Facebook pixels will save you time and money by allowing you to measure, optimize and build audiences for your ad campaigns. See what actions people are taking on your website and use this information to engage your audience more effectively.
Pixels in a nutshell
Facebook pixels are a piece of HTML code for your website, which allow you to:
- Build custom audiences using data from your website, then use these audiences for re-marketing and re-targeting purposes. For example, you can target people who have added items to their online shopping cart, but didn't complete the purchase (are you with us eCommerce businesses?).
- Save time by optimizing your ads to gear them towards people most likely to take action.
- Track conversions and see real-time data attributing these conversions back to your ads. You can even see how consumers move between different devices.
Photo Credit: Facebook for Business
Two types of pixels
Conversion pixels
These are used to track how many times a particular action occurs. Conversion pixels are individually placed on each page you want to track, and allow you to optimize your ads so they're geared towards people who are most likely to perform the desired action. The different types of conversion pixels include:
- Checkouts
- Registrations
- Leads
- Key page views
- Adds to cart
- Other website conversions
Photo Credit: Digital Marketer
Once your conversion pixels are installed, you tell Facebook what to optimize for. Yes, it really is that simple.
Photo Credit: Facebook for Business
Website custom audience pixel
This pixel lets you create audiences for the purpose of re-targeting. For example, you can create audiences based on people who have visited specific pages on your website.
You'll first have to add the pixel code to your website to capture visitor information and store this information in your Facebook Ads Manager account. Second, you have to divide these visitors based on which pages they viewed.
NOTE: you can only have one website custom audience pixel per Facebook account!
Photo Credit: Digital Marketer
For a step-by-step guide on setting up your Facebook pixels, click here.
Don't be too cool to pixel
Why should you care about Facebook pixels? For two very important reasons: time and money.
Being able to see which ads are producing results allows you to put your money into the ones that are converting, and eliminate the ones that aren't. It's time to start scaling your advertising efforts.
Digital Marketer's CEO and Founder, Ryan Deiss, emphasizes the importance of Facebook pixels in today's digital marketing landscape by stressing that "[soon] all display advertising will be re-targeted advertising and the pixel will become even more valuable than the click itself. As larger advertisers continue to buy up ad inventory (and create their own re-targeting audiences) those that fail to ‘pixel’ their site visitors won’t be able to afford to advertise.”
Photo Credit: MomentFeed
Pixels are important because they allow you to target your ads at people who have visited specific pages on your website, or who have taken specific actions. Let's say you're a gym that just posted a blog about your Yoga classes. You can now re-target the people who clicked on your article with something like a "Did you know we offer Yoga every day of the week?" ad. You're no longer simply blasting everyone with the same message; rather, you're solving specific issues for your existing and potential clients.
In addition, if you use Google Analytics to track your website stats, you can actually import your Facebook ads data and generate reports on what your cost per conversion is. Click here if you're willing to delve into the world of imported cost data.
The idea of using Facebook pixels might seem daunting at first, but once you get the hang of it—and trust us, you will—you'll be able to streamline your ads and launch campaigns that drive results for you and your clients.
