The Ultimate Guide to the Meta Pixel and Conversion Tracking for Car Dealerships 2023

In this article, we discuss how to install and set up the Meta Pixel for a car dealership, tips for using the Meta Pixel for car sales conversion tracking, and the benefits of using a Meta Pixel.

Setting up your Meta Pixel and getting conversion tracking right is essential before you run any Facebook ads.

Disclaimer: This article is intended as a technical guide for those car dealers who have experience managing Facebook Ads. It is not recommended for anyone who has never used Facebook Ads before to attempt the methods outlined in this article without proper guidance.

What is a Meta Pixel and how can it be used for a car dealership?

A Meta pixel (formerly the Facebook Pixel) is a powerful tool that car dealerships can use to identify and target their prospective customers. At GL Digital, we have seen firsthand how powerful Meta pixels can be for car dealerships.

For example, if someone visited the website and looked at a certain type of car, the dealership could show an ad featuring the same model whenever they visited other sites. Meta pixels provide a great opportunity for car dealerships to find new leads and drive sales.

The Meta Pixel works by collecting and analyzing users who visit the website, we are then able to create Facebook ads tailored specifically to people who have shown interest in the dealership.

Our clients have seen great success in converting prospects who were exposed to their targeted ads into loyal customers. Meta pixels provide a great opportunity for car dealerships to find new leads and drive sales.

Before we continue, who has written the article "The Ultimate Guide to using the Meta Pixel for Conversion Tracking for Car Dealerships 2023"?

I am Gary Lewis Cheetham, an automotive marketing specialist with over 10 years of experience, and an expert in setting up and using the Meta Pixel for Conversion Tracking.

Born and raised in Oldham, Greater Manchester, UK, I have always had a deep interest in car trading. With my help starting as a teenager, my father's dealership saw a notable increase in buying cars privately through Facebook Ads.

I have since then leveraged this expertise to found GL Digital Automotive Marketing in 2020 – a company that helps other dealerships maximize their ROI by utilizing digital marketing strategies.

My mission is to assist independent dealers across both the UK and US to increase their inventory of used cars and grow their business as a result.

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How to set up the Meta Pixel on your car dealership's website

To set up the Meta pixel on your car dealer website you must follow this process:

• Check to see if you already have a Meta pixel installed or not

• Create a new Meta Pixel in Facebook Business Manager

• Install the pixel code on your website

• Set up conversion tracking and custom conversions

• Check to see if your installation works
  Here are the steps broken down in detail:

How to Check to see if you already have a Meta pixel installed or not

If you install a Meta pixel twice on your site it can be a detriment to performance, so it's always important to check before you install another one.

First of all, you need to install the Facebook Pixel Helper chrome extension which you can install by clicking here.

Then, visit your website by typing your web address into the address bar.

Check the Facebook Pixel Helper plugin icon in the top right of your screen.

If the icon comes up grey-coloured like this, then a Facebook pixel is not already installed and you can proceed with the rest of the guide.

If the icon comes up blue, then you already have a Meta pixel installed somewhere on your site. In this case, you should stop and find out who installed this pixel before continuing.

Sometimes it will be your website management company or ad agency that installs pixels for their own tracking, so be sure to check with these third parties.

How To Create a new Meta Pixel in Facebook Business Manager

Go to https://business.facebook.com and sign in with your Facebook profile.

On this page, click on "events manager" in the left-hand panel.

On the next page, click on "connect data sources" in the left-hand panel.

In the popup that appears, click "web"

In the next popup, you should enter a name for your pixel in the format "[Your Dealership Name]'s Pixel" and click "create pixel"

Now the pixel is created in your Facebook business manager.

How to Install the Meta Pixel code on your website

To install the Meta Pixel code you will first need to log in to the backend of your website.

Ask your website provider how to log in to the backend and add "custom head code". This may also be labelled as an option called "Custom Analytics Code"

This option will look like a textbox similar to the below:

Once you have found this option on your website, you will have to add the custom tracking code using your Pixel ID.

You can find your Pixel ID by selecting your Pixel in the Facebook Events Manager, and clicking "settings"

Pixel ID is listed as the first or second option.

Next, copy and paste the following code into your custom head code box (valid as of January 2023), changing where I have written "FACEBOOK PIXEL ID HERE" in both places to your Facebook pixel ID.

<!-- Meta Pixel Code -->

<script>

!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)

{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?

n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};

if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';

n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;

t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];

s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script',

'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js');

fbq('init', 'FACEBOOK PIXEL ID HERE');

fbq('track', 'PageView');

</script>

<noscript><img height="1" width="1" style="display:none"

src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=FACEBOOK PIXEL ID HERE&ev=PageView&noscript=1"

/></noscript>

<!-- End Meta Pixel Code -->

More information on installing the Meta Pixel can be found on Meta's website here: https://www.facebook.com/business/help/952192354843755?id=1205376682832142

How to Set up conversion tracking and custom conversions for your pixel

The next thing to set up is our custom conversions (conversion actions) for your website.

The most common conversion actions for a car dealership's website include:

• Requesting more information about a vehicle

• Scheduling a test drive for a specific vehicle

• Subscribing to an email list

• Completing an online application/finance form
  We want our Meta Pixel to "fire" (record) a conversion whenever a customer takes one of these actions. This is so that the performance of our Facebook and Instagram ads can be tracked properly.

Example: Setting up a custom conversion for a request for information on a vehicle

This is a screenshot of the send an enquiry form on a ClickDealer website, one of our clients.

We want the Meta pixel to fire a "conversion" whenever the "Send an Enquiry" button is clicked.

This means we have to find which page the customer lands on after they submit an enquiry, or the "Thank You" page.

So find this, submit an enquiry pretending you are a customer, and make a note of the URL on the page you land on (the "Thank You" page)

Now we are ready to set up our custom conversion.

We can set this up in the custom conversions dialog on the Events Manager in Facebook Business Manager.

First of all, visit the events manager and click on your pixel in the left panel.

Then click on the green Create button in the top right hand corner.

In the dialog that appears click "Custom Conversion".

Give your custom conversion a name and a description.

Make sure the Data Source is set to the Meta pixel you made earlier.

In the Rules section at the bottom, change the rule to URL -> Equals and then copy and paste the URL of your "Thank You" page in the "Add URL" box.

Click create and then your custom conversion is complete.

How to Check to see if your Meta Pixel installation works

To check to see if your installation works, you can repeat the process of the first step, and use the Facebook Pixel Helper Chrome Plugin.

Make sure you complete the conversion action you set up, and click on the Facebook Pixel Helper icon to see if any events are fired.

How to make sure you are getting the most out of your dealership's Meta pixel installation

Once you have your pixel set up, you are ready to run retargeting ads for your dealership. Check our full tutorial Facebook Ads Retargeting for Car Dealerships 2023 Guide: Converting Interest into Sales for more information on how to achieve this.

In our experience as a marketing agency working with car dealerships, we have found that many used car dealers do not take full advantage of all the features available via the Meta Pixel.

This means they are missing out on valuable insights and potential engagement opportunities, such as retargeting campaigns, gathering data on customer demographics and interests, and more.

1. Utilize data collected from the Meta Pixel to measure the effectiveness of campaigns and optimize accordingly. Make sure you are using the "Lead" conversion event type in your ads and this is being tracked properly through your custom conversions. The "Lead" custom conversion is best for car dealers who are generating sales or finance leads.
2. Leverage custom audiences created from visitors who have already interacted with your site and use them in retargeting campaigns. The car dealers we work with generally see best results with retargeting campaigns using audiences made up of website visitors, from 7 days, 14 days, and 30 days.
3. Use the conversions API where possible for extra tracking options. The Facebook conversions API is another tracking feature created by Facebook to reduce the negative impact of the ios14 update on advertisers. The Facebook iOS14 update affects car dealer advertising by changing the way data can be gathered and shared. The update requires app designers to get explicit permission from users before collecting data, making it more difficult to target consumers with ads. Furthermore, certain features such as custom audiences and conversion values will no longer be available, making it harder for dealerships to gain insights into their campaigns and market effectively.

Conclusion of the Article "The Ultimate Guide to using the Meta Pixel for Conversion Tracking for Car Dealerships 2023"

In conclusion, the Meta Pixel for Conversion Tracking is a powerful tool for car dealerships and other businesses in the automotive industry.

With its ability to track conversions across multiple platforms, it provides invaluable insights into customer behavior and marketing campaigns.

Moreover, it can be used to optimize ad targeting and develop effective strategies for driving qualified leads.

Our ultimate guide has equipped you with knowledge of how to get started and maximize your results when using the Meta Pixel.

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