What is the Facebook Pixel?
The Facebook Pixel is a snippet of code that you add to your website. It helps you measure conversions from Facebook ads by monitoring the actions visitors take on your web pages. The Pixel analyzes this data to place visitors into different audience segments you can retarget with ads later.
How does the Facebook Pixel work?
By allowing cookies, you permit Facebook Pixel to record visitor interactions with your brand, both on and off Facebook or Instagram. For example, suppose you checked out a website and began browsing through different pages. You ended up finding a service that you needed but had to abort this session due to any reason. You forgot about visiting the page afterward and that you were interested in their service.
But the next time you browse the web, you see ads about that service directed towards you. The ads serve as a reminder that you had to check out the page again and will probably bring you back to the site to pick up from where you left off.
Not everyone converts on their first visit to an online store. Retargeting is the technique that enables businesses to get the most out of an advertising campaign. So if you are a business owner who hasn’t configured Pixel on their site, now is a good time to configure.
Reasons to install the Facebook Pixel
When used intelligently, the Pixel helps you come up with strategies that boost your online revenue. The insight from Pixel data can help you:
- Calculate conversion rates for all devices
- Optimize ad distribution to visitors who are most likely to act
- Automatically create audience sets for retargeting website visitors
- Create customized audience sets for website visitors who perform a particular action
- Gain audience insights (informative stats about people who come to your online store)
- Create sets of lookalike audiences to find people who are most suited to your best customers
Steps to install the Facebook Pixel
Now that you know its importance, the next step is to install Facebook Pixel on your site. Follow the steps mentioned below:
1. Creating a Pixel
Creating a Pixel is the first step. You can do this by going to Ads Manager on Facebook and then clicking on the Events Manager section. Go to Connect a Data Source > choose web. Pick Facebook Pixel and click on Connect. Enter the information as required.
2. Adding FB Pixel to Your Website
You can integrate Facebook Pixel with your website in the following ways:
- Manually: When done with step 1, choose Install Code Manually and select + copy the code. In order to install it to each page of your site simultaneously, add it to the bottom of the site’s global header, then click on Save Changes.
- Partner Integration: In Events Manager, choose the Pixel you made in step 1 and choose to Use a Partner. Select the partner and do as the instructions say.
- Ask a Developer: If a web developer works on your website, you can ask them about the instructions and enter the Facebook code. After setting up the code according to Step 1, choose Email Instructions and enter the developer’s email ID.
3. Setting up events
Now you need to add the events you wish to track with the help of Facebook’s Setup tool. Choose the Open Event Setup tool and follow its instructions. After you add the code, use Facebook Pixel Helper to ensure that it is working correctly. Facebook Pixel Helper helps detect problems, lets you retry the installation steps, and makes sure that everything is working fine. If the Pixel Helper detects no problems, you can see real-time conversion data for your campaigns.
Facebook Pixel ad targeting options
Here are some audiences you could target with the help of Pixel data:
Lookalike audiences
You can serve your ads to audiences who reflect the traits of your ideal customers. The Pixel knows who bought from your website, and Facebook can use this data to identify people with similar characteristics as your visitors.
Custom conversions
The Facebook Pixel also lets you build Custom Conversions. This requires you to select a completion page (like a thank you page) and assign a name to the conversion rate. In this case, you can write something like “thank you for signing up, here’s 10% off for your next purchase” in the conversion name field. You can then optimize ads for custom conversions by using the Website Conversion ad objective.