Don’t start Facebook Advertising without first installing the Facebook pixel.

 

Why?

 

For those marketing and selling products and services online, Facebook has become a powerful tool, and for many businesses it’s a virtual necessity.

It’s hard to underestimate the importance of building a strong digital presence, and putting in the time to learn how Facebook ads work is one of the best ways to do this.

But it’s not an easy thing to pull off. The structure of Facebook ads can seem labyrinthine at times, and it’s easy to get lost and in what seems like an endless forest of rules, procedures, stats and restrictions.

When it comes to reaching the right people at exactly the right times, though, there’s a hidden, powerful aspect to Facebook ads that many people miss: Facebook Pixels.

To get you started on the road to success with Facebook Pixels, here’s an overview and some pointers that will help shorten the road considerably.

 

The Basics

Anyone who has ever designed and implemented a Facebook ad knows the basics of how they’re put together—creating an audience, designing the graphics, writing great ad copy and experimenting with different formats like boosted posts to improve results. (Hint: this last is a bad idea.)

But a Facebook Pixel can improve those results quickly and dramatically. By inserting a small piece of code on your website, the Facebook Pixel allows you to track and analyse the online behavior of everyone who visits your website, especially when it comes to social media activity.

This, in turn, allows you to improve the performance of your ads. The code is free, and it can easily be installed by your webmaster. The Facebook Pixel automatically begins tracking and feeding data, even before you’ve run a single ad.

 

How the Facebook Pixel Improves Results

The Facebook Pixel allows you to implement several optimisations that will increase the return on investment (ROI) of your ad.

The best way to explain how that works is to run through how few of these optimisations work, and provide examples along the way.

Event Tracking. The Facebook Pixel lets you create events on your website that the pixel can track. Specifically, these events include purchases, payment information, additions to your cart, registrations and subscriptions, etc.

This data can then be used to improve and fine tune your ads. There are a total of 17 events that can be tracked, and they can be used to create ads, change and alter the targeting, and run future ads and promotions.

 

For example, if you wanted to use “ad payment info” as an event, you could create a custom audience of those who triggered it, then create an ad for them that would ultimately get them to buy.

 

Create Custom Audiences. The above example is just one of many ways the Facebook Pixel can be used.

But the best way to expedite the use of custom audiences is via frequent, ongoing use of the pixel; the more data you gather, the more audiences you can build, which in turn leads to more sales.

 

Conversion Optimisation. This option takes custom audiences to the next level by tracking data from people who made purchases on your site, then showing ads to similar potential customers who are also likely to buy.

 

Retargeting. This is a specific option that shows relevant ads to those who have been on your site. It hones in on these people, which translates to much higher CTR and conversion rates, so its an essential part of any kind of digital marketing program.

 

Create Lookalike Audiences. This option helps you expand your target audience by taking your existing custom audiences and finding people with similar interests, likes and dislikes, and demographics.

 

For example, creating a lookalike audience based on existing purchasers would be a very powerful way to ramp up your ad campaign. But there are many others, and using as many as possible is a great way to put extra money in your pocket.

Optimise Your Ad Spend. Using the Facebook Pixel to show your ad to the most relevant potential customers,it will optimise the amount you’re spending and make your ads far more productive.

 

In Review…

If you’re open to the benefits of the Facebook Pixel, it’s important to start using it as quickly as possible. The data it provides starts to accumulate immediately, so every day you go without using it means you’re missing potential buyers.

Wherever you’re at in your Facebook ad journey, you owe it to yourself to make the Facebook Pixel a part of what you’re doing. It won’t take long for the benefits to start adding up, and so will the positive numbers in the bottom line of your bank account!