Facebook Pixel Code: Example & Use Cases

Gone are the days when you invest in outdoor marketing like billboards, banners, and flyers. Not only do these collaterals consume time and money, but it is also hard to track the results. There’s no data on who saw the ad, who clicked, and who took action.

With digital marketing, everything’s possible. You can track visitors, their actions, and what leads to conversions. You can also understand their online behavior, follow their journey, and retarget them for future campaigns.

For Meta (Facebook) and Instagram ads, you can track visitors, optimize ads, build audiences, and retarget customers using a Meta (Facebook) Pixel code.

Let’s see more about Meta (Facebook) Pixel, what it does, how it works, and how to install it on your website.

We will also look into its use cases, overcoming common tracking challenges like the iOS14 issue, and some real-time examples of businesses that improved their advertising with Meta (Facebook) Pixel.

Table of Contents

What is A Meta Pixel?

Meta (Facebook) Pixel is a piece of Javascript code that can be inserted into your website. It is used to measure, optimize, and build audiences for your ads and campaigns.

Here’s an example of what the Meta (Facebook) Pixel code looks like:

(<!-- Facebook Pixel Code -->

<script>

  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)

  {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?

  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};

  if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';

  n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;

  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];

  s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script',

  'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js');

  fbq('init', '{your-pixel-id-goes-here}');

  fbq('track', 'PageView');

</script>

<noscript>

  <img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" 

       src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id={your-pixel-id-goes-here}&ev=PageView&noscript=1"/>

</noscript>

<!-- End Facebook Pixel Code -->

What does a Meta (Facebook) Pixel do:-

Tracks conversions from Facebook ads & Instagram ads to understand how customers interact with your website.
Optimizes ad targeting for audiences likely to take action.
Measures the effectiveness of ads to calculate return on investment.
Allows for retargeting to users who have visited your website.
Provides insights into user behavior and website traffic patterns.

Let’s understand it better through a simple use case:

Consider a shoe store that sells shoes for all age groups. It runs ads and installs Meta (Facebook) Pixel code on its website.

When a visitor arrives through a Facebook (Meta) ad and makes a purchase, the Pixel tracks this conversion.

This data allows the store owner to see which ads are effective, enabling it to optimize Facebook ads for better performance, target ads to people similar to those who converted, and retarget those who visited but didn’t purchase.

This simple use case demonstrates Pixel’s role in refining marketing strategies and improving ad ROI.

Now, let’s get into the most crucial part of Meta (Facebook) Pixel: adding Meta (Facebook) Pixel code to your website.

Process of Creating and Setting Up a Meta (Facebook) Pixel on your Website

Let’s now understand the process of creating and setting up a Meta Pixel for your website.

Prerequisites for Setting Up a Meta Pixel

Before creating a Meta Pixel, ensure you meet these requirements:

You need a business website – The Pixel tracks events from visitors on your site.
You or your developer must be able to update your website’s code – Manual setup requires adding the Pixel code to your site’s header.

Step-by-Step Process To Create and Setup a Meta Pixel

You can create a Facebook Pixel through Meta Business Suite or Facebook Business Manager, depending on the platform you use.

Learn how to use Meta Business Suite from this blog.

Follow these steps:

Open Meta Business Suite or Facebook Business Manager and click “All Tools” in the left panel.
Select “Events Manager” from the available options.

Selecting Events Manager Under All Tools

3. Click “Connect Data Sources” to begin the setup.

4. Choose “Web” as the data source, then click “Connect” to proceed.

5. Enter Pixel Details:

A new Pixel ID will be generated and linked to a dataset in Events Manager.

Type a name for your Meta Pixel and click “Create Pixel”.

6. Enter Your Website URL

If no integration is available, click “Next” to continue with manual setup.
Meta will check if a partner integration (like Shopify) is available.
If a partner is detected, follow the on-screen instructions for automated setup.

7. Select How to Connect Your Pixel

Choose “Meta Pixel Only” if you want to manually install the tracking code.
Or select “Conversions API and Meta Pixel” for server-side tracking.

We will go ahead with “Meta Pixel Only.”

Process of Adding Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) Code to your Website

After you create or setup the Meta Pixel with the help of the process shown above, you will have to add it to your website. And there are two options, either through partner integration, or manually.

We are about to show you the manual process of installing code to the website

Find the base code from the section shown below in the screenshot. Click on “Copy code”.

2. Paste the pixel code into the header code of your website, just above the </head> tag. You need to paste it into every single page.

That’s it!

At the end of this blog, we’ll be discussing how to check if your pixel code is working fine and some common issues.

Bonus: If your business is hosted on WordPress, Drupal, or Joomla, there’s an official plugin by Facebook (Meta) for you to install Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) code on the website without having to manually insert the code.

Key Use Cases of Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel)

Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) code is now on your website. Now, let’s understand all the possibilities you can create with it, along with some use cases of Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel).

Enhancing Ad Performance

Analyzing the data received from Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) plays a vital role in identifying any gaps in the current targeting strategy and Return on Ad Spend (ROAS).

There are various ways to optimize ads and improve your Facebook ROI. Such as:-

Remarket to an engaged audience
Create Facebook lookalike audiences
Choose a suitable event to optimize
Build a highly converting landing page
Choose a suitable event to optimize
Placement of your ad

Conversion Tracking and Attribution

Tracking your visitors’ actions is called conversion tracking. Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) can track actions such as add to cart, purchase, abandoned cart…and so on. These actions are termed as events. They are separated into three categories, and let’s see how to use them to record events.

Standard Events are visitors’ actions pre-defined by Meta that can be used to optimize conversions and build audiences.

There are 9 standard events, including purchase, add to wishlist, contact, and complete registration.

2. Custom Events are visitors’ actions pre-defined by you and given a unique name that can be used to optimize conversions and build audiences.

Events like Add to Cart.

3. Custom Conversions are visitors’ actions automatically tracked. You don’t have to add events to your Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) code. It tracks the data apart from the 9 standard events.

Conversion tracking helps you to gain valuable insights about your customer journey. It lays a path to optimize your ad strategies and bidding strategies. It also empowers you to make data-driven decisions for future campaigns.

How to Track Conversions Using Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) Code?

Track Standard Events:

You can use fbq(‘track’) function to call any event in standard events. Standard events have parameters that have additional information about the event.

Below is the function to track the “Purchase” event:-

fbq(‘track’, ‘Purchase’, {currency: “INR”, value: 300.00});

If you’re using Meta Pixel with Conversions API, include events ID as fourth parameter.

2. Track Custom Events:

Similar to the standard event, you can call a custom event fbq(trackcustom). Custom events also have a parameter.

Below is the function to track the “Add to Cart” event:-

fbq(‘trackCustom’, ‘AddToCart’, {value: ‘10.00’, currency: ‘USD’});

3. Track Custom Conversions

Whenever the Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) loads, it automatically calls fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’) to track the pageview event. This pageview event records the URLs that triggered this call.

In the shoe store use case, conversion tracking via the Facebook Pixel(Meta Pixel) involves the Pixel recording when a user clicks on an ad and completes a purchase on the store’s website.

This helps the store owner to understand which ads are leading to sales, enabling them to fine-tune their advertising strategies for better targeting and higher return on investment.

In Facebook (Meta) Ads, Attribution is identifying your customer’s actions on your website that lead to conversion. The attribution window is the days between a person viewing and clicking the ad and eventually taking action on the ad.

There are three types of attribution in Facebook ads:-

Click-through attribution occurs when a person clicks on your ad and performs a specific action.

View-through attribution describes a person who sees your ad but doesn’t click it; however, they take specific action within a set timeframe afterward.

Engaged view attribution applies to instances where an action is taken after a person watches your skippable video ad for at least 10 seconds; this metric is specific to video advertisements.

Attribution helps marketers know if their advertising is working or not. Facebook (Meta) follows the delayed attribution model, and you can see more of that here.

Retargeting Strategies

Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) targeting tool allows you to show targeted ads to specific segments of audiences who have already visited your website.

Let’s understand this with the same shoe store use case:-

For the shoe store, retargeting ads are used to re-engage users who visited the site but didn’t purchase.

The Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) tracks these visitors, allowing the store to specifically target them with ads on Facebook.

This strategy aims to remind users of the products they viewed or added to their cart, encouraging them to return to the website and complete the purchase.

Retargeting converts interested users into customers by keeping the store’s products top-of-mind.

When you use Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel), it helps you understand your customers’ online habits, and you can retarget for your future ad campaigns.

Bonus: Also read, ‘How To Use Facebook Retargeting Ads To Boost Shopify Sales?’

If you’re looking for the setup process of retargeting ads on Facebook, Shopify has a complete guide to it.

Create Facebook Lookalike Audiences

With the data collected from Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel), you can segment your audiences based on their preferences or characteristics similar to your existing customers.

For the shoe store, creating lookalike audiences can be segmenting corporate women and homemakers and categorizing them for campaigns.

Advanced Features of Meta (Facebook) Pixel

Facebook (Meta) keeps evolving and keeps changing its features. In this section, we’ve brought together a few advanced features that will give you in-depth insights into the working of Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel).

Advanced Matching

Advanced Matching in Meta Pixel is a feature that enhances the pixel’s ability to match website visitors to Facebook (Meta) users.

When you turn on Advanced Matching, it automatically collects additional visitor information like email addresses, phone numbers, and other contact details directly from website forms.

This information collected is used to identify the ad visitor clicked and the action taken. This isn’t possible without Advanced Matching as Facebook Pixel (meta Pixel) can’t directly fetch details like email addresses or phone numbers.

This helps in increased conversions, building more custom audiences, and in turn, reducing cost per conversion as you can optimize the campaigns to audiences who are more likely to take action.

Note: Meta now highly recommends Advanced Matching due to privacy restrictions. It helps track events better by securely collecting customer details, improving audience matching, and ensuring accurate conversions.

Multi-Layered Data Collection for Accurate Tracking

The Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) gathers five distinct types of information:

HTTP Headers: These are part of the standard protocol for web communications, sent with every request from a browser to any server on the internet. They contain details like IP addresses, browser types, page locations, documents, referring pages, and the website user.
Pixel-Specific Information: This category includes the unique pixel ID and the associated cookie data.
Button Click Data: This records any interactions with buttons on the site, including which buttons were clicked, their labels, and the subsequent pages visited due to these actions.
Optional Values: Marketers and developers can send extra details about a visit using custom data events. Examples of such events include the value of a conversion, the type of page, and others.
Form Field Names: The names of form fields, like “email”, “address”, and “quantity”, are captured when a user purchases a product or service.

LOOKFANTASTIC, The UK-based online beauty business, increased its incremental return on ad spend by 92% after modifying its objective to “reach” that was using “conversions” to its Facebook ad campaign.

Pro Tip: Combine Meta Pixel with Conversions API for better tracking and accuracy. This dual approach helps capture high-quality customer data while respecting privacy regulations. It also improves event tracking reliability, especially for users affected by iOS 14 restrictions, ensuring better ad performance and audience insights.

How to Target Audience Using Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) Code?

Targeting the right audience is a crucial part of a Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel); if you fail to do it right, you invest in the wrong audience.

Facebook (Meta) allows you to target the audience in 5 different ways:

Demographics: Target audience based on their age, gender, and location.
Interests: Facebook has a predefined set of interests, and you can narrow your target by choosing interests.
Behaviors: Target audience based on their online behavior like search terms, sites visited and purchases made.
Lookalike Audience: This is a way to target new audiences who share similar characteristics with your existing audience.
Custom Audience: A group of people who have interacted with your brand.

You can choose a data source or upload a list of customers with their contact information, app users, or website visitors, and you set your ads such that the ads are visible to this set of target audiences.

How to Install Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) code to your Shopify Store?

Wondering, how to add Meta Pixel to your Shopify store? There are three ways to install Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) code to your Shopify store.

Manually adding Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel): This process involves adding code to the Shopify store theme editor.

Note: We have already discussed the process of creating a Meta pixel and manually adding it to your Shopify store. Refer to the section above to get information about the same.

Through Facebook & Instagram App: This is the official sales channel app, through which you can install the code on your store without any coding, per se. However, you might still have to follow a few steps to install the app and setup pixel on your Shopify store.
Third-party Shopify Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) apps: You can skip the entire process of adding the code manually and choose to integrate with third-party apps to add Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) code to the Shopify store.

Best Shopify Meta (Facebook) Pixel Apps

AdNabu’s Facebook Pixel App: AdNabu’s Facebook Pixel app allows you to install and manage multiple Facebook & Instagram Pixels without coding. It has the ‘Built For Shopify’ badge which signifies that it meets Shopify’s highest standards of performance, speed, and quality.

Some of its important features include:

Multiple Ways to Create Meta (Facebook) Pixels: With AdNabu’s Facebook Pixel App, you can connect your Facebook business account to create new Pixels across multiple accounts or add a Pixel manually without linking Facebook (with an existing Pixel’s ID.) Both options ensure accurate tracking.
Detailed Analytics – Monitor all Facebook Ads events, including purchases, add-to-cart, and checkout.
Multiple Pixel Support – Install multiple Facebook, Instagram, and Meta Pixels without errors.
No Manual Code Changes – Set up tracking instantly, without editing theme files.
Server-Side Tracking & Conversion API – AdNabu’s Facebook Pixel App lets you enable the Conversions API for a Meta Pixel, as recommended by Meta. This server-side tracking helps bypass iOS 14 restrictions, ensuring accurate conversion data without loss.
Advanced Matching – Improve audience targeting with better customer data tracking.

Pricing: The app starts is free.

2. Trackify Facebook Pixel & TikTok

Supports multiple Facebook Pixels, TikTok Pixels, and advanced tracking.
Enables dynamic product ads and better audience targeting.

Pricing: Starts at $8.99/month. Free trial available.

3. Omega Facebook Pixel & Meta Feed

Captures every conversion with Facebook Pixel and Conversion API.
Supports multi-pixel setup, real-time UTM tracking, and catalog feed automation.

Pricing: Free plan available. Paid plans start at $15.99/month. Additional charges for extra API and feeds.

4. Orichi – Meta Pixels & Facebook Pixels

Allows unlimited Facebook and TikTok Pixels with Conversion API.
Bypasses ad blockers, prevents fake events, and improves UTM tracking.

Pricing: Free plan available; paid plans start at $14.99/month.

Bonus: Learn more about these Shopify Facebook Pixel apps.

Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) Tips

To make the best use of Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel), we’ve gathered highly interesting and helpful tips.

You get additional details of the people interacting with your ads when you use Conversions API.

Ensure you turn on Advanced Matching; this enables you to get more conversions that happen on your website, matching with people who are on Facebook (Meta).

With Meta Advantage+ Catalog ads, you can automatically show relevant products to the right people whenever they take action on your website.

Track the events that are essential for your business. Add standard events on the pages you need to track. This will help you track the entire customer journey.

Comfy, a leading electronics retailer increased purchases by 15% using Meta Advantage+ Catalog ads and Retargeting.

How to Check if Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) Code is Working?

To check if the Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) Code is working, you need to have a Chrome browser and install Meta Pixel Helper as an extension.

Upon installing the Meta Pixel Helper, its icon </> appears in the top-right-hand corner of the page next to the address bar.

To check if the website has installed Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) or not:

When the Pixel Helper icon changes to blue, it means there are Pixels on the website, and a small badge is displayed showing the number of Pixels found.

Meta Pixel Helper Identifying Pixels for a website

If the icon doesn’t turn blue, it indicates “No” Meta Pixels on the page.

By clicking on the Pixel Helper icon, a popup will appear, which provides the information required for you to verify, troubleshoot, and improve pixels.

Note: Test Your Pixel Events for Accuracy

After setting up your Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel), use the Test Events Tool in Meta Events Manager to verify if events are firing correctly. This helps identify issues, check deduplications, and ensure accurate event tracking for both browser and server-side events. Keep the test page open while checking real-time data!

Overcoming Common Challenges

You have added the Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) code to your website. When you expect to see the real data of your audience interactions and actions taken on your website. You actually see errors and issues. Every marketer has been there, and you should know that these can be rectified.

Below, we have curated a list of possible issues you might encounter after installing the Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) code:

Domain isn’t appropriately connected

Meta Pixel isn’t added correctly

AdBlocker issue

Pixel ID Not Added to Primary Domain

Pixel ID Added in Multiple Places

Apart from the common issues listed above, there is another concern with Facebook Tracking Pixel – Violation of GDPR Regulations.

Breach of GDPR Regulations

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) highly values the protection of personal data and the privacy rights of individuals. It requires that explicit consent is secured from individuals prior to the collection or processing of their personal information. The decision by the Austrian Data Protection Authority (DPA) emphasizes that utilizing Facebook’s tracking pixel without obtaining beforehand consent constitutes a violation of these core values.

Tips for ensuring compliance with data collection regulations

In response to the GDPR and to adhere to the Austrian DPA’s decision, website owners must adopt the following strategies:

Secure Explicit Consent: Introduce a consent management platform that allows for explicit user consent regarding tracking activities. Consent must be informed, given freely, and easy to withdraw.
Revise Privacy Policies: Examine and revise your site’s privacy policies to include information on using Facebook’s tracking pixel and the data collection involved. It’s important to transparently outline the purposes for data usage, processing, and sharing.
Ensure Transparency and Inform: Maintain openness about your site’s tracking practices. Inform users about the integration of Facebook’s tracking pixel and offer guidance on adjusting their preferences.
Perform Routine Audits: Conduct consistent audits and evaluations to verify continuous compliance with data protection laws. Regular checks of your consent management system, privacy policies, and tracking methodologies are crucial to detecting and amending compliance gaps.
Cookie Consent Implementation: Companies might consider deploying a script that generates a consent banner, necessitating explicit agreement (such as ticking an “I agree” check box at the top of the box) for Pixel usage. If there’s an existing solution that fulfills this requirement, like a tag manager, then adding this script could be made optional.

The iOS14 Issue

In January 2021, Apple changed data tracking permissions, impacting Facebook conversion tracking. The next big update followed in June 2023 and made more advancements in browsing, communication safety, lockdown mode, and app privacy improvements.

This means advertisers that use Facebook and target iOS14 users and its series face a considerable drawback.

Every app must display permissions on its product page, which include:

Permission is required to show targeted advertisements using user data gathered from external apps and websites.

Permission is necessary to distribute device locations and email lists to data brokers.

Obtaining consent is essential before sharing email lists, advertisement IDs, and other identifiers with external ad networks that utilize this data for targeting and retargeting purposes.

Consent must be obtained to integrate third-party SDKs into your app if they combine data about your app’s users with data from other apps’ users. This is mandatory even if the SDK is not used for this specific function.

Apple didn’t stop there; consequently, it made targeting ads challenging and made more changes:

Starting with iOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.5, and tvOS 14.5, all new and updated apps are required to transparently disclose their data collection practices and obtain user consent for tracking across different apps and websites.

App Store product pages have been updated to include details about an app’s data collection practices, including the use of third-party SDKs, providing users with essential information before they download an app.

Developers are now obliged to submit comprehensive Privacy Nutrition Labels and follow updated rules regarding third-party SDKs and privacy declarations.

From iOS 14.5 forward, it’s mandatory to obtain user permission for tracking activities or accessing the device’s advertising identifier, except in certain cases like fraud prevention.

Analytics conducted across apps from the same content provider can proceed without requiring App Tracking Transparency consent, provided they adhere to relevant regulations.

All these changes affected Facebook (Meta) advertisers, and they had to adapt to the new changes made by Apple and develop alternative strategies that abide by these new policies and regulations.

Hence, Facebook (Meta) implemented better data management systems like Improving the Facebook Lead Ads conversions.

Yet, the iOS14 issue still persists.

The App Tracking Transparency feature in iOS14 gives permission to track their activity across various apps and websites.

To overcome this challenge, Facebook (Meta) implemented tools like Aggregated Event Measurement and strengthened their Conversion API.

Aggregated Event Measurement (AEM) is a Meta protocol that helps track web and app events on iOS 14+ devices while maintaining user privacy. It removes identifiers, aggregates data, and ensures advertisers still receive conversion insights for campaign optimization.

To learn more about setting up Facebook conversion tracking compatible with iOS14, head over here.

Conclusion

There you have it. We’ve discussed how to install Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) code on your website, key use cases, advanced features, a list of possible issues you might come across with tracking pixel along with some real-time examples.

We hope you have enough knowledge of Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) now. If you’re running ads, Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) is a must-have tool. Go ahead and install it right now!

Don’t forget to check out Nabu for Facebook Pixel app to track unlimited conversions.

FAQs

What is Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel)?

The Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) is an analytics tool that allows you to measure the effectiveness of your advertising by understanding the actions people take on your website. It’s a code snippet that tracks visitors’ interactions on your site.

Why should I use Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel)?

Using Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) helps in tracking conversions from ads, optimizing campaigns based on collected data, retargeting visitors to your site, and creating lookalike audiences for better ad targeting.

How do I add Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) to my website?

After creating your Pixel, you’ll receive a code snippet. You should place this snippet in the header section of your website, or use a plugin if your site runs on a platform like WordPress.

What are the types of events that Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) can track?

Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) can track several events, such as page views, form submissions, purchases, and leads. Custom events can also be set up to track other specific actions.

Can Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) affect the speed of my website?

While any additional code on your site can impact speed, the Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) is designed to be lightweight and should not significantly affect your site’s load time.

How does Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) work with privacy regulations like GDPR?

Compliance with GDPR and other privacy regulations involves obtaining consent from your visitors before tracking their actions. Facebook provides features to help you manage this, but you should consult a legal expert.

Can I use Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) for retargeting ads?

Yes, one of the primary functions of Facebook Pixel (Meta Pixel) is to enable retargeting ads to visitors who have taken specific actions on your site, improving the relevancy of your ads.

How can I verify that my Facebook Pixel is working correctly?

You can use the Meta (Facebook) Pixel Helper, a Chrome extension, to confirm that your Pixel works correctly on your website.

How many digits is a Facebook Pixel ID?
A Facebook Pixel ID is 15 digits long.

What is the use of Facebook Pixel code?
The Facebook Pixel code tracks website visitor actions, helping businesses measure ad performance, retarget users, and optimize campaigns for better conversions.

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