Pixel-based Retargeting

What is the Facebook Pixel

The Facebook Pixel is a piece of code that you place on your website, allowing you to monitor conversions from Facebook ads, optimise ads, build targeted audiences for future adverts and retarget people who have previously interacted with your website. The Facebook Pixel works by dropping a cookie that will track visitors on your website so you can reach out to them later, also known as retargeting.

Once you advertise to people that have been on your website, you can also use the Facebook Pixel to track their behaviour when they’re back on your website. This, in turn, helps you find out what advertisements are most effective, whilst allow you to target audiences with increased relevance.

Pixel-based retargeting is the most common form of audience collection. It works with the help of a JavaScript code (a pixel) that you place on your website or post-click landing page. After you attach the pixel, every time a visitor arrives at your website or post-click landing page, the pixel drops an anonymous browser cookie in the visitor’s browser.

And when the visitor leaves your page and continues to browse other websites the pixel lets your provider like Google AdWords or Facebook know that these visitors need to start seeing your ads.

The pixel-based retargeting guarantees that your ads get seen by people who’ve either looked through your website or clicked through to your post-click landing page. Another advantage with pixel-based retargeting is that it starts instantaneously, visitors can immediately begin seeing ads that can convince them to back to your offer.

Why you should use a Facebook Pixel

The Facebook Pixel has the power to provide you with vital information that you can use to create better Facebook ads, as well as offering you the opportunity to target your audiences more relevantly and accurately. By allowing the pixel to track the actions that are taken on your website after entering through a Facebook ad, your ads can be built to reach consumers who are more likely to make a conversion.

Not using Facebook ads yet? Even that’s not an excuse to not use a pixel! Just install the Facebook Pixel on your website and start collecting data as soon as possible so you can be ready to go when creating and launching your Facebook ads.

The same can be done for Instagram ads, just place the pixel on your website before launching your ad on Instagram.

How does it work

Imagine someone clicks on your link ad, ends up on your website and buys one of your products. This will lead the Facebook Pixel to trigger and report the action that has just taken place. Thanks to the Facebook Pixel you’ll know when a customer took an action after seeing your Facebook advertisement. This way, you’ll also be able to reach this particular customer again by using a Custom Audience.

It goes without saying that once more and more conversions happen on your website, Facebook will automatically get better at delivering your adverts to people who are more likely to take action. This is known as conversion optimisation, something that we are quite good at using smart algorithms.

Of course, the Facebook Pixel isn’t just there to help you target customers who have already completed a purchase from you before. It can also help you target shoppers that have shown an initial interest in one of your product by clicking on the ad and viewing it. Some may have even gone as far as adding the product to the cart, before deciding to abandon it and cancelling the purchase.

Since the pixel is monitoring every action taken on your website, you’ll be able to easily discover which products have attracted interest from shoppers. By collecting the information of all interested page visitors from your Facebook ad, you’ll be able to start efficiently retargeting them.

Cross-device conversions

Luckily, the Facebook Pixel also measures cross-device conversions. Imagine your customer sees an ad for a product on the mobile phone while in line at a bank. Will your customer immediately make a purchase on the phone? Most probably not. But maybe your customer goes back to the office later that day and buys the products on the computer. Such cross-device conversions are becoming increasingly common as people move between their phones, tablets and desktop computers to interact with businesses. Thanks to the Facebook Pixel, you can keep track of the audience even when they are using different devices such as desktop computers and mobile phones. For example, you can track an audience that clicked on an ad on their iPhone but then later converted on desktop – and the other way round.