If you’re planning on running Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest ads within the next 6 months, one of the most important steps you can take is to put your Facebook pixel or Pinterest tag on your website. The Facebook pixel helps Facebook collect information about the people who visit your website. The more information Facebook has about your potential customers, the better your ads will perform. The Pinterest tag works the same way.
Installing the Facebook Pixel
Unfortunately, the process for installing the pixel isn’t as clear-cut as it could be because it’s different for every website. But, Facebook does have some step-by-step directions you can follow. The process can seem a little intimidating at first. In reality, it’s not that difficult, especially if you are able to select Option 2: “My Site Uses a Tag Manager or is Hosted on a Popular Platform.”
Once you’ve installed the pixel, Facebook has built a handy tool you can use to check to make sure you’ve installed the pixel correctly. Install the Facebook Pixel Helper Chrome extension from the Chrome store. Once it’s installed, it will live on your browser bar and it will turn blue when it detects that the Facebook pixel is installed properly on a website. If the pixel is not installed (or not installed properly) the pixel helper will be grey. You can see a picture of how it looks when it’s installed correctly on my website below.
Here’s a close-up view:
What about Pinterest?
I also have the Pinterest Tag Helper installed on my website. It does the same thing for Pinterest ads. You can find information about how to install the Pinterest Tag on the Pinterest website. The directions for placing the Pinterest tag seem more complicated, but it’s essentially the same process.
It’s true that putting the Facebook pixel or Pinterest tag on your website ahead of time gives you a head start on your ads. But plenty of my clients still run successful ad campaigns even with a newly placed pixel on their website. All of my Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest ads packages include Pixel & Tag installation. Contact me today if you want to know more about whether or not ads could be the right choice for your business.