Facebook is a fantastic advertising platform due to the detailed targeting possible. All of the demographic info we provide Facebook – personal details, location, likes, etc – can be used to advertise to a very specific audience. They even have algorithms that make guesses on whether someone is pregnant and what their income may be. It’s creepy – but it can be a boon for advertisers.
Besides just targeting based on demographic data (example: single females who live in a specific zip code and like both cats and hamsters), you can target someone who visited your website.
This is done by placing a tiny bit of code (call a tracking pixel) on your website. When someone visits your website, Facebook will know, thanks to the tracking pixel. You can then market to your site visitors on Facebook with very specific ads. Since they’ve been to your website, they may have serious interest in your business. Might as well get an ad in front of them to strengthen the relationship.
How to create a tracking pixel on Facebook
Note: This is also called a Custom Audience pixel
1. Go to the Audiences page in Facebook’s Ad Manager. Click the Create Audience button and select Custom Audience in the dropdown menu.
2. In the Create a Custom Audience window, select Website Traffic.
3. In the Custom Audience window choose how many days to track site visitors (up to 180) and give your custom audience a name (you don’t have to select a domain). Then click the Create Audience button.
4. Once the custom audience has been created it will be visible in the list of audiences. Check the box for that custom audience and go to the Actions dropdown to View Pixel. This will let you see the code to add to your website.
5. Add the code to your website’s html between the <head> and </head> tags.
That’s it. If you need help with Facebook marketing, please get in touch.
