1 of the greatest benefits of social media advertizing is the ability to test, track, refine and target your ads with laser precision. The Facebook pixel is a data-gathering tool that helps make the most of your ads across Facebook and Instagram.

Every bit of February 2022, Facebook Pixel changed its name to Meta Pixel. You lot will see it referred to with both names throughout this article.

If you apply Facebook or Instagram ads now, or plan to use them at any point in the hereafter, the Facebook pixel (or Meta pixel) is a must-utilise tool. Read on to learn how it works.

Bonus: Download a free guide that shows y'all how to save time and money on your Facebook ads. Find out how to reach the right customers, lower your cost-per-click, and more than.

What is the Facebook pixel (a.thou.a. Meta pixel)?

The Facebook pixel is a slice of code that you lot place on your website. Information technology collects data that helps you rails conversions from Facebook ads, optimize ads, build targeted audiences for future ads and remarket to people who have already taken some kind of action on your website.

How does the Facebook pixel work?

The Facebook pixel works by placing and triggering cookies to track users as they collaborate with your concern both on and off of Facebook and Instagram.

For instance, I recently spotted a very cute bathmat in the Instagram Stories of interior pattern YouTuber Alexandra Gater. (At the time, I was thinking about my decorating my apartment, not the Facebook pixel, then I didn't screencap – you'll just have to trust me on this.)

I swiped up to check out the bathmat and even added it to my shopping cart. Then I got distracted by thinking about breakfast and put down my telephone.

The next time I opened up Instagram, this ad popped up in Stories:

Instagram Stories Baba Souk ad

Source: Baba Souk on Instagram

And, certain enough, the next time I headed to Facebook on my laptop…

Facebook Baba Souk ad

Source: Baba Souk on Facebook

This is chosen retargeting. It'south a handy way for marketers to remind shoppers to come back and buy all those items they leave in various shopping carts across the web.

Remarketing is not the only function of the Facebook pixel. Information technology's also of import for tracking, analytics, and overall ad optimization.

The pixel tracks various deportment people accept on your website, similar making a buy or adding something to their shopping cart. Facebook calls these actions "events."

Facebook pixel standard events

The 17 standard Facebook pixel events for which you can simply copy and paste Facebook outcome code are:

  • Purchase: Someone completes a purchase on your website.
  • Lead: Someone signs up for a trial or otherwise identifies themselves as a lead on your site.
  • Complete registration: Someone completes a registration form on your site, such as a subscription class.
  • Add payment info: Someone enters their payment information in the purchase procedure on your website.
  • Add to cart: Someone adds a product to their shopping cart on your site.
  • Add to wishlist: Someone adds a product to a wishlist on your site.
  • Initiate checkout: Someone starts the checkout process to buy something from your site.
  • Search: Someone uses the search role to look for something on your site.
  • View content: Someone lands on a specific page on your website.
  • Contact: Someone contacts your business.
  • Customize product: Someone selects a specific version of a product, such every bit choosing a certain color.
  • Donate: Someone makes a donation to your cause.
  • Find location: Someone searches for your business organisation's concrete location.
  • Schedule: Someone books an date at your business organisation.
  • Start trial: Someone signs upwards for a gratuitous trial of your product.
  • Submit application: Someone applies for your product, service, or plan, such as a credit card.
  • Subscribe: Someone subscribes to a paid production or service.

You can also add together more details to standard events using actress $.25 of code chosen parameters. These allow you to customize the standard events based on factors like:

  • How much a conversion event is worth
  • Currency
  • Content type
  • Predicted long-term value

For instance, you could utilise the Facebook tracking pixel to record views of a specific category on your website, instead of tracking all views. Perhaps y'all want to separate domestic dog owners from cat owners based on which sections of your pet supply website they viewed.

The Facebook pixel and iOS 14.v

Considering of changes to tertiary-party tracking in iOS xiv.v, some Facebook pixel functionality will exist disabled for updated Apple devices. Before y'all panic, consider that just fourteen.seven% of mobile Facebook users access the social network using iOS devices.

Notwithstanding, changes to accommodate the iOS 14.5 requirements volition impact all advertisers. One major change is that advertisers tin can only prepare up a maximum of eight standard events and custom conversions.

Advertisers volition certainly have to change the way they think about the Facebook pixel as these changes take upshot. Nosotros'll accost specific limitations and changes yous demand to know throughout this postal service.

Facebook pixel setup

Now that you know what you lot can track, and why y'all would want to do so, it'due south time to create your Facebook pixel and put it to work on your website.

Step 1: Create a Facebook pixel

i. From your Facebook Events Managing director, click Connect to Information Sources in the left-hand menu, and so select Web. Click Get Started to continue.

Facebook events manager connect a new data source web

Source: Facebook Events Manager

ii. Select Facebook Pixel, then click Connect.

Facebook pixel connect

Source: Facebook Events Manager

Name your pixel, enter your website URL, and click Continue.

connect website activity using Facebook pixel

Source: Facebook Events Manager

When choosing the pixel's proper name, go on in mind that with Events Manager, yous merely get ane pixel for each advertising business relationship. The name should represent your business, rather than a specific campaign.

If you want to use more one pixel per advert business relationship, you can practice so using Facebook Business concern Manager.

Step two: Add the Facebook pixel code to your website

To put the pixel to piece of work gathering information on your website, you now demand to install some Facebook pixel code on your web pages.

There are a few ways to do this depending on what website platform you use.

install Facebook pixel code on web page

Source: Facebook Events Manager

  • If you use one of Facebook's integration partners, like WordPress or SquareSpace, choose Apply a Partner Integration. This volition walk you lot through a series of steps to connect your Facebook pixel without any coding.
  • If yous work with a programmer or someone else who tin assistance you edit your website lawmaking, click Email Instructions to transport your programmer everything they need to install the pixel.
  • If neither of the above options applies, you demand to insert the pixel code directly into your web pages. That'south what we'll walk you through in this section.

i. Click Install code manually.

two. Click the green Copy Code push button.

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Get the gratuitous guide right now!

copy base code

Source: Facebook Events Director

three. Paste the pixel code into the header code of your website, merely above the </caput> tag. Y'all need to paste it into every single page, or into your header template if yous're using one. Click Continue.

4. Choose whether to use automatic advanced matching. This option matches hashed customer information from your website to Facebook profiles. This lets you track conversions more accurately and create larger custom audiences. Then click Continue.

automatic advanced matching

Source: Facebook Events Managing director

Step 3: Set Facebook pixel events

ane. Click the Open up Event Setup Tool button.

add events using event setup tool

Source: Facebook Events Manager

Choose your Facebook pixel ID, then click Settings and scroll down to Open Event Setup Tool.

open event setup tool

Source: Facebook Events Manager

ii. Enter your URL and click Open up Website.

setup events open website

Source: Facebook Events Manager

three. Facebook will provide a listing of suggested events. Click Review side by side to each effect, then cull to Ostend or Dismiss. Click Finish Setup to continue.

If you're interrupted in your pixel setup, you can always come dorsum to this later past going to Events Manager.

Footstep 4: Confirm your pixel is working with the Facebook pixel helper

Before you beginning relying on the data from your Facebook pixel, yous should confirm that it's tracking properly.

1. Add the Facebook Pixel Helper extension to your Google Chrome browser. (Information technology's merely available for Chrome, so if you lot use a dissimilar browser, you lot'll demand to install Chrome to use the Pixel Helper.)

Facebook Pixel Helper Google Chrome extension

Source: Chrome Spider web Store

two. Visit the page where you have installed the Facebook pixel. A popup will indicate how many pixels information technology finds on the page. The popup will also tell you if your pixel is working properly. If not, it will provide error information so y'all can make corrections.

Facebook pixel error information pop-up

Source: Facebook Pixel Helper

Footstep 5: Add a Facebook pixel notice to your website

To comply with Facebook's terms (and, in some cases, the constabulary), y'all need to make sure visitors to your website know you're collecting their data.

That means you need to provide clear detect that you're using the Facebook pixel and that their information may be collected through cookies or other methods. You lot also need to let users know how they can opt out of having their data collected.

To get all the details, go to the Facebook Business Tools Terms and coil downwardly to bespeak 3: Special Provisions Concerning the Use of Certain Business Tools. Or, check out Facebook's Cookie Consent Resource.

Why should you install the Facebook pixel?

Increase the ROI on your Facebook ad spend

Facebook pixel data helps ensure your ads are seen past the people who are most likely to have your desired action. This allows you to improve your Facebook ad conversion charge per unit and get ameliorate ROI.

Fifty-fifty if yous're not using Facebook or Instagram ads yet, yous should install the Facebook pixel now. It volition kickoff collecting information right away so that you don't take to start from scratch when you're ready to create your starting time Facebook advertizing.

Utilise Facebook conversion tracking

The Facebook pixel allows you to encounter how people interact with your website after viewing your Facebook ad.

You can even track customers across their devices. This is why I saw an ad for the bathmat on my laptop, even though I added to it the shopping cart on my phone.

This lets you come across if people tend to run across your ads on mobile but switch to a desktop before buying. Or, maybe it's the other way around. This information tin assist you refine your ad strategy and calculate your return on investment.

This Facebook pixel part is impacted by the iOS 14.v change, simply Facebook will ensure advertisers notwithstanding get some conversion tracking data through its Aggregated Event Measurement.

To ensure you go on to get the best conversion tracking data, you lot need to verify your website domain. You likewise need to stick to one domain for conversion tracking, since iOS 14.5 won't allow tracking across multiple domains.

Use Facebook retargeting

Facebook retargeting pixel data and dynamic ads allow you to show targeted ads to people who take already visited your site. You can choose to become really granular hither.

For instance, yous can evidence people an advertizing for the verbal product that they abased in a shopping cart or added to a wishlist on your website – as happened with the bathmat I was ogling earlier.

Retargeting audiences will compress as more people update to iOS 14.5. Merely they won't disappear.

Create lookalike audiences

Facebook can use its targeting data to help you build a lookalike audience of people who have similar likes, interests, and demographics to people who are already interacting with your website. This can assist aggrandize your potential customer base of operations.

iOS 14.five will affect the input data for lookalike audiences, because the tracked audition the lookalike is based on will compress. However, considering iOS users are in the minority, the lookalike functions will still have plenty of information to piece of work with. You won't likely notice a major change to functionality here.

Optimize Facebook ads for value

Every bit Facebook collects data on who buys from your site and how much they spend, it tin can help optimize your advertizement audition based on value. That means it will automatically evidence your ads to the people who are nigh likely to brand loftier-value purchases

Heighten Facebook pixel data with Conversions API

To help counter the data-loss furnishings of iOS14.5 changes, Facebook introduced Conversions API. Rather than relying on cookies and web and mobile browsers for data, Conversions API collects information directly from your servers.

By combining Conversions API with the Facebook pixel, you'll take access to more reliable data, even as the pixel loses data.

If you lot're using one of Facebook's integration partners, similar Shopify or WooCommerce, you can turn Conversions API on without writing any code.

1. From Events Manager, click Data Sources in the left column, and then click Settings in the top menu.

Events manager data sources

Source: Facebook Events Director

two. Gyre down to the Conversions API section and click Cull a Partner.

conversions API choose a partner

Choose your partner and follow the steps. Facebook likewise provides detailed instructions for setting up the Facebook pixel Shopify Conversions API integration.

If you don't utilize one of Facebook'south integration partners, you lot'll accept to create some code, and you'll likely need to work with a developer. Follow Facebook'due south detailed steps for implementing Conversions API manually.

Conversions API can assistance fill in data your Facebook pixel is missing. For example, in late 2020, the bedding company Lull found their pixel was missing almost 8% of purchase events.

One time they added Conversions API, they were able to track nearly 100% of purchase events. They also saw a 12.9% reduction in price per action on a one-solar day click, 1-day view attribution window.

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