We get asked almost every day what the Facebook pixel is, why it’s important and how the hell you install it! That’s why today’s Coffee Break Guide is all about the precious pixel…
What Is It?
A pixel is a teeny bit of code that goes into the back end of your website. If you have built your website on a system like WordPress you’re in luck, as there are lots of great plugins that you can download for free such as Pixel Caffeine and Pixel My Site, then it’s just a case of putting your unique pixel code into it which takes seconds.
So what happens next? Well, if someone visits your website from anywhere, for example, a Google search, directly typing in your website address, an email link, your Facebook profile, the pixel will ‘fire’ and register that person’s visit to your website. You can also install ‘lead events’ which are extra bits of code that you ONLY place on certain pages. Here are some examples:
AddToCart – you can use this to track when someone adds something to their cart. This way, you can send abandoned cart messages to those who didn’t complete the purchase, and get them to come back.
InitiateCheckout – this will track who started the checkout process, you can then retarget people who didn’t complete a purchase with a discount code for example.
Lead – you could install this on the ‘thank you’ page after someone submits an inquiry, so you then know which of your ads led to an inquiry on your website.
How Do I Use It?
1. Retargeting
The pixel allows you to target people with ads based on actions they’ve previously taken on your website. So for example, you can create a custom audience in Facebook and say ‘show my ad to anyone who has been on my website in the last 7 days’. This is ‘retargeting’ and it is so effective when trying to convert clickers into enquirers.
They say on average someone needs 8 interactions with a business before they make a purchase – depending on the value of the item and decision-making process, it can be even more than this. It’s important to not only run ads consistently but be retargeting content to your website visitors, building that trust and increasing the chances of a conversion.
2. Lookalikes
Not only can you target people that have been to your website, you can also find people that are just like them! Facebook profiles each and every one of us, and it can take a look at your pixel data to find an audience that is just like the people visiting your website and taking action on it.
Lookalike audiences can have a 48% higher click-through rate than a general interest audience. One laser clinic we worked with said her phone was on fire the first day we switched from an interest-based audience to lookalikes, and we have similar results for many different industries.
3. Reporting
One great thing about the lead event pixels is that you can match back conversions from your ads, so you know which one worked the best. You can see in ads manager how many actions were taken on a pixel, for example, a fire of the lead event pixel on your inquiry form would show you how many people sent an enquiry after seeing a specific ad.
Sounds Great! How Do I Get One?
Facebook have made this process nice and easy, but if you need any help getting your pixel set up, you can send us an enquiry here. This step by step guide walks you through how to get the pixel from your Facebook ads manager account:
Have any questions? We’d love to help! Just drop us an enquiry here and we’ll be able to answer any questions you have.
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