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How to Install the Facebook Conversion Pixel & Track Your Ads Across Devices

By Tinuiti Team

Apr 27 2015

What is Facebook’s Conversion Pixel?

Facebook’s conversion pixel allows retailers to monitor the actions shoppers take after clicking on their ads across devices including mobile, tablets and desktop.

According to Facebook, by creating a conversion tracking pixel and adding it to the pages of a retailer’s website where conversions happen, like the checkout page, retailers can see who converts as a result of their Facebook Ads.

Facebook Conversion Pixel benefits include:

Ad Optimization: When you use the conversion pixel in combination with the bidding option “Bid for website conversions,” Facebook will automatically show your ads to people who are most likely to convert.

Measurement: You can measure the number of conversions your ads generate to calculate your return on ad spend. That way, you’ll see how much you’re spending for each conversion and can fine-tune your ads accordingly.

Why Install Facebook’s Conversion Pixel?

“This is a big deal because a lot of retailers have already been advertising on Facebook using third party applications or third party advertising platforms,” – Nii A. Ahene, COO, CPC Strategy said.

“As opposed to going to Facebook and directly buying the ad and using Facebook’s tools, they’ve been using a third party to do the same thing. Anytime you involve a third party you are incurring additional costs.”

When Should Retailers Install Facebook’s Conversion Pixel?

According to Ahene, retailers who are interested in retargeting should leverage Facebook’s tools and implement the conversion and audience pixel as soon as possible.

“At the bare minimum, even if your not running Facebook ads today, you should pixel your audience so that you have that option if you want to switch over in the future,” Ahene said.

How to Install Facebook’s Conversion Pixel

Create the pixel
Add the pixel to your website
Use the pixel for ad optimization
Measure conversions

1. Create the Facebook Conversion Pixel

Create a conversion tracking pixel by going to the Ads Manager, ads create tool or Power Editor (using a Chrome browser).

From Ads Manager:

1. Click Conversion Tracking in the left-hand side of the navigation

2. Click the green Create Pixel button

3. Enter a name for your pixel and select one of the following categories: Checkouts, Registrations, Leads, Key Page Views, Adds to Cart or Other Website Conversions

4. Click Create Pixel and then copy the code that’s displayed

You can also create a conversion tracking pixel from the ads create tool or Power Editor.

2. Add the Facebook Conversion Pixel to your website

Install Pixel:

1. To add the pixel to your website, take the code and place it between </head> </head> in the code of the webpage that you want track conversions on.

2. This pixel can track conversions such as checkouts, registrations, leads, key page views or customers adding items to a cart. Be sure to add the pixel to the page on your site where conversions take place.

3. You can also assign a value to the conversion event.

Verify Pixel:

4. Once you’ve created your pixel, you can see its status. Until you’ve had a conversion, the status will show as unverified. Your pixel must be installed properly and record a conversion event to become verified so that you can begin using it.

3. Using the Facebook Conversion Pixel for ad optimization

Once you’ve placed the tracking code on your website, it’s time to start creating ads.

1. Create a new ad in the ads create tool or in Power Editor in Chrome

2. Select “Website Conversions” as your advertising objective

3. From the drop-down box, select the name of the conversion pixel yu would like to use in your ad, or create a new pixel.

4. Set up the rest of your ad targeting. In the final Bidding and Pricing section, choose “Bid for website conversions.”

Note: Facebook tracks conversions for ads that happen within 1 day, 7 days and 28 days after a person clicks on an ad, and 1 day, 7 days and 28 days after viewing an ad.

4. Measure Facebook Conversions

After creating the ad, you’ll see relevant columns from the Ads view in Ads Manager to monitor your conversions, including Results (conversions you’ve received) and Cost (cost per conversion).

These columns link directly back to the ad within the ad set and campaign you created under the Website Conversions objective, so you can properly track the impact of your campaign. Examples of conversions you’re tracking from your Facebook Ads include page views, sign-ups, sales and leads.