How to Add a Facebook Pixel to Your Shopify Store?

With so many features and updates, Facebook advertising can seem like a daunting place if you’re not a digital marketing pro. However, the multiple benefits it can bring make it a vital addition to your Shopify store. And as Facebook is one of the most popular advertising platforms on the planet, your Facebook ads must be set up correctly to maximise campaign success. 

In this guide, you’ll learn what a Facebook Pixel is, how to set up a pixel on your Shopify store, and the different ways to use a pixel to boost conversions and drive ROI. 

What is Facebook Pixel?

The Facebook Pixel is a tracking code that is generated from your Facebook Business Manager account and it captures specific actions visitors perform on your website. 

You can use the data your pixel collects to show your Facebook and Instagram ads to different audience segments. And you can use it to re-target and re-market to people who have visited a particular page or taken a specific action on your website. 

In short, a Facebook Pixel allows you to advertise the right content to the right people at the right time.

 

Why should I add a Facebook Pixel to my Shopify store?

Adding a Facebook Pixel to your Shopify store is a no brainer. Here’s why…

1. Custom Audiences

How brilliant would it be to show your ads to people who have already shown an interest in your brand?

Well, Facebook Pixel allows you to create custom audiences so you can do exactly that. 

By creating custom audiences from pixel data, you can tailor your ads to different audience segments based on the products they’re interested in. 

For example, if you own an eyewear brand and you want to promote a new line of women’s sunglasses, you can create a custom audience of people who have previously shown interest in women’s sunglasses or general women’s eyewear in your store. Also, you can create a custom audience of people who added various women’s eyewear to their cart and display ads promoting your new line of sunglasses.

2. Dynamic Ads

Not every customer who visits your store will make a purchase. But this is where Facebook Pixel can help. The pixel allows you to capture data regarding visitor behaviour, such as cart abandonment or specific page views, and use this information to create re-targeting campaigns using dynamic product ads. These ads are great for encouraging customers to return to your store and make that all-important purchase. 

3. Lookalike Audiences

Creating lookalike audiences using Facebook Pixel for your Shopify store is a surefire way to gain lots of new customers. This is because lookalike audiences are groups of Facebook and Instagram users with similar characteristics to people in your source group. 

Facebook has a rich data pool which can prove particularly useful when it comes to targeting audiences who are more likely to convert. 

For example, if you create a custom audience of people who made purchases on your Shopify store, you can then create a lookalike audience of people with similar characteristics. 

4. Conversion Optimisation 

You can use Facebook advertising to increase the number of sales on your Shopify store by asking Facebook to optimise your campaign for purchase. 

Based on your pixel data and Facebook’s database, your ads will be shown to users who are prone to purchase and are interested in brands like yours. 

How to add a Facebook Pixel to my Shopify store?

First things first, if you haven’t already, you’ll need to create your pixel.

To do this, you’ll need to visit your Events Manager > Connect Data Source > Web > Add pixel details. 

There are three ways you can add a Facebook Pixel to your Shopify store: 

1. Use an integration or tag manager
2. Manually install the pixel code
3. Email instructions to a Developer

Using an Integration to add the Facebook Pixel code to Shopify

If you’re on Shopify the process is simple. Here’s how…

1. In your Shopify admin, click Facebook in the Sales channels section
2. Click Settings, and then click Data sharing settings
3. In the Customer data-sharing section, click the Enable data-sharing 
4. In the Choose data-sharing level section select Standard, Enhanced, or Maximum
5. Select your pixel from the list. Or if you’re yet to create a pixel, follow the instructions to create one
6. Now click Confirm

Adding the Facebook Pixel code to your Shopify store manually

If you find coding a breeze, then this might be the option for you. Put the pixel code in the global header of your website. To do this, look for <head> </head> in your code or find your header template to upgrade the global header. Then, paste your Facebook pixel code in the middle of the header code, after <head> and before </head>.

Have a Developer add your Facebook Pixel code to your Shopify store

If you have a Shopify Developer who helps you maintain your site, you can simply email them the code and instructions to install the Facebook Pixel. This is the ‘Email instructions to a Developer’ option. Once the Developer has confirmed the pixel is installed, you can check whether the Pixel is working properly by using Google Chrome’s Facebook Pixel Helper extension.

After you’ve verified that your pixel is working, you’re ready to start creating your custom audiences and advertise on Facebook and/or Instagram. With constant monitoring, you’ll be able to scale your ads in no time. 

Custom Conversions For Shopify

Facebook Pixel gives brands the freedom to create custom conversions.

A custom conversion is created by selecting a completion page and naming the conversion. For example, a completion page could be a thank you page similar to the below example:

Facebook also allows you to choose the category for the custom conversion. These include…

• Add Payment Info
• Add To Cart
• Add To Wishlist
• Complete Registration
• Initiate Checkout
• Lead
• Purchase
• Search
• View Content

The clever thing about custom conversions on Facebook is that once they’re created they’ll be tracked for all your ads, whether you’ve optimised for it or not. At any time, you can create a report for one of your Facebook ads that will show you the conversion rate for your custom conversions. 

Facebook Pixel Standard Events For Shopify 

When someone takes an action on your Shopify store, Facebook Pixel logs it as an event. Facebook already has a standard list of pre-defined events that are common across ads. These include…

• Add Payment Info: Fires when customers enter their payment information during checkout
• Add To Cart: Tracks data when customers add products to their cars
• Add To Wishlist: Tracks when customers add products to their wishlists 
• Complete Registration: Tracks when people sign up for an event or email subscription
• Contact: Tracks when people get in touch with a business
• Customise Product: Fires when people customise a product on your Shopify store, like choosing a colour
• Donate: Tracks when visitors donate to a cause
• Find Location: For helping to find one of your locations
• Initiate Checkout: Tracking customers who reached the checkout process by clicking a Checkout button
• Lead: For allowing a visitor to identify themselves as a lead on your website, such as submitting a form or starting a trial
• Purchase: Fired when a visitor completes a purchase and ends up on a Thank You landing page or confirmation page
• Schedule: For booking an appointment with your business
• Search: Fired when someone is searching for something on your website or app
• Start Trial: Fired when a customer trials a product or service you offer
• Submit Application: Fired when someone applies to a product, service, or program
• Subscribe: Tracks when subscriber volume 
• View Content: Fired when a visitor visits a landing or specific product page

The above standard events also support parameters, which let you track specific information about an event. This includes…

• Product IDs
• Categories
• Number of Products Purchased
• Content Type
• Conversion Value

Custom Events For Shopify

In contrast to custom conversions which are tied to a URL, custom events don’t need to be. Instead, conversions are tracked by adding code to a specific page. Custom events are used when brands want to collect more in-depth data than a standard event. 

How many Facebook Pixels do I need?

Facebook allows you to create up to 100 pixels in your Business Manager account. We’d recommend only setting up multiple Facebook Pixels if you have lots of different websites with different audiences.

Your Facebook Advertising Experts

Hopefully, after reading this article, you know how to successfully add a Facebook Pixel to your Shopify store. But, if you still need assistance, we’re happy to help. 

Our team of Facebook advertising experts have a proven track record when it comes to helping brands get the most out of their Facebook Pixel. We build highly targeted audiences for ad campaigns that drive conversions and improve ROI. We can do the same for your ecommerce business. Get in touch today!