When running Meta ads (Facebook ads or Instagram ads) on Shopify, many people wonder, "What is the Meta Pixel, and what are its benefits?" and "How do I set it up on Shopify?"
This article clearly explains, for Shopify store owners, the basics of the Meta Pixel you should know, the benefits of setting it up, and the actual setup steps.
If you're running Meta ads on Shopify, setting up the Meta Pixel is essential. Without it, you can't accurately measure your ad performance, and your results will suffer significantly.
If you want to understand the Meta Pixel's role and how to set it up, and get the most out of your Meta ads, please use this as a reference.
What Is the Meta Pixel?
The Meta Pixel is a code (tag) embedded in a website that tracks the actions visitors take on your site after arriving via a Meta ad. When running Meta ads, it helps you measure ad performance and analyze user behavior.
Benefits of Setting Up the Meta Pixel on Your Shopify Store
Setting up the Meta Pixel on your Shopify store can significantly boost the effectiveness of your ad operations. Specifically, it offers the following benefits.
- Accurately understand your ad performance: it measures concrete actions visitors take in your store, such as making a purchase or adding to cart. This lets you clearly determine which ads are driving sales.
- Ad delivery is automatically optimized: Meta's automatic learning feature works based on the data it collects. Ads are prioritized toward user segments more likely to convert, reducing wasted ad spend.
- Prevent missed opportunities with remarketing: you can re-serve ads to people who viewed a product but didn't purchase, or who added something to their cart and then left. This can boost your purchase rate and recover lost sales.
By making use of the Meta Pixel like this, you gain three major benefits from your Meta ads: "visibility into performance," "automatic ad improvement," and "preventing missed opportunities." On the other hand, without the Meta Pixel, you're limited to surface-level metrics like click counts, raising the risk of not using your ad budget efficiently.
Be sure to set up the Meta Pixel whenever you run Facebook ads or Instagram ads.
How to Set Up the Meta Pixel on Shopify
Setting up the Meta Pixel on your Shopify store is very simple. You just use the Shopify app "Facebook & Instagram" and link Shopify with Meta Business Manager through the app.
As preparation, first create a "Meta Business Manager" account.
"Meta Business Manager" is an environment that centrally manages your ad accounts, Facebook pages, Instagram accounts, product catalogs, Meta Pixels, and more, and lets you safely share and operate them with team members or external partners. Link your individual account as a user within this Meta Business Manager.
Once you've created it, follow the integration steps below to connect Shopify with Meta Business Manager.
Steps to Connect Shopify with Meta Business Manager
Here's a step-by-step explanation, with images, of how to connect Shopify with Meta Business Manager.
First, install "Facebook & Instagram" from the Shopify App Store.
Image source: Facebook & Instagram | Shopify App Store
Open the "Facebook & Instagram" app management screen in your Shopify admin.
Under "Facebook account," authenticate the individual account linked to your Meta Business Manager.
*Your individual account must be registered in Meta Business Manager as an admin or a user with the required permissions.
This is the "Business portfolio" section. A business portfolio is a framework for managing multiple Meta Business Managers together at a higher level. If you own multiple Meta Business Managers, each one is displayed here.
Click "Link" next to the Meta Business Manager you created.
Next is "Data sharing." Click "Link" next to the Meta Business Manager that's shown.
Finally, agree to the terms of service.
Click "Request review."
That's the end of the steps for connecting Shopify with Meta Business Manager. The data the Meta Pixel collects will now be linked to Meta Business Manager. You can check this data in Meta Business Manager's "Events Manager."
Points to Note When Setting Up the Meta Pixel on Shopify
If the Meta Pixel isn't set up correctly on Shopify, it won't be able to measure anything. If measurement doesn't work, Meta's automatic ad learning won't function, which can significantly hurt your ad performance.
So, when setting it up, keep the following 4 points in mind.
- Mistyping the ID: when entering it manually, be careful of miscounting digits or entering extra numbers. We recommend copying and pasting it instead. After copying, watch out for extra spaces before or after the value.
- Linking the wrong Facebook account: if you own multiple Facebook accounts, you might accidentally link the wrong one. If this happens, a different business manager may appear, or the business manager you wanted to link may not appear at all. Be careful to link the correct Facebook account.
- Having multiple pixels mixed together: if you've created a Meta Pixel more than once, or stopped partway through setup, you may end up with multiple Meta Pixels under the same account. Selecting the wrong Meta Pixel can prevent correct measurement, so be careful.
- Duplicate Meta Pixel installation: this happens when both a pixel code manually embedded in your Shopify theme and a pixel added via Shopify's "Facebook & Instagram" app are active at the same time. This measures the same event twice, so consolidate to the pixel added through "Facebook & Instagram."
Be sure to test that the Meta Pixel has been set up correctly. For how to test, see Meta's official help page.
If you still can't get it set up correctly after checking the points above, reach out through "Get support" in the Facebook & Instagram app.
Image source: Shopify
[Reference] Shopify Store Data You Can Capture with the Meta Pixel
For reference, here are some concrete examples of Shopify store data you can capture with the Meta Pixel.
Examples of Standard Events You Can Capture
An event is a unit of measurement used for ad performance measurement and optimization, representing "what happened on the site" or "what the user did."
Below are representative events that are automatically measured through the Shopify integration.
- ViewContent: viewed specific content (such as a product page)
- AddToCart: added a product to the cart
- AddToWishlist: added a product to a wish list
- InitiateCheckout: started checkout
- AddPaymentInfo: entered payment information during the checkout flow
- Purchase: the user completed the checkout flow (purchased a product)
- CompleteRegistration: the user registered as a member
For other standard events, see Meta's official reference.
Events not included among the standard events can be captured by registering them as "custom events."
Examples of Parameters You Can Capture
A parameter is supplementary information attached to an event.
Below are examples of "parameters" you can capture during ad operations on Shopify.
- content_name: the product's name
- content_category: the product's category
- content_ids: the product's ID
- value: the purchase amount
- currency: the currency code
- num_items: the number of items when checkout was started
For other parameters (properties), see Meta's official reference.
Set Up the Meta Pixel on Shopify to Maximize Your Ad Performance
This article explained the Meta Pixel's role on a Shopify store, what it can do, the types of data it can capture, and how to set it up.
Setting up the Meta Pixel correctly lets you precisely measure ad performance and optimize your delivery toward the results that matter. On top of that, it also enables remarketing to visitors and cart abandoners, letting you make the most of a limited ad budget.
Use this article as a reference to set up the Meta Pixel on your own store and start data-driven ad operations.
Finally, the blog post below introduces how to add social login, including Facebook login, to Shopify. Please use it as a reference.
