Facebook Pixel Setup Guide (Legacy)

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The Facebook Pixel tag combines the functionality of the Facebook Custom Audiences Pixel and the Conversion Tracking Pixel.

This is the legacy version of the tag and will soon be deprecated. (See new version)

This article describes how to set up the tag in your Tealium iQ profile.

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Prerequisites

• Facebook Ads Account
• Upgraded Facebook Pixel (or legacy Custom Audiences pixel)
• Conversion Pixel (legacy)

Tag Configuration

First, go to the Tealium tag marketplace and add the Facebook Pixel tag to your profile. (Learn more).

The best practice is to configure a single tag instance per pixel ID for standard PageView and event tracking.

After adding the tag, configure the settings described in the following table:

Setting	Description
Title	Enter a unique name to identify the tag Important if you are adding multiple instances of this tag
Facebook Pixel ID	Your Facebook Pixel ID This appears as a long series of numbers in the code snippet You may add multiple pixel IDs as a comma-separated list Example fbq('init', '12345678901234')
Conversion Pixel ID	Required only for tracking legacy Conversion Pixel (deprecated) The ID appears in the code snippet as: fb_param.pixel_id = '12345'; – OR – fbq('track', '12345') OR fbq.push(['track', '12345', { }]);
Allow Default Page View	Triggers the PageView event on all pages True Default value Turns on automatic PageView tracking for non-conversion events False Turns off PageView triggering when tracking conversion events If you do not want this default behaviour, you can turn it off using the flag disablePushState. When you set this flag to true, it will stop sending PageView events on history state change.
Default Event to Send	Select the event you wish to trigger by default This is primarily for use with the Conversion Pixel
Advanced Matching	Enables Facebook's Advanced Matching service. (Learn more) This is enabled by default, though customers must add data mappings to enjoy the benefits of Advanced Matching.
Auto calculate number of items	Choose whether or not to automatically count the items at checkout Default value is 'True'
Enable trackSingle	Enables the use of trackSingle and trackSingleCustom for Facebook event tracking calls. These trigger tracking calls only for the pixel IDs configured in this tag in scenarios where multiple Facebook pixels are loaded. Default value is 'True' Example fbq('trackSingle', 'FB_PIXEL_ID', 'Purchase', customData ) - OR - fbq('trackSingleCustom', 'FB_PIXEL
Enable trackCustom	Enables the use of trackCustom for Facebook event tracking calls. You can track custom events by calling the fbq('trackCustom') pixel function, with your custom event name and (optionally) a JSON object as its parameters. Example To track visitors who share a promotion in order to get a discount, you could track them using the custom shown in the following example: fbq('trackCustom','ShareDiscount',{promotion:'share_discount_10%'});

Load Rules

Load rules determine when and where to load an instance of this tag on your site.

Recommended Load Rule:

• For tracking standard PageView and events, use the default All Pages rule
• For tracking legacy Conversion Pixel, apply custom rule conditions to load the tag on specific conversion pages.

Data Mappings

Mapping is the process of sending data from a Data Layer Variable to the corresponding destination variable of the vendor tag.The destination variables for the Facebook Pixel tag are built into the Data Mapping tab. For instructions on how to map a variable to a tag destination, see Data Mappings.The following sections describe available categories:

Standard

Use these mappings to override the tag configuration settings. This can be useful if you want to set values dynamically based on your data layer.

Destination Name	Destination Variable	Description
Facebook Pixel ID	cust_pixel	Numeric identifier(s) of the Facebook Pixel
Conversion Pixel ID	conv_pixel	Numeric identifier of the legacy conversion pixel
Allow Init Page View [true/false]	page_view	'init' track call
List of Events to fire	evt_list	Events listed either as comma-separated values or an array in your variable
Enable trackSingle [true/false]	track_single	Enables use of trackSingle and trackSingleCustom for event tracking. Restricts event tracking to the pixel ID(s) added to the Facebook Pixel configuration in Tealium iQ in situations where multiple Facebook pixels are loaded.
Enable trackCustom [true/false]	track_custom	Enables the use of trackCustom for Facebook event tracking calls.  Custom event names must be strings, and cannot exceed 50 characters in length.

Advanced Matching

With this additional data, you can report and optimize your ads for more conversions and build larger re-marketing audiences. You can pass the customer identifiers that you collect from your website during the check-out, account sign-in or registration process as parameters in the pixel.

In Advanced Matching, the case of the term entered is normalized unless the item to be matched is already recognized.

Destination Name	Destination Variable	Description
Email	em	Email
First Name	fn	First name
Last Name	ln	Last name
Phone Number	ph	Numeric value of phone number
Gender	ge	f or m
Date of Birth	db	[ yyyymmdd]
City	ct	City
State	st	2-letter code
Zip	zp	Zipcode

E-Commerce

Since the Facebook Pixel tag is e-commerce enabled, it will automatically use the default E-Commerce Extension mappings. Manually mapping in this category is not needed unless you want to override any extension mappings or your desired e-commerce variable is not offered in the extension.

Destination Name	Destination Variable	Description	E-Commerce Extension Variable
Order ID	order_id	Unique identifier assigned to the final order	_corder
Sub Total	sub_total	Sub total amount of the final order	_csubtotal
Currency	order_currency	Currency used in the payment	_ccurrency
List of Product IDs	product_id	Unique identifier of each product in the product array	_cprod
List of Product Names	product_name	Name of each product in the product array	_cprodname
List of Categories	product_category	Category of each product in the product array	_ccat
List of Prices	product_unit_price	Unit price of each product in the product array	_cprice

Events

Map to these destinations for triggering specific events on a page. Events are used for tracking conversions and building targetable audiences for your Facebook ads. 

The "Purchase" event is automatically triggered when an Order ID value is available, either through the E-Commerce extension or a direct data mapping.

Use the following steps to map an event:

1. In the Trigger field, enter the value of the variable you are mapping to the destination that corresponds to the event selected.
   For example, if you want to trigger the Purchase event when event_name="order" is in your UDO, you would enter "order" (assuming you are currently mapping the variable event_name).
2. In the Event field, select the desired event from the drop-down list (e.g. Purchase).
3. Click + Add.

Custom Events

For custom events, select Custom and enter a name for the custom event.

In this following example the custom event "InboundLead" will be triggered when the variable event_name equals inbound_lead_event.

To edit a custom event, single click on the destination input field to edit the event name directly. The values are entered in the form: {VARIABLE_VALUE}:{DESTINATION_EVENT}.

• The left-side of the colon is the variable value that will trigger the event, such as inbound_lead_event
• The right-side of the colon is the custom event name, such as InboundLead.

Custom Event Data

Map to these destinations if you wish to pass a custom parameter with a custom Event that you mapped in the Events tab.

Use the following steps to map a Custom Event Data variable: 

1. In the Event Name field, enter the name of the custom event exactly as specified in the Events tab.
2. In the Parameter field, enter the name of the parameter you want to send.
3. Click + Add.

Full List of Standard Events

Destination Event	Event Description
AddPaymentInfo	Visitor adds payment details during the checkout process
AddToCart	Visitor adds an item to the cart
AddToWishlist	Visitor adds an item to the wishlist
CompleteRegistration	Visitor completes a registration form Example: visitor successfully subscribes to a newsletter
Contact	When a person initiates contact with your business via telephone, SMS, email, chat, or other method.
Conversion	For legacy Conversion Pixel only; requires the Conversion Pixel ID to be set
Custom	Visitor action is treated as a custom event Can be used for reporting custom audiences and custom conversions
CustomizeProduct	When a person customizes a product.
InitiateCheckout	Visitor takes the first step to begin checkout process Example: visitor clicks "Go to Checkout" button
Lead	Visitor action indicates his or her buying intent Example: visitor signup for a trial product
PageView	Visitor views any page on your site
Purchase	Visitor successfully completes the last step in the checkout process This event is required for tracking conversions; make sure to map it in the Events Tab
Schedule	When a person books an appointment to visit one of your locations.
Search	Visitor performs a search action
StartTrial	When a person starts a free trial of a product or service you offer.
SubmitApplication	When a person applies for a product, service, or program you offer.
Subscribe	When a person applies to start a paid subscription for a product or service you offer.
ViewContent	Visitor views a specific page, indicating their browsing intent

Parameters

Map to these destinations if you wish to pass additional data with the event(s) that you mapped earlier.

Parameters are only used with pre-defined events. See the Custom Event Data section to learn how to pass a parameter with a custom event.

Use the following steps to pass a parameter with a predefined event:

1. In the Event field, select a Facebook event from the drop-down list.
2. In the Parameter field, select a Facebook parameter from the drop-down list.
   For a Custom parameter, enter a name to identify the parameter.
3. Click + Add. 

Full List of Predefined Parameters

Destination Parameter	Description
Value	Value associated with the event
Currency	Currency associated with the Value parameter
Content Name	Name of the product or page
Content Type	Type of the product or page associated with the event
Content IDs	Any identifier(s) associated with the event
Content Category	Category of the product or page
Number of Items	Number of items at checkout
Search String	Keyword/term used in the search action
Order ID	Unique identifier of the final order
Status	Status of the CompleteRegistration event
Custom	Custom parameter to be passed with a predefined Event

Hotel Parameters

Map to the destinations listed in the following table to send hotel-related search and hotel booking details with the event(s) you mapped earlier.

Full List of Hotel Parameters

Parameter	Description
Content Type	Required Type of the product or page associated with the hotel. Ensure that the variable value equals 'hotel'.
Content IDs	Required Unique identifier(s) associated with the hotel.
Destination	Required String value describing the city, state, or country where the hotel is located. Example: San Fransisco.
Check-in Date	Required The date on which the visitor will be checking in to the hotel Corresponds to timezone of the hotel The following date formats are supported: YYYYMMDD YYYY-MM-DD YYYY-MM-DDThh:mmTZD YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssTZD
Check-out Date	Required The date on which the visitor will be checking out of the hotel Corresponds to timezone of the hotel The following date formats are supported: YYYYMMDD YYYY-MM-DD YYYY-MM-DDThh:mmTZD YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssTZD
Value	Required Relative value of the event to the advertiser Required for the Purchase event
Currency	Required Currency associated with the Value parameter Required for the Purchase event

 Optional Hotel Parameters

Parameter	Description
City	Optional City where the hotel is located
Region	Optional State/District where the hotel is located
Country	Optional Country where the hotel is located
Number of Adults	Optional Number of adults specified in the booking/search
Number of children	Optional Number of children specified in the booking/search
Suggested Hotels	Optional Identifiers of other hotels recommended for the visitor
User Score	Optional Relative value of the visitor to the advertiser Must contain a numerical value
Hotel Score	Optional Relative value of the hotel to the advertiser Must contain a numerical value
Purchase Currency	Optional Currency associated with the hotel booking transaction

Optional Hotel Parameters for Search Events Only

Parameter	Description
Preferred Star Ratings	Optional Search criteria is filtered by the hotel's star ratings
Preferred Price Range	Optional Search criteria is filtered by room rates
Preferred Neighborhoods	Optional Search criteria is filtered by location neighborhood

Journey Parameters

Map to the destinations listed in the following table to send visitor's travel details (flight or route journey) with the event(s) you mapped earlier.

Full List of Journey Parameters

Parameter	Description
Content Type	Required Indicates whether the journey type is flight or non-flight The variable value must equal "flight"* for flight journeys and "route" for non-flight journeys.
Origin	Required String value describing the city, state, or country where the journey begins. Example: San Fransisco, California, USA.
Destination	Required String value describing the destination city, state, or country. Example: Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Departing Departure Date	Required Date and time when the outbound journey begins The following date formats are supported: YYYYMMDD YYYY-MM-DD YYYY-MM-DDThh:mmTZD YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssTZD
Returning Departure Date	Required Date and time when the return journey begins The following date formats are supported: YYYYMMDD YYYY-MM-DD YYYY-MM-DDThh:mmTZD YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssTZD
Value	Required Relative value of the event to the advertiser Required for the Purchase event
Currency	Required Currency associated with the Value parameter Required for the Purchase event

Required Flight Parameters

The following parameters are required when the 'content type' value equals 'flight':

Parameter	Description
Origin Airport	Required IATA code (i.e. three-letter airport identifier) of the origin airport
Destination Airport	Required IATA code (i.e. three-letter airport identifier) of the destination airport

Optional Journey Parameters

Parameter	Description
Origin City	Optional Name of the city where the journey begins
Origin Region	Optional Name of the state/region where the journey begins
Origin Country	Optional Name of the country where the journey begins
Destination City	Optional Name of the destination city
Destination Region	Optional Name of the destination state/region
Destination Country	Optional Name of the destination country
Departing Arrival Date	Optional Date and time on which the visitor arrives at their destination The following date formats are supported: YYYYMMDD YYYY-MM-DD YYYY-MM-DDThh:mmTZD YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssTZD
Returning Arrival Date	Optional Date and time on which the visitor returns to the origin, completing the journey The following date formats are supported: YYYYMMDD YYYY-MM-DD YYYY-MM-DDThh:mmTZD YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssTZD
Number of Adults	Optional Number of adults in the travel
Number of children	Optional Number of children in the travel
Number of Infants	Optional Number of infant babies in the travel
Travel Class	Optional Indicates the type of class the visitor will be travelling in. For 'flight' journey, the variable should contain enum values such as economy, premium, business, first. For 'route' journey, the variable should contain a custom string value. Example: Economy
User Score	Optional Relative value of the visitor to the advertiser Must contain a numerical value
Purchase Value	Optional Price of the travel booking Recommended for Purchase and InitiateCheckout events.
Purchase Currency	Optional Currency used in the booking transaction

Optional Journey Parameters for Search Events Only

Parameter	Description
Preferred Number of Stops	Optional Search criteria is filtered by the number of stopovers Set the variable value to '0' for direct flights and '1' if the visitor has specified the number of stopovers.

Use Cases

This section provides use cases that represent real-life scenarios.

Use Case: Tracking PageView and Standard/Custom Events

Set the PageView event to be fired automatically on all pages and trigger all non-conversion via data mappings.

Use the following steps to set up this use case for your environment:

1. Configure the following settings:
   • Pixel ID: FB_PIXEL_ID
   • Allow Default Page view: True
   • Default Event to Send: None
2. Load the tag on all pages (default rule).
3. Map the variable event_name to the non-conversion event(s) of choice.

Use Case: Tracking PageView and Conversion Event (Deprecated)

Triggering a conversion event requires the Conversion Pixel ID. You may do this in the same tag instance you are using for tracking PageView and non-conversion events.

Use the following steps to set up this use case for your environment: 

1. Configure the following settings:
   • Pixel ID: FB_PIXEL_ID
   • Conversion Pixel ID: CONVERSION_PIXEL_ID
   • Allow Default Page view: True
   • Default Event to Send: None
2. Load the tag on all pages (default rule).
3. Map the variable event_name to the conversion event(s) of choice.

Use Case: Tracking Legacy Conversion Pixel Only (Deprecated)

The Conversion Pixel needs to be tracked in a separate tag instance. In this tag instance, leave the Pixel ID blank and disable automatic pageview tracking. Because you are not tracking specific events, no data mappings are required.

Use the following steps to set up this use case for your environment:

1. Configure the following settings:
   • Conversion Pixel ID: CONVERSION_PIXEL_ID
   • Allow Default Page view: False
   • Default Event to Send: Conversion
2. Apply custom load rules to load this tag on specific conversion pages.

Use Case: Multiple Pixels on A Single Page

The following use cases represent scenarios that can be used for multiple pixels on a single page:

• Shared Event Tracking
  • If you want multiple Facebook Pixels to share pageview and event tracking, you can add a comma-separated list of those pixel IDs to the Facebook Pixel ID field in the tag configuration settings.
  • Having several Facebook Pixels with their own pixel IDs may share event tracking with other Facebook Pixels on the page if their Enable trackSingle setting is 'false', although this may result in inconsistent tracking behavior and is not recommended.
• Individual Event Tracking
  • If you are loading more than one Facebook Pixel on a single page, and you wish to keep the tracking events from being recorded for all of the pixels on that page, then make sure the Enable trackSingle setting is 'true'.
  • This setting will fire event tracking only for the pixel IDs added for that tag.
  • If your Facebook Pixel in Tealium iQ was added before March of 2018, you may not be able to take advantage of the trackSingle feature.
    • In this case, update your Facebook tag template to the latest version. Note that the trackSingle setting is set to true be default.
    • You must map to track_single and set the value to 'false' to override and disable this feature.
• Versions that predate March 2018
  • If you added your tag after March of 2018, refer to the use cases above when setting up multiple Facebook pixels
  • Older versions of the Facebook Pixel were not designed to be loaded more than once on a single page.
  • The Facebook JavaScript library initializes a single instance of the fbq object, which is used for all tracking that occurs on the page (thus reusing the same pixel ID).
  • If you require more than one Facebook pixel, each with a different pixel ID, to be fired on a single page, and you are unable to update the tag template, then we recommend implementing the <noscript> version of the pixel using the Tealium Generic tag.

Example Scenario

Example of Facebook Pixel <noscript> code:

<noscript>
<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none"
 src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id={{FACEBOOK_PIXEL_ID}}&ev=PageView&noscript=1"
/>
</noscript>

In this scenario, the URL of the hidden image pixel can be configured as follows:

1. Add the Tealium Generic tag.
2. Set the Title to "Facebook Pixel (custom)".
3. Set the Base URL to "https://www.facebook.com/tr"
4. Set the Query String to id={{FACEBOOK_PIXEL_ID}}&ev=PageView&noscript=1".
   

   

5. Set the desired Load Rule and Data Mappings.
6. Click Apply.

Facebook Dynamic Ads for Tealium iQ

For additional information about how to set up Facebook Dynamic Ads in Tealium iQ, see the TLC article How to Set up Facebook Dynamic Ads in Tealium iQ.

Vendor Documentation

See the following vendor documentation for more information:

• Migrating from Deprecated Pixels
• Reference: Standard and Custom Events
• The Facebook Pixel FAQ
• Advertiser Help Center: Using Facebook Pixel with Tealium
• Conversion Tracking with the Pixel