How do I transition from a conversion-tracking pixel to a Facebook pixel?

30/11/2019

The conversion-tracking pixel won't be available for ad creation as of 15 February 2017. Learn how to start using the Facebook pixel. If you're looking to upgrade from a Custom Audience pixel, go here instead to find out how.

If you've been running ads with Facebook for some time, you may have been using a conversion-tracking pixel. You'll no longer be able to create ads using the conversion-tracking pixel as of 15 February 2017. Learn more about the deprecation.

There are three major components to migrating from the conversion-tracking pixel to the new Facebook pixel:

Updating the code

Your website code will need to be updated with the new Facebook pixel code.

The Facebook pixel code

If you've already created a Facebook pixel, skip to section 2. If not, take the following steps to create your Facebook pixel.

Take a look at our Facebook pixel setup guide for more information.

Section 1: Create your Facebook pixel

To create your Facebook pixel:

Go to your Facebook Pixel tab in Ads Manager.
Click Create a Pixel.
Enter a name for your pixel. You can have only one pixel per ad account, so choose a name that represents your business.
Note: You can change the name of the pixel later from the Facebook pixel tab
Tick the box to accept the terms.
Click Create Pixel.
Note: You can only create one Facebook pixel per ad account. If you already have one, you won't see the Create Pixel button.

Section 2: Implementing the Facebook pixel code

The Facebook pixel code is made up of two main elements:

Pixel base code
Event code

The pixel base code tracks activity on your website, providing a baseline for measuring specific events. The base code should be installed on every page of your website.

Events are actions that happen on your website, either as a result of Facebook ads (paid) or organic reach (unpaid). The event code lets you track those actions and leverage them in advertising.

There are two types of events you can send. Standard events are nine predefined events that Facebook is able to track and optimise your ads for with no additional actions. Custom events are actions that are important to your business, but that you can't use for tracking and optimisation without additional action. Learn how to use custom events.

Below is a mapping of the types of conversion-tracking pixel to their corresponding standard events for the Facebook pixel. Put the appropriate standard event code wherever you previously had a conversion-tracking pixel.

Conversion-tracking pixel type	Standard event code
Checkouts	Purchase
Registrations	Complete registration
Leads	Lead
Key page views	View content
Adds to basket	Add to basket
Other website conversions	Custom event

Learn more about implementing the Facebook pixel code.

Note: Previously, you had a unique conversion pixel ID per action (e.g. a purchase). Now, you'll only need one ID per account/property. You can differentiate between actions with different event codes.

Section 3: Setup checklist

After you've mapped your events, consider these questions to ensure a smooth transition:

Is your Facebook pixel active and sending traffic consistently? Check your Facebook pixel dashboard to see its status and the volume of traffic over the last few days.
Is the overall volume of traffic from your conversion-tracking pixels about the same as that of your Facebook pixel for the same time period? You can check the traffic per conversion-tracking pixel on your conversion-tracking pixel page and your Facebook pixel traffic on your Facebook pixel dashboard. Both tables will provide activity for the last 7 days.
Is the volume of conversions for each of your types of conversion-tracking pixels the same as the volume of conversions for each corresponding standard event? Compare the traffic from your conversion-tracking pixel page to the traffic from the Events tab of your Facebook pixel dashboard. Both tables will provide activity for the last 7 days.

Transitioning your ads

Important: We strongly recommend that, before proceeding, you tick off each question in Section 3: Setup checklist. If how your pixel is implemented on your website is incorrect, then it will impact our ability to track and optimise your ads.

Now that you have both the conversion-tracking pixel and Facebook pixel code in place, migrate your ads. Here are some best practices for tracking and optimisation.

Tracking

The Facebook pixel tracks conversions that can be attributed to ads on Facebook, Instagram and Audience Network. With the Facebook pixel, there are two kinds of conversions:

Standard events. Nine events that we're able to track and optimise your ads for with no additional actions.
Custom events. Actions that are important to your business, but that you can't use for tracking and optimisation without additional action. Learn how to use custom events.

Transitioning existing ads to track with a Facebook pixel only

To transition your existing ad sets to tracking with a Facebook pixel only:

Go to your Ads Manager and find your ad.
Hover over and select Edit Ad... from the drop-down.
In the "Pixel tracking" section of the editing window, select Track all conversions from my Facebook pixel.
Click Save and Close.

Optimisation

If you have existing ad sets optimising through a tracking pixel that are more than a week from ending, we recommend switching them to the Facebook pixel. Existing ad sets optimising through a conversion-tracking pixel ending in a week or less can end as is. All future ad sets that require a pixel should use the Facebook pixel.

Modifying existing ad sets' optimisation

To modify your existing ad sets' optimisation:

Go to your Ads Manager and find your ad set.
Hover over and select Edit Ad Set... from the drop-down.
In the "Optimise for a conversion" section in the editing window, click the in the "Conversion event" field and choose a new Facebook pixel conversion from the drop-down.
Click Save and Close.

Bear the following details and pieces of advice in mind as you transition:

You'll need to be getting about 15 of the conversions that you want to optimise for per day for least 2 days before the Facebook pixel will have enough data to perform at the same level as the conversion-tracking pixel. Once it's achieved this, you can use the Facebook pixel to optimise new ad sets.
As a general rule, more data and time will only help the Facebook pixel to perform better. Because of this, we recommend being able to gather more conversions for longer periods than those listed above before transitioning fully to the Facebook pixel.
We recommend shifting only a small portion of your campaign budget into a new ad set optimising through the Facebook pixel at first. These ad sets can gather the necessary data for successful full-scale Facebook pixel optimisation. Then, as you build up data and feel more comfortable and confident, modify the rest of your existing ad sets.
If you choose to do this, ensure that there isn't any overlap in your target audiences. Overlap could affect the performance of all ad sets involved.
Learn more about overlapping audiences.

Removing your conversion pixel code

Once you've implemented the Facebook pixel code and transitioned your ads and ad sets to the Facebook pixel, we recommend removing the conversion pixel code from your website. Before doing so, however, make sure that your conversion-tracking pixel isn't being used for optimisation or tracking for any active campaigns.

Note: Historical reporting data will still be accessible after you delete your conversion-tracking pixel, but you'll no longer receive any data from it.

Frequently asked questions

Below, you'll find answers to some of the questions that commonly come up while transitioning from a conversion-tracking pixel to a Facebook pixel.

Why doesn't data between my Facebook pixel and conversion pixel match in ads reporting?

Make sure that you complete the setup checklist in Section 3 above to ensure that the Facebook pixel is covering every area you've been using conversion pixels for. An incorrectly implemented pixel can result in unexpected tracking behaviour.

How will the performance of my campaigns using conversion optimisation change if I switch over?

Performance may vary for up to a week per new event. If you've set up your event code in the same way as your conversion-tracking pixels, you should achieve the same performance after a few days.

Should I transition all of my campaigns to the Facebook pixel at once? How do I minimise the impact of migration?

If you've mapped the Facebook pixel to all of your conversion-tracking pixel events, you should transition over only a portion of your ad sets at first. These ad sets can gather the necessary data for successful full-scale Facebook pixel optimisation. Having some historical data helps us to optimise your ad sets.

Am I going to lose my data in ads reporting?

For reporting purposes, your conversion pixel data will still be viewable in your reports. Bear in mind that the columns for Facebook pixel data are different to those of your conversion-tracking pixel.

Am I going to lose my Lookalike Audience data?

If you use Lookalike Audiences sourced from your conversion-tracking pixels, you'll still be able to use them. However, they'll become outdated as they won't be collecting new information. We recommend creating new Lookalike Audiences from the Facebook pixel.

How do I create Lookalike Audiences with the Facebook pixel?

Previously, you could create Lookalike Audiences directly from your conversion-pixel traffic. To create one with the Facebook pixel, create a Custom Audience based on its data from events or URL rules. Then, create a Lookalike Audience sourced from the Custom Audience.

I have multiple conversion pixels. How do I report on two different purchase funnels separately?

There isn't a way to differentiate between the standard Purchase event from different domains or purchase funnels on the same pixel. There are two ways to deal with this:

Create your own custom events (e.g. "PurchaseA" and "PurchaseB"), then create custom conversions from these separately. That way, PurchaseA will be guaranteed to come from one source and PurchaseB from another.
Add parameters to your Purchase event, then create custom conversions for each. Bear in mind that custom conversions can't be shared between ad accounts.

How do I share my Facebook pixel?

You may want to share your pixel if you hire a new ad agency or Facebook Marketing Partner. Instead of implementing a second Facebook pixel for your agency, you can share your existing pixel with them through Business Manager. This reduces the amount of code changes that you need to make to your website.

To share your Facebook pixel:

Go to your Business Manager.
Click Settings.
Click Pixels.
- To share your pixel with individual accounts, click Assign Ad Accounts, then select the accounts that you want to share with and click Save Changes.
- To share your pixel with an agency, click Assign Partner, enter the agency's Business ID (located under the Info tab of the agency's Business Manager settings) and click Confirm.

Note: Custom conversions aren't shared.

What happens if I share my Facebook pixel? Can I restrict the type of reports that can be shared?

When you share your pixel with someone, they'll be able to:

See all of your pixel traffic data (paid and organic) in their Ads Manager and ads reporting.
Create audiences from the shared pixel.
Create ads that measure and optimise conversions from the shared pixel's events.

Note: Aside from custom conversions not being shared, you can't restrict any other pixel data from the people you share it with.

Can I edit or delete my custom conversions?

You can edit the name of the custom conversion, but not the rule. You can delete the custom conversion and re-make it if you need to make changes to the rules. Learn more.

When should I use custom events vs standard events?

We recommend using standard events wherever possible because of the powerful advertiser tools that this can unlock, such as dynamic ads. We are continuing to build powerful advertiser tools for standard events.

You should use custom events if none of the nine standard events apply to you or if you want to handle different domains at the event level. Please note that you will need to create an event-based custom conversion to leverage custom events in any measurement or optimisation.

When should I use custom conversions?

Use custom conversions if you want to leverage any custom events, URLs or parameters to define the goal that you want to track.

You can also use custom conversions if you want to define actions that matter to you through URL-based rules. For example, you can define a "Purchase" conversion as someone lands on a URL that contains "thankyou.php".

You may also want to use custom conversions if you want to optimise or measure a subset of standard events in conjunction with information sent in parameters. For example, you can use custom conversions to define a conversion for Purchase standard events with a value greater than 50.

My pixel dashboard is showing a PageView event. Is that a standard event?

PageView is not a standard event, meaning that you can't track, report on or optimise using it, although you can use it to build audiences. PageView serves the same purpose for the Facebook pixel that PixelInitialized served for the old website custom audience pixel, in that it confirms that the pixel has loaded properly on a web page. PageView is required in order to fully utilise features such as custom conversions, and it should fire once on every page of your website. You shouldn't remove it. While their names may be similar, please note that PageView is different to ViewContent. ViewContent is a standard event.

How many custom conversions can I create?

You can create up to 40 custom conversions per ad account and you can also delete any custom conversions that you're no longer using.

* Nguồn: Facebook