For fans of the pixel conversion tool on Facebook, the bad news is that Facebook will be disabling the tool on Feb. 15, 2017. According to Facebook, it has created one pixel that will combine the conversion-tracking pixel with the Custom Audience pixels in an effort to ensure businesses are best positioned for success. Additionally, the new blended tool will enable Facebook to create even more solutions moving forward. To make certain users are utilizing the best tools possible, Facebook has elected to remove the conversion-tracking pixel completely early next year. The social media giant recommends upgrading to the Facebook Pixel as soon as possible in order to take advantage of the best conversion tracking, optimization, and re-marketing.
As of Oct. 15, Facebook stopped actively supporting the conversion-tracking pixel and will no longer be actively maintaining the pixel or adding functionality. Until early 2017, the pixel will still be available for use in reporting and campaigns. If you wait to make the upgrade until the pixel is removed in February 2017, you’ll find that the pixel is gone from Facebook’s advertising tools. Results generated from campaigns based on the conversion tracking pixel will remain viewable in reports, however.
The use of a Facebook Pixel on your app or website is an excellent way to effectively track sales, as well as optimize your site for conversions and even re-market to leads who have previously visited your website. Facebook Pixel is similar to Google Analytics in many ways. It functions as an invisible single pixel image positioned on your website and transmits messages back to Facebook while tracking when users have been on your site and have been active. Basically, it’s a snippet of JavaScript that can be positioned in the source code for any webpage on your site that you would like to track.
With this tool in place, you can actually measure conversions over multiple devices. This means that regardless of whether a lead interacts with your website on a laptop, tablet, or mobile device, the Facebook Pixel tool will track the conversion. Additionally, the tool ensures that your website ads are displayed to customers who have the highest probability of converting and then creates Custom Audiences for re-marketing to leads who have visited your site in the past.
If you’ve been using the conversion-tracking pixel, it’s important to make sure you transition to the Facebook Pixel before the conversion pixel is disabled in early 2017.