What Is a Facebook Pixel—And Why Do I Care?2 min read

What Is a Facebook Pixel—And Why Do I Care?2 min read

Reading Time: 2 minutes

If you are advertising on Facebook (or planning to), you need a Facebook pixel. Yes, need.

The pixel is simply a few lines of code that you install in the header of your website. It’s the same concept as the code you install for Google Analytics to allow data collection on your website traffic. The Facebook pixel will track visits to your website and allow you to use Facebook to specifically retarget people who have visited your website.

Let’s look at 3 important benefits you get from installing the Facebook pixel on your website.

1. Gain Valuable Insights

You can see demographic information, traffic sources, and device information once you install the Facebook pixel. The pixel provides data that’s similar to Google Analytics but specific to visitors from Facebook.

2. Retarget Ads to Website Visitors

This is likely the most powerful feature of the Facebook pixel. You can create an audience containing people who have visited your website and then create highly specific ads to progress that audience to the next step in your funnel.

Here are a few examples of how you might use this feature:

• Visitors to an educational page on your website: Target these users with a Facebook ad that includes a link to a free e-book download on a similar topic.
• Potential customers who abandon their cart: Target them with a product-specific Facebook ad that encourages them to return and complete their order.
• Visitors to a high-level page on your website: Target these visitors with an ad that provides them generic information that shows a high conversion for people in early buying stages.

There are 17 different event triggers you can use to build your custom audience. They range from purchases and buying intent to lead behavior and more.

These tactics allow you to use Facebook ads almost like a drip email program, just on social media. You can set these audience triggers to include visitors to the website within a specific time period. This allows you to narrowly target depending on your current campaign efforts.

You can even leverage these ads for post-sale nurturing based on purchase behaviors.

3. Create Lookalike Audiences

You can also create lookalike audiences from the custom audience of current website visitors. This is far more accurate than trying to create audiences from demographic information. It can also help you expand your customer base.

Also, because you know you’re reaching a qualified audience based on their previous behavior, budget optimization is easier, too.

The pixel will unlock access to detailed information in your ads dashboard (eg, cost per lead, cost per conversion). You should also map these inquiries to your CRM. This will allow you to track your ROI as prospects progress through the sales pipeline.

Ready to install your pixel? Facebook has a great guide here.

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