Conversion is a measurable action, that a person takes on your website or app. Most commonly tracked conversions are signing up, checking out, adding an item to cart or viewing a particular page. Virtually any page on your website or click on any button can represent a conversion.
Conversions on websites are tracked by conversion tracking codes, also known as tracking Pixels, placed on any page of your website. Similarly, there are plug-in SDKs for tracking actions of mobile app users.
Conversion tracking helps businesses measure the return on investment (ROI) of their Facebook ads by reporting on the actions people take after they have been served your ads. Advertisers can create Pixels that track conversions, add them to the pages of their website where the conversions will happen, and then track these conversions back to ads they are running on Facebook. Conversion tracking also helps businesses leverage Facebook optimization goals in bidding to show ads to people who are more likely to convert off Facebook.
The Meta Pixel (was a.k.a. Upgraded Custom Audience Pixel)
Facebook is merging the conversion Pixels and the website custom audience pixels in the new Meta Pixel. If you are adding new Pixels to the website, we recommend moving to the new Pixel. Read our guidelines and chat with your Account Manager.
Old Conversion Pixels
The old way (as of October 2015) and still a working solution to track the conversions that occur on your website is to implement a separate Pixel. More information about conversion Pixels can be found at the Facebook Help Center conversion Pixel section. Please do note that Facebook is also recommending to switch over to the Meta Pixel. Traditional (old) Facebook conversion Pixels should be implemented as one-pixel script per one "conversion point" (i.e., unique goal page(s) in which one type of conversion happens; another Pixel for another type of conversions).
Meta Pixel Helper
If you have any problems with implementation or you want to confirm correct functionality of your Pixels, the Meta Pixel Helper can help you validate your Pixels. The Meta Pixel Helper can be used for validating both conversion Pixels and Website Custom Audience Pixels. From the above link, you can download the Pixel Helper and find detailed instructions for using it.
Facebook App Ads Helper
The Facebook App Ads Helper checks which platforms your mobile app is set up for, whether anyone has installed your app, and whether you've had any installs (paid or organic) in the last 7 days. Select an app to get started with the App Ads Helper.
FAQ
If the same user causes a Pixel/app event fire multiple times, does that count as multiple conversions?
Yes. However, Facebook dedupes events that happen within 3 seconds from each other.
Example: Jane clicks from an ad to a website. She...
- triggers an AddToCart event
- then triggers another AddToCart event 2 seconds after that
- then triggers another AddToCart event 5 hours after that This counts as 2 AddToCart conversions for the campaign/ad set/ad