Facebook Has a New Pixel, and Here’s What You Need to Know

Facebook is migrating to one pixel that combines both the Conversion Tracking pixel and the Custom Audience pixel.

This new and improved Facebook pixel will track activity on mobile, tablet, and desktop ads, and can be used by advertisers to serve dynamic ad formats. This marks a great improvement from Facebook Exchange’s retargeting, which could only track desktop activity and serve display link ads based on cookie retargeting.

If you’ve never created a Facebook pixel, there is no need to worry about converting over to the new one. However, if you have existing pixels, you’ll want to implement the change as soon as possible. The change does require effort to integrate, especially if you have existing retargeting campaigns set up. The new pixel code will need to be installed on your site pages to effectively track conversions and retarget before all legacy Facebook pixels are disabled.

Here are all the important dates you need to know.

Timeline of Migration to new Facebook Pixel

July 15, 2016

New ad accounts or accounts that have never created a tracking pixel will not be able to create conversion tracking pixels.

September 15, 2016

All ad accounts will no longer be able to create conversion tracking pixels. Previously-created conversion tracking pixels will still be available for use in campaigns and reporting.

October 15, 2016

Facebook will no longer actively support the conversion tracking pixel (for bugs, etc.). However, it will still be available for use in campaigns and reporting.

February 15, 2017

Conversion tracking pixel will be disabled. Results from campaigns that used the conversion tracking pixel will still be viewable in your reports, but all campaigns after this date will not have values populated in legacy pixel-related fields.

Resources To Help Migrate Over to the New Pixel

In order to help monitor the migration of the old pixels to one new pixel, Facebook has implemented tools to assist:

Pixel Migration Dashboard

Available in Facebook’s Ads Manager, this will ensure that you have installed the base code and any necessary events in the same place as the old pixel.

Pixel Helper

Available in the Google Chrome App store, Pixel Helper is to ensure your pixels are installed correctly. If you are viewing this in Chrome, you can download the app here: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/facebook-pixel-helper/fdgfkebogiimcoedlicjlajpkdmockpc

The New Pixel Code

The New Pixel Code is available at:
https://www.facebook.com/ads/manager/pixel/facebook_pixel/

About LiftEngine

Since 2005, LiftEngine's primary mission has been to help clients better understand and connect with their most responsive prospects and customers, online or offline. Our expertise is behind the marketing campaigns of 400+ clients.

Behind LiftEngine is LiftBase, our proprietary addressable consumer database. Comprised of 250 million US consumers, 140 million US households, and 1,000+ enhanced data elements, LiftBase powers our audience development services and industry-leading products, PortalLink and LaunchPad.

Let's connect today!