The Facebook pixel is one of those tools that are of great help in web analytics and also in the optimization of online advertising.
It is about inserting a code that will help you obtain relevant information about the actions carried out by visitors before on your website, when accessing from the popular social network created by Zuckerberg.
In this post we will explain everything you need to understand, install and analyze the information provided by the Facebook pixel and thus grow your business by creating campaigns that generate conversions.
What is the Facebook pixel?
The Facebook pixel is a snippet of JavaScript code that the social network offers you to insert it into the header of your website and track the actions a user performs.
This code allows you to collect various types of information such as: Track conversions achieved through Facebook Ads or promote your business through Facebook Digital creators, improve audience segmentation or perform retargeting.
Is it necessary to install the Facebook pixel even if you don’t run campaigns on the social network?
All the community managers in the world will advise you to install the pixel on your website from day one, because even if you don’t run Facebook Ads campaigns, you will be giving the platform valuable information that will help optimize your future campaigns.
How does the Facebook pixel work?
The way in which the Facebook pixel works is quite simple, basically it works very similar to third-party cookies.
Once you have installed the code in the <head> of your website, the pixel will track each action performed by the users and then cross-reference it with the Facebook profile information.
What is this exchange of information for?
The idea of the Facebook pixel is to increase the chances of conversion of a website and to achieve this, it simply focuses on the optimization of your buyer persona profile.
In short, what the pixel helps you is to find the type of user who – according to the information collected on the social media – is more likely to carry out a specific action or event on your website.
Types of events that the Facebook pixel tracks.
An event is an action that occurs directly on your website and that determines the achievement of a specific objective, such as; confirmation of payment of an order.
For Facebook there are two groups of events: the standardized ones (which have already been defined by the platform) and the personalized ones (which you create based on a URL address).
The 17 standard Ads Manager events:
- Buy: Record every purchase made on your website.
- Generate potential client (Lead): When someone registers for a test or is recognized as a lead from the database.
- Complete registration: The user fills out a form.
- Add payment information: When you fill in the payment information on the page.
- Fill cart: Place products in the shopping cart.
- Place on wish list: When you indicate that you are interested in a product.
- Start payment: When the purchase begins even if it is not completed.
- Search: Refers to the use of the page’s internal search engine.
- View content: When you enter a specific page of the website.
- Contact: When using the page’s contact form.
- Customize product: Indicates the specific purchase of a product, either by color, size, size, etc.
- Make a donation: If your site contemplates donations, it is recorded when the user makes a contribution.
- Search location: It is when they search for the physical location of the business.
- Schedule: Used when someone schedules an appointment.
- Start trial: If you offer free trials of the product, the pixel registers it.
- Send Request: Flags if someone sends a message for a product sample or more information.
- Subscribe: View subscribers to your service, just like Netflix does.
Steps to install the Facebook pixel.
Now we are going to explain step by step how to install the Facebook pixel on your business website.
Step 1: Create the pixel.
You will have to go to the Facebook Ad Creation page, in order to generate the pixel on your website. You can create it from the Ads Manager or from the Power Editor.
If you have never installed this type of code on your website, clicking on the word “Pixel” will display a step-by-step tutorial.
You will be asked to put a name to the pixel, we advise you to put the name of your brand, since it only allows you a single pixel to measure all the campaigns of the same company.
Step 2: Install the code on the website.
Once you’ve named your Facebook pixel, the Ads Manager will give you two options for placing the JavaScript snippet on your page.
The first is based on the use of a tag manager such as Google Tag and the second is manually, which is the one we recommend.
When installing it manually, the code will appear that you just have to paste into your page before the </head> tag.
However, if your website is built on WordPress, doing this is not recommended because every time your page’s theme is updated, the code will be deleted.
So, what should you do? Use a tagging plugin like Tracking Code Manager, which will keep the tag in place even if the theme is updated.
Step 3: Verify the operation of the pixel.
Finally, we advise you to check if the Facebook pixel is working correctly. To do this, you can use the Google Chrome Facebook Pixel Helper extension.
This extension will not only tell you if your page has the pixel, but it will also tell you which other pages have Facebook tracking.
Summary of the post and frequently asked questions about the Facebook pixel:
What is the Facebook pixel?
It is a code snippet in JavaScript that allows you to monitor the actions your visitors perform and cross-reference them with the data from their profiles on this social network, in order to improve understanding of your audience.
What are the main benefits of the Facebook pixel?
The main benefits of the pixel are the following:
- Measure conversions.
- Allows you to evaluate the return on investment (ROI).
- Helps to optimize the customer profile.
- Improve the quality of Facebook Ads campaigns.
- It is ideal for making retargeting strategies.
- It allows you to increase the value of your campaigns, showing them to the ideal client.
- Increase the number of metrics and statistics in the management panel of your profile.
Conclusion
Installing the Facebook pixel is an excellent way to obtain relevant information about your visitors and improve the profile of your buyer persona, understanding the type of user that you really attract to your website.
