Facebook Conversion API (CAPI)

As of June 15th 2021 our Elite plugin supports usage of the Facebook Conversion API. Facebook’s conversion API allows you to send web events from your server directly to Facebook. Server events are linked to your Facebook pixel and are processed like browser pixel events. This means that server events are used in measurement, reporting and optimisation in the same way as browser pixel events.

Now why add support for the Facebook Conversion API when it does exactly the same as the Facebook pixel feature which is already part of our plugin I hear you say? With the release of the IOS14 update from Apple data collection will be disrupted. The update impacts users who visit your website on iPhones, iPads and maybe even Apple laptops. Right now you can use the Facebook pixel, which basically places a cookie on someone’s device and allows advertisers (such as you ;-)) to see:

• what pages your visitors are visiting;
• what products or services they are clicking on;
• if they are adding products to their cart;
• what products are bought;
• …and more.

So what’s the big problem? For your website visitors, which is your advertising audience, they feel like their privacy and their behaviour is being exploited by you, the advertisers. Thats why multiple governments have been launching investigations into Apple and Facebook. In order to cope with the upcoming ban or regulations on pixels collecting data Facebook is pushing its clients towards using their Facebook Conversion API (which has been around for a while now) by limiting the number of  conversion events that can be tracked with the pixel. For now the limit has been set to 8 standard conversions, however changes are that this will further decrease over time.

As a result you are faced with two potential problems when you only use the pixel:

1. You may not be able to see accurate data coming into your Facebook ads manager;
2. You will struggle to optimise your campaigns for conversions when you do not have reliable data.

Luckily you can still track all of your conversion through the Facebook when you combine usage of the pixel and conversion API.

How to setup the Facebook Conversion API

Now bear in mind, before being able to use Facebook’s conversion API you need to make sure to have the Facebook pixel correctly implemented in your website. We recommend that you use the same pixel ID for your browser and server events.

You also need a Facebook Business Manager to be able to use the API. When you do not have a Business Manager yet, see Facebook’s Help Center article on how to create a business manager account. To use the Conversions API, you need an access token which you can generate in your Events Manager. The access token is passed as a parameter in each API call our plugins makes.

• Step 1 – Check the pixel you want to use
• Step 2 – Select the settings tab:

• Step 3 – Find the Conversions API section and click on the Generate access token link under Set up manually, and follow the instructions.

• Step 4 – Once you have your token head over to our general plugin settings. Now like indicated before, the assumption here is that you already have a working Facebook pixel implementation set-up with our plugin. All you need to do is enable the Facebook Conversion API feature and fill in the token you received from Facebook.

And that’s all, you now have a working Facebook Conversion API connection set-up and are ready to measure all your websites conversions again. You can verify if Conversion API (CAPI) set-up worked when in your Facebook Events Manager you will start seeing “Browser + Server” in your connection methods:

Don’t hesitate to reach out to our support-team in case you need help with this feature.