In advertising, your audience is everything. If you don’t know who your audience is or what the audience is doing in relation to your business, any digital campaign is going to fall flat on its face.
Fortunately, the beauty of technology has given us tools like the Facebook Pixel that give us data about our audience’s behaviors. The Facebook Pixel is a snippet of unique code that tracks activity on your business’s website. It helps you retarget with Website Custom Audiences, attribute conversions, optimize advertising for landing page views or conversions, and track marketing performance and customer funnel. It’s the best friend of any Facebook ads company.
But as useful as the Facebook Pixel is on its own, it’s also limited. For the best optimization and tracking capabilities, you’ll also need to add pixel events using the Pixel Event Setup Tool. Pixel events are modifiers that send Facebook even more detailed information about your audience’s behaviors on your website. Standard pixel events include the following:
- View Content
- Search
- Add to Wishlist
- Add to Cart
- Initiate Checkout
- Add Payment Info
- Purchase
- Subscribe
- Start Trial
- Complete Registration
- Contact
- Find Location
- Schedule
Pixel events allow you to see how your advertising efforts are impacting the specific conversions you are trying to generate. Running a Facebook campaign focused on acquiring new subscribers? The subscribe pixel event will show you whether the new subscriptions you’ve gotten on your website originated through clicks on your ads in that campaign. Did a shopper click on your Facebook ad that led them to make a purchase on your website? Pixel events can show you that, too. The event provides a specific number of resulting conversions and any related revenue connected to your Facebook ads.
The Importance of Pixels Events
Pixel events give you valuable insights related to your Facebook campaign. You can identify the link between your ads and specific conversions you are trying to drive. In other words, events show you whether your Facebook campaigns are achieving your advertising goals. If you see that your ads are not generating the conversions you want related to your event, you can make the changes necessary for a successful campaign. Perhaps you need to change your ad’s creative, copy, or call-to-action, or maybe your audience would respond better to video than images. Without pixel events, you don’t have access to this valuable information.
What Is the Pixel Event Setup Tool?
Previously, you’d need to manually modify your pixel code to collect event data for specific pages. Now, Facebook is rolling out the Pixel Event Setup Tool, which some advertisers have access to already while others are still waiting. With it, you can add events based on page views or button clicks without having to manually alter any code. In other words, it’s a tool that helps you streamline the Pixel Event process and ultimately improves your overall workflow.
You Have to Install the Facebook Pixel First
Although the Pixel Event Setup Tool takes away the need to modify any code related to events, you still need to first install the Facebook Pixel, which does involve working with some code. The base code needs to be installed on your website in order to make the connection between your Facebook ads and website activity.
There are three options for installing the Facebook Pixel: connecting to a partner platform, manually installing the code yourself, or emailing installation instructions to a developer. Once you’ve installed your Facebook Pixel, you’re now ready to use the Pixel Event Setup Tool.
How to Use the Pixel Event Setup Tool?
Step 1: Navigate to Events Manager and click “Set Up” > “Set Up New Events.”
Step 2: Select the option “Use Facebook’s Event Setup Tool.”
Step 3: Enter the URL for the page on which the pixel event will occur and click “Open Website.”
Step 4: Select “Track a URL.”
You should now see the following on your screen.
Step 5: Select an event from the dropdown and then click “Confirm.”
Step 6: Choose whether you want to track the entire URL or a portion of the URL. Click “Confirm.”
Step 7: Instead “Track a URL,” you also have the option to “Track New Button.”
Step 8: You will see the screen below. From here, select your button or link.
Step 9: Select an event and then click “Confirm.”
Step 10: You should now see your event listed.
Step 11: When you’re done, click “Finish Setup.”
Step 12: Review your events and then click “Finish.”
Step 13: On your Events Manager screen, you’ll see a notification indicating that your event setup is complete. Select “Test Events.”
Step 14: On the screen that appears, click “Open Website.”
Step 15: If created by URL, the event is already triggered. For links or buttons, you should be able to click on it on the page you linked to your button event. Navigate back to the testing page in Events Manager. Your screen should look similar to the one below.
A Note About Parameters
But wait, there’s more. If you thought the tracking information that Pixel Events provide aren’t enough, you’ll be happy to learn about parameters. Parameters provide additional details about your pixel event. For example, if you’re using a purchase event, you can set up parameters to provide details such as the exact item that was purchased and its value.
When manually setting up your Facebook Pixel, you can toggle parameters for your event.
Unfortunately, at this time, the Pixel Events Setup Tool does not include the capability to set up parameters; they must be set up during the manual process. Hopefully, Facebook will add parameters to the tool sometime in the future.
