Set up website tracking

You can drive higher conversions by tracking and targeting Meta users who are already interested in your business.

Hootsuite’s Pixel Connector helps you set up and manage Meta Pixel tracking, so you can monitor the conversion events on your website. Using Meta's Conversions API Gateway technology, the Pixel Connector connects your website activity to Meta, so you can better target Meta users with relevant ads based on their actions.

The Pixel Connector is hosted within Hootsuite’s secure infrastructure, saving you the effort and cost of maintaining your own server. The Pixel Connector is easy to set up, with no coding or deep technical knowledge required.

Pixel Connector and privacy

Hootsuite uses Cloudflare as a Subprocessor to ensure secure and reliable service. Hootsuite uses Cloudflare specifically for robust DNS services, reverse proxies, and cloud security to enhance the Pixel Connector's performance, security, and reliability.

Cloudflare facilitates secure and uninterrupted access to data tracking. Data in transit is encrypted and no personal data is stored in Hootsuite.

Note: You are still responsible for ensuring compliance with data protection and privacy laws with regards to the data you collect and send to Meta through the Pixel Connector.

Before you begin

Before you connect your Meta Pixel to Meta through Hootsuite's Pixel Connector, make sure you have the following:

• Administrator permissions on the Meta Business Manager that owns the ad account and the Meta Pixel that you want to connect.
• At least one Meta Pixel set up on the ad account. See Meta’s help article Add an ad account to a Meta Pixel for more information.
• A Meta pixel installed on your website. See Meta’s help article Set up and install the Meta Pixel for more information.
• Permissions to manage ad accounts in Hootsuite on the Facebook profile connected to the ad account. See Manage ad accounts and advertising permissions for more information.

Meta Pixel connection workflow

When you connect your Meta Pixel to the Pixel Connector, you complete a set of steps in your own website environment and in Hootsuite to put all of the necessary elements in place.

Step 1: Add a DNS record

Add a CNAME record to your domain's DNS records so that your website can send data to Pixel Connector, which will transfer the information to Meta.

Note: It can take up to 24 hours for DNS changes to take effect.

1. Go to Ads and select Meta Pixels.
   
2. Select Set up Pixel Connector.
   
3. Choose how you want to add the CNAME record.
   • Select Copy instructions to copy the steps to your clipboard and send them to your developer to add the CNAME record for you.
   • Select Show instructions to get the steps to add the CNAME record yourself.
4. Add the CNAME record to your domain’s DNS records.

Step 2: Verify your domain

After you have added the new CNAME record to your DNS records, you can return to the Meta Pixel connection workflow so that Hootsuite can verify your domain changes.

1. Go to Ads and select Meta Pixels.
2. Select Next: Verify domain.
3. Enter the newly configured domain name, including the subdomain (for example, hootsuitecapig.yourdomain.com), and then select Verify.
4. If domain verification is successful, select Next: Connect Meta Pixel. If your updated DNS records have not been propagated yet, return to this step later.

Step 3: Connect your Meta Pixel

After you have verified your domain with Hootsuite, you can connect your Meta Pixel to the Conversions API Gateway in Meta.

1. Select an ad account from the list. Make sure you have administrator permissions in Meta Business Manager for the account.
2. Select Connect pixel in Meta.
3. Follow the prompts to log in to Facebook, authorize the Pixel Connector to connect to Facebook, select a business portfolio, and select a pixel to connect to Meta’s Conversions API Gateway.

Note: Make sure you enable Manage your business permissions when granting Pixel Connector permissions to gather and send data to Meta on your behalf.

Manage your Meta Pixels

You can check the status of all of your connected Meta Pixels in Ads .

Go to Ads and select Meta Pixels. Hootsuite displays the name and ID of each connected pixel for the selected ad account, as well as the status of the pixel. Each pixel can have one of the following states:

• Waiting for activity: The pixel is connected but Hootsuite has not received an event yet.
• Active: The pixel is connected and actively tracking and forwarding events to Hootsuite.
• Issues found: There is a problem with the pixel that requires troubleshooting or reconfiguration.

Hootsuite also displays the number of events received from the pixel and sent to Meta. If you want more details about pixel events, select View event breakdown in Events Manager to open the Meta Events Manager.

Add a Meta Pixel

To connect another Meta Pixel associated with an existing domain in Pixel Connector, select Connect Meta Pixel. Select the ad account that's linked to the Meta Pixel you want to connect, and then select Connect pixel in Meta to complete the setup in Meta.

Delete a Meta Pixel

To remove a Meta Pixel from Pixel Connector, locate the pixel in the list, select More actions , and then select Delete.

Add a domain

To add another domain and Meta Pixel to Pixel Connector, select Add domain to launch the Set up Pixel Connector workflow. Add a CNAME record to the new domain's DNS records, and return to the workflow to verify the domain once the DNS changes have been propagated. Then follow the authorization flow in Facebook to connect a Meta Pixel associated with the new domain.

Delete a domain

To delete a domain from Pixel Connector, select Delete domain to remove the domain and all of its associated pixels.

Troubleshoot event data discrepancies

If you notice discrepancies between information about events displayed in Hootsuite and information displayed in Facebook, check the Diagnostic section in Meta Events Manager. See Meta's help article About diagnostics in Meta Events Manager for more information.

You can also check the traffic permissions that are set for your Meta Pixel. See Meta’s article About Meta Pixel traffic permissions for more information.

Tip: Install the Meta Pixel Helper plugin in your browser so you can troubleshoot Meta Pixel errors and understand the events your pixel is receiving. See Meta's help article About the Meta Pixel Helper for more information.