How Having the Facebook Pixel on Your Website Can Increase Sales for Your Business Even If You Never Intend to Run a Facebook Ad or Know What a Pixel Is!

(And…why you should be using it but are probably not.)

Over and over I see businesses not using the Facebook Pixel on their website. I mean every kind of business.

Even marketing agencies. (Eye -roll)

So, what is this Facebook Pixel and why is it so important?

Let me explain…

One day you go to a travel site and look at cruise ship destinations for Cozumel. A beautiful place with old-Mexico charm.

The pictures on the website look great and the site shows you some of the operators using it as a post. But then little Johnny hits his sister and you have to get off the computer to call a truce. 

So later that evening, when the kids are in bed and the cat is snuggled up next to you, you jump on Facebook to catch up on the day’s events.

In between your cousin’s pics of her new car and your best friend’s pool party you see the exact same picture you saw just a few hours before.

It’s right there as if by magic and the headline entices you to return to the site to receive a special offer or coupon.

Obviously, you wonder how in the world this happened and is this Mark Zuckerburg some kind of Hogwarts wizard.

Well the answer, like so many in life, is quite simple but disguised as complicated.

How the Facebook Pixel (hereafter known as the Pixel)

tracks users and gathers information.

The Facebook Pixel is a piece of code that is implanted (in a non-Matrix-like) way in the heading of a website.

It's only goal is to track or ping every time a Facebook user goes to that particular website. This code stores what website pages you visited and how long you stayed there.

Now before I get further into this article, I need to clarify something…Facebook is not some evil genius that is stalking you like a crazy person you see on the news.

In fact, in order to use Facebook you have to agree to their terms and conditions. Somewhere buried in all the legal jargon you give consent to being “tracked”.

I’m not an attorney, I’m a copywriter, so I’m not throwing around legal terms. See your attorney for that.

Anyway, several companies do this so it’s not unusual.

Google may be the biggest at pixeling and tracking and Snapchat has a pixel but it seems myself and Old Navy are the only one’s using it. J

So how does it “know” you went to this particular travel site and saw this particular picture (or video)?

Really, it’s very simple.

You have a Facebook account and the travel site has a Facebook Page. Their Page has their Pixel set up in the header of their website.

This pixel is a transparent piece of code, or pixel, that records anyone seeing that website and stores that information on the website owner’s Facebook Business Manager.

What’s that? You don’t know what the Facebook Business Manager is???  

No worries, that’s an article for another time so just go along with me for now.

The information stored is then used to create a target audience in Facebook Business Manager which is then used to show advertising to people who went to the website or did a certain action on that website.

As you can imagine this can get VERY particular and can be VERY profitable if used correctly.

Think of it this way...

if we were in say…1995.

You are watching Seinfeld on Thursday evening.

The ad during the commercial break is the exact same ad you saw in the People Magazine earlier that day in the doctor’s office.

BUT…the difference is not a coincidence.

The ad on TV during the commercial break says:

“Hey Allison, didn’t that picture of Cozumel in the People magazine look incredible?

Did you know the snorkeling and deep-sea diving is some of the best in the world?

How would you like to get your tan on this winter for only $300 if you book by September 1?

You must act fast since these cruises fill up every winter and only a few cabins have this special rate!

Plus, think of all the gourmet food available around the clock! We can’t wait to see you on board!”

Now I watched Seinfeld in 1995 and if I saw that during a commercial break, I’d think space aliens or Poltergeists had taken over my TV… I wouldn’t run for the light, I’d run for the door to the nearest police station!

But this is a different world.

A lot can change in 25 years and this is one of the biggest and best in marketing and advertising.

You can actually write an ad similar (not exact, Facebook limits the crazy) that you can put in front of modern-day Allison where she will stop and look at it and even take action to fill out a form or get more information.

Great Todd, how does this apply to my business?

Good question. Let’s get into it.

Allison is looking for a new home to buy.

She goes to the usual websites like Realtor.com or Zillow.com and finds a few she would like to see.

She doesn’t have a Realtor yet so is really in the market for a Realtor, Loan Officer, Title Company, Inspector, and finally, a house.

She sees a Realtor she likes from the reviews and clicks on this Realtor’s website to find out more about them.

Luckily…and I say that because VERY FEW Real Estate Professionals have the Pixel set up on their website (Hence, this article…), this Realtor’s website has the Pixel installed.

Now Allison has seen a couple photos on the website but does not call or fill out a contact form.

She just leaves.

Later that evening Allison is on Facebook killing time and seeing what’s happening and right there…in her feed…between family and friends…is the house she was looking at earlier on the Realtor’s website.

She thinks “I gotta call them tomorrow.”

But even better is that this Realtor not only has the Pixel set up but has a call-to-action so all Allison has to do is click a button and her Facebook Messenger opens and asks Allison’s permission to continue and answer 3-4 questions real quick (I mean no more than 30 seconds).

Allison’s email and phone number pre-populate in the Messenger and that info is instantly sent to the Realtor’s office via Google Sheets where her assistant can call Allison first thing in the morning and set up a showing or gather other information.

All this is done automatically.

The ad,

the Messenger form,

the Google Sheets file,

all the way to follow up calls.

No great wizard behind the curtain pulling handles and knobs.

Just the proper use of technology in 2021 to get the most information with the least time and effort on the prospect’s part and make them feel valuable and committed to the process.

Can you see the possibilities?

Let’s pretend Allison is looking for a Dentist.

She uses Google Maps and finds a dentist near her with lots of good reviews. ( Yes, that little sentence will make you A LOT of money. You can thank me later or buy me a drink if you really think about what I just said.)

So she clicks on the website button and goes to the dentist’s website.

The dentist name is Gloria.

Gloria’s dental website loads fast and is nice and clean with simple actions and basic information that leads the reader down the page to a call to action button. ( Again, you’re welcome for the free advice. This is actually MORE valuable than above!)

Anyway, Allison doesn’t do anything.

No info input, no call, nothing.

But does Gloria worry? 

NOT AT ALL!

Why?

Because now she has Allison “on the hook”.

See, once Allison hit the website she was "Pixeled".

Now, all Gloria had to do was to set up custom audiences in her Facebook Business Manager for website views and create a great ad full of action items and a jaw-dropping offer.

(OK, this “jaw dropping offer” is SO important it will be an article topic in a few weeks)

So later that day, or even a few minutes later, or whenever, Allison gets on Facebook and right there in her feed is this amazing offer from Gloria the Dentist.

One so good Allison makes a point to hit the call-to-action button and make an appointment.

All Gloria has to do is give her an awesome experience in the office and ask for a Google review if she is a happy customer.

This article is more a Why than a How but here are a few ways to do it listed below:

• Have your webmaster set it up. If they don’t know how then get a new webmaster!

• Watch YouTube videos on how to do it. YouTube is great for learning small, simple tasks like this, but a real rabbit hole for larger concepts like copywriting, website building, Messenger Marketing, Call Tracking, and more advanced technical stuff.

• Message or contact me and I’d be happy to do it or walk you through the process.

I will give you one “How” that will help you make sure it’s installed correctly:

Chrome extension called Facebook Pixel Helper.

It only works with Google Chrome Web Browser but don’t let that stop you. Even if you love Safari or Firefox you can still use Chrome for this one thing.

Here’s how:

1. Sign into Google then open Chrome if not already open
2. Type in Chrome Web Store Extensions
3. Search for Facebook Pixel Helper and install

Done.

Pretty easy right?

It should look like this in your Chrome Browser:

A website with the Pixel installed -

As you can see the extension shows there are 3 Pixels tracking users on this site.

Don’t get concerned with this information at this time. The important thing is you are tracking users and can re-market to them at will with custom advertising that is relevant to actions they took and things they may be interested in on your website.

I need to clarify some things about Facebook advertising practices in 2021 and for the next couple years, at least.

When a user is “Pixeled” or tracked, Facebook does not allow the marketer to place an ad only to that one user by name.

In other words, I can't send an ad to Allison only.

As marketers we do not know who is tracked or some personal information Facebook has on them according to their previous Facebook habits.

This is very important to remember and one that gets people all kinds of sideways over privacy.

To use the “Allison” example above I do not know it was Allison on Gloria’s dental website nor can I say “Hey Allison…” in an ad I create because I don’t know the name or names of the people seeing the ad.

But using Facebook's Audience Insights I bet I can find out more about Allison’s online habits and personal habits than even her closest friends and family know.

EXCEPT, I do not know it is a woman named Allison.

All I know is there is a small group of women who live in abc area, work for xyz type of company, or stay at home with the kids, she likes People magazine, works out 1-2x week, buys from Kohls, Macys, and Wholefoods. Has been married for 8 years with 2 kids (boy and girl). One is in elementary school and one in preschool. The kids play soccer and dance. The family is interested in vacationing in kid-friendly places like Great Wolf Lodge etc.



This list could go on and on and I could narrow this so much more.

***But I never know it is Allison personally I’m reaching with a Facebook Ad. ***

Conclusion. Yes... finally!

To end, you may be astute enough to ask,

“Todd, what about the part of the headline where you said I may never need to run a Facebook Ad and still benefit for this information.”

I love this, since most people will not get this far and those who do may not have caught that in the headline.

Well, here it goes and it’s really simple too:

All that info I said above about Allison?

It’s all in your Facebook Audience Insights. Of course, it doesn’t say Allison blah blah blah. But it does tell you how many people like Allison do this, that, or the other and if you create the right ad to this group you are so far ahead of other marketers it’s not even a contest.

 Use this information for offline marketing like direct mail, junk mail, billboards, TV, radio, placement ads, and my personal favorite – website conversions.

You have, for free, all the demographic info you need that large ad agencies paid millions of dollars for to create advertising for their large brand clients.

Now the small business owner and marketer can be just as efficient and even better than the large brands.

Facebook, for all it’s bad press, and most justified, has also helped small business owners and marketers compete in a space where only the big-boys used to play.

It’s a new world. Use the tools and technology to your advantage.

If you have any questions email me:

todd@jtoddherbst.com

I’d love to hear your comments below.

And if you liked this article please share it so others may benefit as well

(plus, it will make you look really smart because you found it first! Sharing is caring but it’s also the best form of self-adulation! )