Super Simple Facebook Pixel Guide

Only for Entrepreneurs that need to get clients using Facebook ads..

Let’s go over the Facebook Pixel and how it will help you to automate your marketing to get more clients, and help you to build your business. Implementation of the pixel is rather easy, although, with more advanced features needing a bit more technical knowledge, it’s still relatively simple. But, because some entrepreneurs might be confused, I am going to start with the explanation first, then the technical aspects second, and then finally I am going to show you a few practical examples that would work for you as a entrepreneur and in your business.

The Explanation

What is the Facebook Pixel?

The Facebook Pixel is just a piece of code that is published on each page of your website, landing page, or checkout cart. Every time the page is rendered in a web or mobile browser, the pixel is initialized and begins communicating with Facebook. Now, the information that is being passed back to Facebook supports the ad campaigns that are currently running or will be running in the future. The objective of the pixel is to allow Facebook the opportunity to collect data from user behavior, and use that data to optimize your ad campaigns according to your predefined goals.

How will Facebook use the pixel to target ads?

Well, this is where we start getting into the power of the Facebook Pixel. As a standard, the pixel tracks a PageView, which is a visit by your current or potential business client to the page where it is located. That data is saved at Facebook, and as I stated earlier, it will be available for use when you’re setting up and running your ad campaigns.

How can I retrieve that data from a PageView?

Custom Conversions

You can use the PageView data that Facebook collects from the pixel by setting up Custom Conversions, which contain predefined values that are used to identify the completion of an objective. Your going to be able to define what behaviors on your website are equal to an objective that is meaningful to you.

A typical example for a Custom Conversion is a completion page, or a page that signifies the successful end of a process, such as:

• Your business client views a webinar introducing one of your sales acquisition services
• Your business client submits a lead form to receive a case study put together for your business
• Your business client completes a purchase

To get started with a Custom Conversion, from the Ads Manager screen:

Expand the menu by clicking on the “All Tools” link

Under Events Manager, click on “Custom Conversion”

Now to setup your own Custom Conversion, from the Events Manager screen:

If you haven’t created a Custom Conversion, Click on the “Create Custom Conversion” button::

If you have created a Custom Conversion, click on the “Create Custom Conversion” button located at the top right hand of the page:

Next, fill out the Create a Custom Conversion form:

After you setup the Custom Conversion event, you don’t have to worry about making any other technical adjustments, the pixel is already collecting the data it needs and tracking your current or potential business client that clicked on your ad, and then initiated this event.

There are ( 9 ) standard categories to choose from:

• Purchase
• Lead
• Complete Registration
• View Content
• Search
• Add to Cart
• Add to Wishlist
• Initiate Checkout
• Add Payment Info

Let’s say, for example, that you were to setup the following lead generation campaign:

• You want to acquire new business client email addresses
• You have a lead form on the following page: /landing-page/
• You have a completed message on the following page: /thanks/

If you setup your Custom Conversion to identify “/thanks/” as the predefined value, then each time your business client reaches that page, Facebook will track that as the completion of a successful event. You can even add a value for each event, for instance, if you know that your business client lead has a value of $12, then when you setup your Custom Conversion and chose the Lead category, in the value box you would add $12. There are ( 2 ) reasons why this is important:

• It helps Facebook to better optimize your ad campaigns
• It helps you to monitor if your ad campaigns are costing more then they should

The best part of Custom Conversions are that you only need to set them up once. Facebook will continue to track each event, regardless, if you have ad campaigns that are active or not.

Custom Audiences

You can also use the PageView data for setting up a Custom Audience from your website. By setting up a Custom Audience, you can use predefined values, similar to a Custom Conversion, that allow you to segment all of your current or potential business client visits by their behavior on your website. So, these Custom Audiences are pretty powerful in their own right, because with this data your going to be able to create a sales funnel using multiple pages. Your then going to be able to target your current or potential business clients that visit a particular page or a set of pages.

Setting Up a Custom Audience, from the Ads Manager menu, click on Audiences:

Your taken to the Asset Library, click on the “Create Audience” button, where you will have multiple options, Custom Audience, Lookalike Audience, and Saved Audience:

Choose Custom Audience, then on the Create a Custom Audience, pop up, choose Website Traffic:

You can then Create a Custom Audience using several criteria:

Let’s say we were continuing with the same lead generation campaign for new business clients example:

• You want to acquire new business client email addresses
• You have a lead form on the following page: /landing-page/
• You have a completed message on the following page: /thanks/

You can create a Custom Audience of your business client behaviors with the following characteristics:

• Business clients who have visited ANY page in the past 30 days
• Business clients who have visited ANY page in the past 180 days but NOT in the past 30 days
• Business clients who have visited “/landing-page/” in the past 30 days
• Business clients who have visited “/landing-page/” and /thanks/ page in the past 30 days
• Business clients who have NOT visited “/thanks/” page

By setting up variations of this Custom Audience, you can run ads that match that behavior, for instance:

• Your current or potential business client visited the “/thanks/” page, but has not returned in 180-days, send a return back to us ad campaign
• Your current or potential business client visited the “/landing-page/” but did not visit the /thanks/ page, send a what happened ad campaign
• In the past 30-days, your current or potential business client visited your website, but did not visit the “/thanks/” page, send a sign-up for a Free e-book ad campaign

Custom Audiences allow a certain level of creativity that you can use, along with data, to target your ads and encourage the outcome that your looking for from your current or potential business client.

The Technical

Where do I get my Facebook Pixel?

The Facebook Pixel is available to anyone with a Facebook account and access to Ads Manager. Your only allowed ( 1 ) pixel per ad account. To get your own pixel, do the following:

• Log into Facebook
• Access the Settings dropdown menu on the main header banner
• Click on Manage Ads

Your going do to be taken to the Ads Manager, where you will be able to see your Facebook Ad Account. At the top of the page, click on the menu icon, and once it expands, do the following:

Click on Pixels

• If you haven’t setup a pixel before, click on the “Setup Pixel Button”
• Your going to see a new window with the following options:
• Use and Integration or Tag Manager – This option is used if you have a tag management application, which centralizes all your JavaScript codes for your website
• Manually Install the Code Yourself – This option allows you to setup the pixel according to your needs
• Email Instructions to a Developer – This options is for someone who has a developer’s assistance
• Click on the “Manually Install the Code Yourself” option
• Go to the box containing the pixel code and click on it
• It is saved to your clipboard and ready to be pasted

• If you have setup a pixel before, you won’t see a “Setup Pixel” button, but you should see some activity data
• On the primary header banner, find and click on the “Setup” button
• Your going to see a new window with the following options:
• Use and Integration or Tag Manager – This option is used if you have a tag management application, which centralizes all your JavaScript codes for your website
• Manually Install the Code Yourself – This option allows you to setup the pixel according to your needs
• Email Instructions to a Developer – This options is for someone who has a developer’s assistance
• Click on the “Manually Install the Code Yourself” option
• Go to the box containing the pixel code and click on it
• It is saved to your clipboard and ready to be pasted

Also, at the top of the main header banner, you will see the name of your Facebook Pixel, just below it you will see your pixel id. Keep track of this pixel id, because your going to have to make sure that the correct id is in your pixel code when you install it.

What does the Facebook Pixel look like?

The Facebook Pixel is a JavaScript code that contains your unique pixel id, so, this should go without saying, if you don’t have the right pixel id in your pixel, than Facebook will not be able to accurately collect data from your current or potential business clients visiting your website.

Here is an example of the base code:

You can verify that you have the correct pixel id in ( 2 ) locations, here:

Standard Events

While a PageView is a perfectly good way to start tracking your current or potential business clients behavior, Facebook offers more ways to segment that traffic and gather more granular data. One of those ways is to utilize one of the following Conversion Types:

• ViewContent: When your current or potential business client views a page
• Search: When your current or potential business client makes a search
• AddToCart: When your current or potential business client adds a product to their shopping cart
• AddToWishlist: When your current or potential business client adds a product to a wishlist
• InitiateCheckout: When your current or potential business client enters the checkout flow prior to completing the checkout flow
• AddPaymentInfo: When your current or potential business client enters payment information in the checkout flow
• Purchase: When your current or potential business client makes a purchase or checkout flow is completed
• Lead: When your current or potential business client completes a sign up
• CompleteRegistration: When your current or potential business client completes a registration form

Here are examples of the code for each Standard Event:

ViewContent

AddToCart

InitiateCheckout

Purchase

Lead

CompleteRegistration

Here is an example of the basic code with a Standard Event for a ViewContent:

Here is an example of the basic code with a Standard Event for a AddToCart:

Here is an example of the basic code with a Standard Event for a InitiateCheckout:

Here is an example of the basic code with a Standard Event for a Purchase:

You can also pass data along with your Conversion Type, these are the standard parameters you can use:

• value: value of your current or potential business client performing this event to the business
• currency: currency for the value specified.
• content_name: Name of the page/product
• content_category: Category of the page/product
• content_ids: Product ids associated with the event. e.g. SKUs of products for AddToCart event: [‘ABC123’, ‘XYZ789’]
• contents: A list of JSON object that contains the product ids associated with the event as well as additional information about the products. id, quantity, and item_price are the available fields. e.g. [{‘id’: ‘ABC123’, ‘quantity’: 2, ‘item_price’: 5.99}, {‘id’: ‘XYZ789’, ‘quantity’: 2, ‘item_price’: 9.99}]
• content_type: Either ‘product’ or ‘product_group’ based on the content_ids or contents being passed. If the ids being passed in content_ids or contents parameter are ids of products then the value should be ‘product’. If product group ids are being passed, then the value should be ‘product_group’.
• num_items: Used with InitiateCheckout event. The number of items that checkout was initiated for.
• search_string: Used with the Search event. The string entered by the your current or potential business client for the search
• status: Used with the CompleteRegistration event, to show the status of the registration.

Facebook will optimize your ad campaigns based on your choice of a Standard Event and one of the Conversion Types. This is important, because these events are specific to a completed process that is important to you as a founder and in your business, therefore, Facebook will continue to seek success in meeting this goal for you.

If the standard parameters don’t meet your needs, you can create custom parameters containing data that Facebook will collect. In most instances, the standard parameters are sufficient for data collection, but you might find as a founder and in your business, you may have more specific tracking needs, such as:

• You may offer varying types of your sales acquisition service for your business client, such as: Entry Level, Premiere Level;
• You could be interested in the status of your business client, such as: Current, New;
• You also may be segmenting your business clients into specific audiences, such as: US, Mobile Only, Desktop and Mobile;
• Further, you could have a sales funnel that is specific to each business client segment, so you want to keep track of entry and exit points, such as: Offer, Consideration, Conversion.

Here is an example of a Standard Event for a Purchase with custom parameters:

Here is an example of the base code with a Standard Event for a Purchase with custom parameters:

Custom Events

A Custom Event is a Conversion Type that is specific to you as a founder and in your business and not listed as a Standard Event. In most cases, Standard Events are sufficient enough to track your current or potential business client‘s behavior on your website, but in those instances where you have a more specific set of conversion data that you feel is important to collect and use, than you would need to use a Custom Event.

Here is an example of a Custom Event:

Here is an example of a Custom Event with custom parameters:

Here is how you would track a Custom Event using with same lead generation campaign for new clients example:

• You want to acquire new business client email addresses
• You have a lead form on the following page: /landing-page/
• You have several lead forms, each for a specific audience
• You have a completed message on the following page: /thanks/

Using a Custom Conversion or Standard Event, you wouldn’t be able to track which lead form is performing better in acquiring a new business client. But, with a Custom Event, you can create your event and have Facebook collect the data.

We’ll start tracking using this event: YourCustomEvent

We’ll know which lead form was published for the business client using this custom parameter: your_lead_form

Here is an example of the base code with the Custom Event:

Here is an example of the base code with the Custom Event and Custom Parameter:

Let me explain why using Standard or Custom Events would be necessary. First, the basic use of the Facebook Pixel that tracks a PageView, along with properly setting up Custom Conversions, is a powerful combination to automate your marketing and will work for you as a founder and in your business. But, there are instances where you need much more data to be collected by Facebook to be able to target your audience. The key point is, with more data you can better identify and create messaging that speaks directly to your current or potential business client.

Where does the pixel go on my page?

The pixel should be installed on each page of your website. In order to automate your marketing, your going to have a website, landing page, checkout cart or a combination of the three. For each of these, there a many different ways that you could have them published on the Internet. I can’t go over every possible scenario, so I chose the most popular options that are in use today for publishing a website, a landing page, or making use of a checkout cart. I will start from the most basic, and then lead into the more specific examples.

HTML

If you have a website that was published using just HTML code, your pages were built individually. On each of these pages, you will need to install the pixel with the <head></head> tags, which is found at the top of the HTML.

Here is an example of where a pixel would go on a HTML page:

Here is an example of a pixel on a HTML page:

WordPress Using a Theme

One of the most common methods for publishing a website is to use a Content Management System ( CMS ), and the most popular is WordPress. It is typically a first choice, because it is open-source, which means there is a huge developer community supporting it, and there are so many software packages that can be added to it for achieving your own specific needs.

Typically, if your using a commercial theme for your WordPress website, the developers offer customization options that make updating very easy. If this is the case, you will, more than likely, have an admin page with option to copy and paste analytics code to the header of your website. The header is automatically duplicated across all of your published pages and using the admin page option will allow you to add your pixel in between the <head></head> tags.

Here is an example of a WordPress admin option:

Here is an example of a WordPress admin option with the pixel:

WordPress Editing header.php

If your theme doesn’t support an admin option to easily add analytics code to the header, you can do it programmatically by editing the header.php file of your WordPress installation. Now, THIS IS A WARNING, if you or anyone you designate to install the pixel, doesn’t have any or limited experience updating WordPress files, than, you should not make any attempts to do so. It is possible for you to entirely disrupt your website, just by copying and pasting the pixel into the header.php file. You need to understand PHP programming language, the method in which the currently active theme was programmed in, and how the JavaScript pixel will effect it.

The alternative is to use a WordPress Plugin, which is a piece of software that is added to your website directly from your WordPress installation. You can find thousands and thousands of plugins, and there are many for this specific task, and make it really easy to install a pixel. Just go to Plugins, click on the Add New button, then type in Facebook Pixel in the search box, and then choose an option that best fits your needs.

Leadpages

When you need the flexibility of putting together feature-rich, dedicated landing pages, the Leadpages software is a great option for satisfying your inbound traffic objectives. There a few simple steps to setup the Facebook Pixel on your published landing pages that are managed by Leadpages.

As soon as you open a Standard Leadpage, in the side menu, click on “Lead Page Options”.

In the Lead Page Options box, choose the “Tracking Code” option.

Next, paste the Facebook Pixel code into the Head-Tag Tracking Code text box and click the “Done” button.

SamCart

Checkout pages are a popular way to be able to process payments from your business clients for the purchase of your sales acquisition service, without having to do any major development yourself. SamCart is a very powerful and proven software for completing these types of transactions, plus you can create multiple pages with ease.

Adding a Facebook Pixel to all of your SamCart checkout pages is simple, just follow these steps:

From the menu bar, click on the dropdown icon next to your email address.

Once the menu expands, you have several options, click on “Settings”

Scroll down the page until you find the “Embed HTML/Scripts” text box. Here, SamCart allows you the ability to add code to the footer of all of your checkout pages with ease. This is an easy way to add a general JavaScript, without having to edit each checkout page you have created. Just paste your Facebook Pixel in the box and click on the “Save Changes” button.

Add your pixel code in the text box:

Be sure to save your changes:

In case your using Custom Events with your Facebook Pixel, you would then need to add each specific version of the pixel manually to each respective checkout page. For instance, if the Custom Event is tracking a specific sales acquisition service, the pixel with the specific event variable would need to be added to the corresponding checkout page.

It’s rather easy, since each checkout page has it’s own admin options, you would just follow these steps:

From the menu bar, click on “Products” to go to the Products page.

On the Products page, if you have already have a product that has been created, click on the edit icon:

Once your in the Product options page, scroll down to the Advanced options section. Here, SamCart allows you the ability to add code to the footer of this individual checkout page with ease. This is an easy way to add a specific JavaScript to a specific checkout page. Just paste your Facebook Pixel in the box and click on the “Save Changes” button.

Here is the text box:

Here is the text box with the pixel:

Shopify

The commercial backbone of the Internet is e-commerce, and Shopify is a platform that makes it easy to manage an online store, facilitate the selling process, and manage orders. Shopify offers very straightforward admin options to be able to add your Facebook Pixel to every page of your store.

As soon as you login to your Shopify store, click on Preferences on your side menu:

Next, scroll down to Facebook Pixel, and in the text box, enter in your Facebook Pixel ID. Earlier, we wen’t over where you can get your id from the Facebook Events Manager page.

Finally, click on the “Save” button located on the top menu bar.

Where do I see the Facebook Pixel data?

Your Facebook Pixel data is different from your ad campaign statistics. The objective of the pixel is track, collect, and then pass the data to Facebook for storage and later for use. The reports are available to show you that data is being collected and to review the data to make sure that it is corresponding to each of your desired actions.

To access Facebook Pixel data, from your Ad Account, go to:

Click on Pixels

To access Facebook Pixel data, from your Business Manager, go to:

Click on Pixels

Once your at the Events Manager page, if your pixel is installed correctly and there are business clients visiting your website, you should begin seeing data represented in the standard report.

Number of Events Received value:

Top Events that are collected:

Click on the “Details” button located at the top right corner of the page to see more detailed information. Your going to see more granular data that represents each Event that was collected over the course of a period of time which you can adjust.:

To view the actual data that the pixel is collecting with each Event, click on Activity tab. This is considered more of an advanced tool, if your passing data using Standard or Custom Events, here is where you will see that data and the URL string that delivered it:

To see related assets and configurations for your pixel, you click on Settings tab. This is where your going to see the Custom Audiences and Custom Conversions that you have created.

Also, if you were to going to provide access to your pixel to someone that was going to manage the implementation, this is where you give that access:

Your objective is to install the Facebook Pixel on your website and get the following “Pixel Installation Complete” indicator on the Data Sources tab of your Events Manager or when you start seeing activity in the reporting:

If you were to experience any issues with the installation or collection of data using your Facebook Pixel, you would see these problems detailed by going to the Diagnostics tab of your Events Manager:

Verify It’s There

So, your probably wondering how you can verify that your Facebook Pixel is properly installed. If you use the Google Chrome browser, you can install the Facebook Pixel Helper extension.

First, go to the Google Chrome Webstore to find the Facebook Pixel Helper extension:

Next find the Facebook Pixel Helper using the search tool:

The search will return several extensions, including the Facebook Pixel Helper, click on the extension detail box to see further information:

Read through the Facebook Pixel Helper extension information and when your ready, click on the “Add to Chrome” button to have it installed into your Google Chrome browser:

After it is installed, visit one of your website pages where the Facebook Pixel is installed and click on the Facebook Pixel Helper icon located on the browser’s top bar:

You should see the output of the information that the Facebook Pixel is sending, for a simple installation, it would contain your Facebook Pixel ID and PageView information:

For an advanced pixel installation, you will see your Facebook Pixel ID and either your Standard Events or Custom Events that you are tracking:

Setting up the Facebook Pixel on your website isn’t something you want to get wrong, because it causes so many other issues down the line when you begin setting up and optimizing your ad campaigns. It’s not difficult, you just need to understand what your long-term objectives are and what features of the Facebook Pixel you need to achieve them. This is a key step to automate your marketing to get clients, and teach you how to build your business by applying automation techniques, so you can start saving more of your time and money.

OK, so I tried to put together an Super Simple Facebook Pixel Guide that gives you as many answers to your questions and practical examples that teach how to implement your pixel correctly.  Now, if I got something wrong or maybe you think I should emphasize more on a specific element of the pixel, just shoot me an email with your thoughts.  Email me at [email protected].

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