Using the Facebook Pixel and the Conversions API

The combination of Conversions API with other Facebook Business Tools allows learning more about how customers connect with the company. To help maximize the effectiveness of the website events, use the Conversions API in addition to the Facebook Pixel.

Website events sent through the Conversions API are related to Facebook Pixel and behave in the same manner that events delivered through the Pixel do:

• They’re both used for the same forms of ad optimization, such as conversion and value optimization.
• They can be found in a lot of the same places, such as Ads Manager and Events Manager.
• They abide by our Off-Facebook activity tool, third-party data ad personalization control, and other Facebook Business Tools Terms limits.

Benefits of the Conversions API

The Conversions API creates a connection between an advertiser’s marketing data and the Meta systems! Here are the main benifits of this:

• Reduce the cost per action as a result of improved connectivity: Browser loading difficulties, network challenges, and ad blockers have less of an impact on data from the Conversions API than on the Pixel. When using Conversions API in conjunction with Pixel, it establishes a more secure connection, which aids the delivery system in lowering the cost per action.
• Optimize ads for actions that happen later in the customer’s journey: Actions that occur after a purchase (such as subscriptions), actions that occur in stores, and even customer scores are examples of these occurrences. This data allows Facebook to target adverts to customers who are more likely to be profitable and valuable to the company.
• Improve measurement: From discovery through conversion, the Conversions API can help better measure ad performance and attribution across a customer’s whole journey. This allows us to better comprehend how digital advertising influences both online and offline outcomes.
• Reduce the cost per action as a result of increased event matching: When the marketing data can be linked to accounts on Facebook apps and services, it’s most successful. The Conversions API can be used to incorporate additional customer information factors that will help enhance the number of matched events and the quality of your event match.
• Increase data control: The Conversions API, when used apart from the pixel, allows more flexibility over what is shared and when it’s shared.

Adblock explained

Apple’s iOS 14.5 update forces developers to give users an option to opt out of every tracking in their applications. This is something that affects every single business that relies on Facebook Ads to reach their audience, as now target audiences with iOS devices are going to be harder and more expensive to reach if users don’t opt-in to Facebook Tracking. This affects the most-used technique to track conversions; the Facebook Pixel. Ad-blockers will also block the Facebook Pixel, regardless of cookie settings. Conversion API is the solution to this problem.

Setting up the Pixel

• Go to events manager, logging in to your Facebook account.

• Select a business account (create your business portfolio if you haven’t already).

• Click “Connect data sources” in the left sidebar

  

• Choose “Web”

  

• Name your dataset where all relevant data will be stored

  

• Enter store’s URL (e.g. demostore.jumpseller.com)

  

• Choose to “Connect manually” > “Meta Pixel only” and copy the dataset ID

  

• Close the window asking to manually install the code or use a partner integration (Jumpseller already has the code installed)

• Paste the ID you’ve copied in the previous step into the Facebook Pixel field inside Jumpseller’s General Settings

  

Setting up Conversions API

• Install Facebook Commerce

• Login to FB Commerce; during the login, choose one of your existing Pixels or create another one (inside the “Meta pixel” option)

  

• If you created a new pixel or chose one with an unfinished configuration, go to events manager select one of the pixels and click “Set up Conversions API”.

  

• Select “Set up manually”.

  

• Choose the events we support via the API & Pixel. Selecting the category “Ecommerce and retail” will show the most relevant events. They may already be selected, as Meta registers events on your website.

  

• Here you can click “Continue” to finish the configuration with the default event parameters.

  

• When reaching “See instructions”, click “Finish”, as Jumpseller already has all the necessary code installed.

Jumpseller Events

All events sent via Conversions API (Server) are also available on the Pixel (Browser), however, they’re only sent via the API if it is available.

Events Parameters

PageView

Default Pixel Behviour. No extra parameters (data) sent.

Search

{
  source: 'website',
  content_ids: data.content_ids,
  contents: data.contents,
  content_type: 'product',
  search_string: searchString
}

ViewContent (Product)

{
  source: 'website',
  value: data.single_value,
  currency: 'store.currency',
  content_name: document.title,
  content_type: 'product',
  content_ids: '[productA.id, productB.id]',
  contents: '[{id: productA.id, quantity: 1, item_price: productA.price},{id: productB.id, ...}]'
}

ViewContent (Category)

{
  source: 'website',
  value: 0,
  currency: 'store.currency',
  content_name: document.title
}

Contact

{
  source: 'website',
  value: 'order.total',
  currency: 'store.currency',
  content_name: document.title
}

AddToCart

Our pixel via browser only sends events when a page loads. Since a product can be added to the cart multiple times (via Javascript) without reloading the page, depending on the theme, it is not suitable to send this event through the browser, as we wouldn’t be able to send multiple events on the next page.

{
  source: 'website',
  event_id: 'add_product_to_cart_order_' + product.id
  event_name: 'AddToCart'
  user_data: {
    client_user_agent: user_agent,
    client_ip_address: ip
    info: {
      em: customer.email
      ph: customer.phone
      fn: customer_shipping_address.name
      ln: customer_shipping_address.surname
      country: customer_shipping_address.country
      ct: customer_shipping_address.city
      zp: customer_shipping_address.postal
    }
  }
  custom_data: {
    content_type: 'product',
    contents: [{ id: cart_productA.id, quantity: cart_productA.qty, item_price: cart_productA.price }],
    content_ids: [productA.id],
    content_name: productA.name,
    currency: order.currency,
    value: 'productA.price'
  }
}

ViewCart

{
  source: 'website',
  value: 'order.total',
  currency: 'store.currency',
  content_name: document.title,
  content_type: 'product',
  content_ids: '[productA.id, productB.id]',
  contents: '[{id: productA.id, quantity: product.qty, item_price: productA.price},{id: productB.id, ...}]'
}

InitiateCheckout

{
  source: 'website',
  value: 'order.total',
  currency: 'store.currency',
  content_name: document.title,
  content_type: 'product',
  content_ids: '[productA.id, productB.id]',
  contents: '[{id: productA.id, quantity: product.qty, item_price: productA.price},{id: productB.id, ...}]',
  num_items: 'order.products_count'
}

AddPaymentInfo

{
  source: 'website',
  value: 'order.total',
  currency: 'store.currency',
  content_ids: '[productA.id, productB.id]',
  contents: '[{id: productA.id, quantity: product.qty, item_price: productA.price},{id: productB.id, ...}]'
}

Purchase

{
  source: 'website',
  value: 'order.total',
  currency: 'store.currency',
  content_name: document.title,
  content_type: 'product',
  content_ids: '[productA.id, productB.id]'
  contents: '[{id: productA.id, quantity: product.qty, item_price: productA.price},{id: productB.id, ...}]',
  num_items: 'order.products_count'
}
and a second parameter:        
{
  eventID: 'store.code'_'order.showid'
}

CompleteRegistration

{
  source: 'website',
  value: 'order.total',
  currency: 'store.currency',
  content_name: document.title,
  status: 'registered'
}

Lead

{
  source: 'website',
  value: 'order.total',
  currency: 'store.currency',
  content_name: document.title
}

For more information about events, please review Facebook’s support documentation:

• Best Practices - Conversions API

• Server Event Parameters

• Meta Pixel Helper - to debug all events on your Chrome Browser

FAQs

• Not receiving server events.

  If you are only receiving browser events instead of server events, make sure that you are “logged in” to the Facebook Commerce sales channel.

• Browser events being sent alongside server events with anomalous data.

  In this case, you should disable codeless event tracking (see image below). We already handle all events with our own code, Facebook should not track button clicks and page loads on top of it (we only send events via either browser or server, never both at the same time).

  

• Will I get deduplication by having both methods for the same event

  By having events registered both through the pixel and conversions API you can register potential events that the pixel may lose due to network issues or page loading errors.

  Adding the parameter “Event ID” when configuring the conversion API events can help Facebook de-deduplicate the same event from both methods, but as we send the events via either browser or server, never both at the same time, that shouldn’t occur.

  Learn more about it here

If you still have questions, please contact us and we will get back to you as soon as possible.