.
- Navigate through multiple pages.
- Make the conversions you’re trying to track.
Once you’ve flicked through a few pages, Facebook will simultaneously show you precisely what events are firing and when in the results section of your events testing interface. You’ll be able to pinpoint any issues with your conversion tracking and re-install the tracking correctly.
How Create Ads That Convert
Now that you’ve set up your standard event, it’s time to begin creating ads and audiences geared towards fulfilling your desired actions. If you’d like Facebook to optimise a campaign for conversions, follow these steps.
- Choose the ‘Conversions’ objective when setting up a campaign.
- Choose the specific conversion you’d like to optimise the campaign for at the ad set level.
- Ensure the event or custom conversion you choose has a green button rather than a red one beside its name. (this tells you whether the event is active or not.)
- Consistently analyse the data to see what ads are driving conversions at the best ROI.
There are other objectives when running Facebook adverts also, like “awareness” or “consideration”. For the purpose of this article, we’re assuming that you simply want to make sales immediately from your Facebook ads so in this situation you’d only choose “conversions” as the objective. You can read more about what the other objectives are for here:
https://www.facebook.com/business/help/1438417719786914
Tip: Use Canva to create eye catching and professional looking graphics for your Facebook adverts. Its quick, simple and affordable.
How to Create Custom Audiences on Facebook
Creating custom audiences based on the conversion data you’ve gathered is key to increasing conversions at a lower cost per conversion.
Custom audiences are fantastic for remarketing campaigns and for creating ‘lookalike’ audiences. Lookalike audiences are people that Facebook deems similar to those who have already taken action with you.
You can create a custom audience based on things like:
- People who have purchased from you before.
- People who have added to the cart.
- People who reached a specific page.
- People who have visited the website.
- People who filled in a contact form.
You can also segment an audience based on more than one event, which is excellent if you want to crossmatch people who have added to the cart but didn’t purchase. Using this data, you can target users based on where they are in the buyer cycle leading to higher conversion rates.
Learn more about creating custom audiences.
How to Analyse Your Facebook Ads Data
To see how every campaign is doing in terms of conversions, go to your Facebook Ads Manager dashboard. From there, you can customise the results you see for each campaign.
- In the top right-hand corner of your campaign results interface, click the button that says ‘Columns.’
- From the drop-down menu, click ‘Customise columns.’
- Now you can choose the custom conversions or specific standard events you’d like shown in your results dashboard.
- You can drill down to things like ‘cost per conversion’, ‘cost per add to cart’ etc., so you can see what ROI each campaign is producing.
Hopefully this article has provided you with useful information on how to setup your pixel, analyse your data and improve your conversions from Facebook ads. This is just a beginners guide to the process – the next step is to test, test, test. Split testing everything will gradually improve your results over time leading to higher conversion rates and lower costs overall.
Our aim at Pulse is to provide companies who use the platform with a solution for improving the download experience for customers, as well as the tools and support to grow their company too such as help with Facebook ads and suggestions for freelancers to work with etc. Learn more about the features and costs of Pulse here.
