If you’re a business advertising on Facebook or Instagram, you’re only as effective as the insights you get back. As backlash to more invasive data-gathering practices have grown and companies and governments have adapted to this, you’ll find that practices marketers used to rely on will become outdated.
Regarding these evolutions and how they apply to Meta: Enter Conversions API.
This is an API tool that connects your marketing information — events relating to your website, app, messaging, and in some cases offline — from, in Facebook’s words, your “server, website platform, mobile app, or CRM to Meta systems” related to optimizing ad targeting and reporting outcomes and, through extension, decreasing your cost per result.
This simplifies your connection and technological stack — bypassing browsers and their cookies — while also putting in place a functional infrastructure for gaining useful insights as Intelligent Ad Tracking Prevention systems lead to phasing out of third-party cookies entirely.
APIs generally A) cost money and B) are best set up by a developer, but in this case we’d say that’s an investment that’s absolutely worth it.
Here’s more on why, and what the Conversions API can do for you and your customers:
How we got here, why this matters, and a few thoughts on Facebook Pixel and Meta Datasets
First thing’s first: Ideally, you’re already familiar with Facebook’s pixel and the Meta Dataset, because those are roughly the precursor for the Conversions API. If not, we have rundowns for each — Facebook Pixel and Meta Datasets, respectively — that we recommend checking out just to give you the basic foundational knowledge to proceed with this newer tool.
Where we’re at currently, there has (pretty reasonably) been a backlash against the extent to which big companies — particularly mega-corporations like Meta and Google — could track individuals’ online activity. As you surely know, over the last few years there have been some changes to re-prioritize users’ privacy, whether by technology companies like Apple, whose default iOS 14 and on settings combat tracking, or regulators like in the EU, who instituted the GDPR laws a few years ago.
At the same time, it’s only a matter of time before Google does way with cookies.
All of this combines to mean that, when it comes to Meta subsidiaries Facebook or Instagram, more and more the existing pixel or dataset infrastructure won’t be able to attribute when users arrive at your site via clicking on one of your ads or posts there.
Even without these new rules and tools, people are increasingly using ad and cookie blockers along with other masking tools; as a society, we’re clearly tired of the extent to which tracking has become integral to a space where we increasingly spend our time, socialize, and make purchases — having your behavior harvested to enrich huge companies like Meta and Google isn’t anyone’s favorite, it turns out. Who would’ve guessed!
On the flip side, if you’re a smaller business — as most of us are — this change has notable ripple effects that impact you.
But if you want to build positive momentum going forward: Embrace it.
The basics, plus some thoughts on setting it up
We’ll admit, as far as setting it up, it’s easiest to check out Meta’s own page on the Conversions API. There are multiple ways to integrate it for your uses and, while Meta says some methods don’t require a developer, personally we’d recommend having a developer set this up — in theory there are some simpler setups that a non-dev could do, but you really want to get this right. So, if you ask us, we’d suggest just getting your developer on it.
Image source: https://www.starsystem.biz/en/news-blog-en/conversions-api-for-meta-campaigns/
As for what Conversions API facilitates, it creates a direct connection between you and Meta, granting you more reliable access to information on:
- Website events
- App events
- Offline events
- Messaging events
This means, while providing greater privacy to individuals, you can still see the shape of how people are interacting with your Meta accounts and website.
Check out their Conversions API primer for more details on how the website, app, offline, and messaging events can manifest themselves and what you can use them for.
Advantages of Conversions API
Along with being compliant with EU privacy regulations and still being functional as infrastructure evolves more towards ad and cookie blocking, Conversions API have a few advantages.
For one, you’re establishing a direct connection between Facebook or Instagram, so you’re getting more reliable information with fewer connective stops that are a potential point of failure.
At the same time, it can work alongside the Facebook Pixel to provide you with a more comprehensive look at your data trends throughout the stages of the conversion funnel.
Mostly though, this API is an evolution of information-gathering techniques that allows you to continue having access to relevant data as infrastructure moves away from more invasive cookie practices and towards more regulated privacy rules — it’s not perfect at ensuring privacy for users, but it’s at least a move towards acknowledging the direction we’re moving.
Other points to consider
- Part of the backlash to the extensive tracking infrastructure that became standard online the last decade-plus is that, unlike cookies and other methods where users had to opt out (or had no choice), with this setup, users have to opt in. This occurs on your website and, upon a user opting in, the corresponding information is passed to Meta through their Conversions API interfacing with your site. If someone refuses to opt in, this triggers an event that removes the user from your official audience.
- Another consideration is server-side API, for this option we recommend running it by your developers. Server-Side offers a way to optimize your data collection by moving mechanisms from your website to a dedicated server container in your Google Cloud account. Implementing Server-Side Tag Manager can enhance security for customer data and provide greater control over how data is processed and shared, giving your business a more robust and secure data management framework.
- While the Conversions API, as mentioned above, can provide info on offline events, the future of this is a bit murky — Offline Conversions API will be discontinued in May 2025. Luckily, there are workarounds that aren’t a perfect one-to-one replacement, but will make do: Namely, Facebook suggests uploading your events to datasets and converting Offline Conversions API integrations into a Conversions API integration.
Overall, transitioning away from reliance on existing data-collecting infrastructure will build a good foundation for the direction things are headed. This is just one of many tools that will help you navigate a cookie-less internet that’s more well-regulated in favor of individuals’ privacy, while still having access to insights that help you make more informed marketing decisions.
