What is the Facebook conversions API, and how's it different
from the Facebook pixel?
That's what we're going to be covering in today's video.
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Without any further ado, let's jump into it.
So let's talk about what the Facebook conversions API is.
Essentially what it is, is a tool that allows you as an advertiser to collect
data about the people who visit your website and send it back to Facebook
to improve the results from your ads.
And it's done using server-side technology.
It's different from the Facebook pixel in that the data that's
collected is collected by your server.
So it's from your website, whether it's hosted on Shopify
or WooCommerce or MaroPost or whatever it happens to be, Magento.
That data is then sent back via the API to Facebook.
Now the Facebook pixel is different in that it's client side technology.
So it's a piece of JavaScript that is loaded in the web browser of
anyone who's visiting your website.
As the visitor moves around on your website, the data gets collected in
a very similar way to the conversions API, sends the data back to Facebook.
So that's the first key difference.
The conversions API is server-side tracking the Facebook pixel is
browser or client side tracking.
Some people have said that the cure for everything that was introduced
with iOS 14 and - I've got more about IOS14 and the changes that were made
then in another video, and there'll be a link to that in description below.
Some people think that the conversions API is a complete cure for all the things
that ail us, when it comes to IOS 14, however, that's not necessarily the case.
What IOS 14 introduced was the ability for users to opt out of being
tracked and having that tracking information sent back to Facebook.
So if they open up Facebook, when IOS 14 was introduced a little prompt
would show up : "do you want to provide tracking information to advertisers?"
something along those lines, and you could say yes or no.
Most people have said, no, I don't want to do that, and they've opted out.
That means that there's a lot of information that used to be collected
via the Facebook pixel that is no longer collected because people
have opted out of that data sharing.
Now, when it comes to the Facebook conversions API because that is
server-side tracking, then, some of the information that may not be
able to be collected otherwise can be collected and sent back and help improve
the results from your advertising.
However, it doesn't circumvent the privacy changes and rules that have been
put in in place as a result of iOS 14.
If somebody actually has opted out of data collection, then that doesn't mean
that you can go ahead and go against those wishes, but there are some things
that you can do with the conversions API that you can't do with the pixel, and I'm
going to get more into those in a sec.
What can you do with the conversions API that you can't do with the
Facebook pixel and really vice versa?
Because there's some things you can do with the Facebook pixel that you
can't do with the conversions API, which is why you really need to use the
two together to get the best results.
The key thing with the conversions API is that it doesn't rely on cookies
or JavaScript or anything like that.
It's purely a server-side technology that allows you to collect data
from your server and send it straight through to Facebook.
That makes it very accurate because it's not subject to ad blockers or
people turning off JavaScript in their browser or anything like that.
On the flip side, it doesn't identify the specific Facebook
user that is visiting your website, adding things to their shopping
cart, checking out and purchasing.
So it won't allow you to identify users that way.
You've also got to make sure that your domain is verified within the
Facebook business manager, otherwise you can't use the conversions API.
I've got another video, which I'll link to in the description below, which talks
more about all these common mistakes that people often make, and one of those
includes how you go about verifying your domain in the business manager.
Now when it comes to the Facebook pixel, some of the advantages are that it
does allow you to identify the specific Facebook user that is visiting your
website, assuming that they haven't opted out of that data tracking.
So that then gives you access to the plethora of demographic information about
that user, and to be able to accumulate that with all the other users that are
visiting your website, and for Facebook to get really smart about who it's
going to target and show your ads to.
On the flip side, some of the cons with the Facebook pixel are that it is
subject to ad blockers, people turning off JavaScript, and people opting
out through IOS 14, which severely limits the amount of data that you
can collect about visitors to your website and send back to Facebook.
Hopefully by now I've convinced you that using the Facebook conversions
API is a good thing, and that if you are already using the Facebook
pixel you should definitely use both together to get better data collection,
get better results from your ads.
So next, I'm going to jump on the computer and we're going to go
through how you set up the conversions API on a few different platforms.
So let's go.
The first platform I want to show you is Shopify, which is one of the most popular.
So to configure the conversions API for Shopify, we need to
go into the control panel.
Then you go to Facebook, underneath sales channels.
If you haven't already got started, you're going to need to connect the
account and choose the business manager.
Do the domain verification select the ad account, select the Facebook page.
Then we can get into the data sharing side of things.
So let's go ahead and do that.
Once you've got everything connected, then the data sharing is where
we need to look to make sure we're using the conversions API.
So by default, I think it's on the enhanced.
If you select maximum, then as you can see here, that will enable the
conversions API as well as the pixel.
So that's how we do Shopify.
Now let's have a look at Woocommerce, which is the
e-commerce backend for WordPress.
So once again, log into your dashboard and you'll need to
install an app called PixelYourSite.
Now I've already installed this app, so I'm not going to show you how to do that.
It's pretty straight forward.
Once you've got the app installed, then you need to go into the settings.
Turn on to enable the conversions API and enable the advanced matching.
You've got to put your Facebook ID in here, and then you also need to put
in the conversion API, which you need to get from your Facebook backend.
Now, there is a link here to learn how to generate the token, how to test the
conversions API, and see how that's done.
It's pretty straight forward.
Once that's all done, you save that.
Your WooCommerce store is then going to be sending data via the Facebook
pixel and also via the conversions API.
So what happens if you're not on a common platform and you're wanting
to install the conversions API?
Well there are some third party solutions.
One of those which we've used with a few clients is Hyros.
It's definitely not a low-end solution.
It also includes not just the conversions API, but a lot of other
tracking enhancements that some high volume businesses might find useful.
Something that is a bit more of an interim solution is a product called
AnyTrack, and this is what the dashboard looks like for one of our clients.
To configure the conversions API you just go into tracking pixels and you
need to choose the Facebook pixel.
Make sure that you've got the Facebook conversion API turned on, and then
that will start sending events via the conversions API as well.
If none of those previous solutions apply to you, then there is a
relatively new option, which is called the conversions API gateway.
And you can find out more about that on the Facebook page.
I'm not going to go into it in this video, but essentially it's a non
code option where you set up a virtual machine with Amazon and you connect
that to your Facebook account and your web store, and it starts transmitting
data via the conversions API that way.
There is a couple of videos around which go into a lot more detail about how
to set up the conversions API gateway.
It's a fairly lengthy process, but something you may want to look at as well.
So we've covered what the conversions API is how it's different from the Facebook
pixel, the pros and cons of each one, how you can install the conversions
API on a few different platforms.
Hopefully you found this content useful.
If you did, please go ahead and click the like button, click subscribe.
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And if you do need help with your Facebook advertising, then my
agency is a specialist, Facebook and Instagram advertising agency.
We help people create optimize, set up and do better with their
Facebook and Instagram ads.
If you want to have a chat to somebody about that and your budget is at least
a hundred dollars per day, then there will be a link in the description below.
You can go ahead and book a time in a calendar, have a chat with
either myself or one of my team.
We can talk to you about what you're doing in your business, how things work with
us, all the pricing, all that good stuff.
Maybe we'll end up working together someday.
Thanks again for watching.
And I'll see you in the next video.