In a world where data is king, businesses constantly seek new and innovative ways to collect insights from their audience. Enter pixel tracking – an effective technique to track user behavior, target ads, and improve marketing campaigns.
But let’s face it; not everyone reading this might know the exact meaning of the term – pixel tracking.
So in the article, we will break down what pixel tracking is, its benefits, and the pixel tracking tools you can use to track and analyze customer data.
What is Pixel Tracking?
Pixel tracking is a small 1 X 1 pixel-sized digital image embedded and hidden in the background of the web pages, banner ads, and emails you browse through daily.
Also known as web beacons, marketing pixels, or just pixels, these images are usually camouflaged to the background color. Hence, it remains undetected by the naked eye.
Pixel tracking is no complicated jargon. It works just as you use Google Analytics or other analytical platforms to measure performance.
You add the tracking pixel via your site’s HTML code or email, which contains an external link to the pixel server.
Next, when a user visits the webpage having the HTTP pixel tracking, the browser fires up the code and follows the link to the pixel server, where it enquires and opens the graphic.
Whenever the browser raises an inquiry, the server logs it into files. But that’s not the only thing it does.
This means when a visitor lands on a webpage that has a pixel tracking code embedded in it, they generate an HTTP request to download the pixel attached to the content on the webpage.
Once the server collects the data, it can help marketers, brands, and businesses build better content and digital ad experiences for the users. How? Let’s find out 👇🏻
What is Pixel Tracking Used For?
Pixel tracking is exceptionally beneficial for advertisers and marketers out there. It lets them identify the core habits of website visitors, like:
- The device used to access the website
- The OS used on the device
- Time at which the website/landing page/email was visited
- The browser used (Chrome, Edge, Safari)
- Geo-location of the device
- IP Address
- Activity on the site from the device (when using multiple tracking pixels)
And the list goes on…
Although these pieces of information are the building blocks, pixel tracking goes a step ahead to deeply analyze your marketing efforts.
For example, most marketers use the insights provided to create a user navigational path or click path.
Pixel tracking is also used by Google Analytics and related services that tell companies the number of website traffic or conversions from time to time. That said, pixel tracking can be segmented and used via various methods and for different use cases.
Retargeting Pixel Tracking
Image Source: socialmediaexaminer
Retargeting pixels are popular among advertisers and digital marketers. They are solely used to track the behavior of your website visitors.
Tell us: Has it ever happened you checked the prices of the latest iPhone on Amazon, and the next time you visit Meta, you’re bombarded with iPhone ads and best deals?
That’s precisely how retargeting pixels work. They track users’ movement from one website to another and help you pitch them the right ad at the right time and on the right platform.
Conversion Pixel Tracking
Image Source: Facebook
Conversion pixels are used to track the number of sales resulting from marketing campaigns. Ideally, this pixel tracking is embedded in the order confirmation page or the ‘Thank You’ email you receive after a successful purchase.
As of today, conversion pixels are used to track every specific activity completed by a visitor that accounts for a conversion in the marketer’s book – purchases, newsletter signups, button clicks, or other actions.
Meta Pixel Tracking
Organizations using Meta ads to reach a wider audience specifically use Meta pixels to track users who interact with Meta platforms, Instagram included.
This type of pixel is a unique code that gets embedded into your Meta ads and helps you with the following:
- Track Meta and Instagram ad conversions
- Build a target audience
- Optimize your ads
- Remarket to your website visitors
Likewise, there are other methods of pixel tracking that make the overall process mainstream, such as:
- Postback pixel tracking: To track the number of app downloads mobile users make.
- Time delay tracking pixel: To track how long visitors stay on a particular web page.
- Landing page tracking pixel: To track the engagements of specific landing pages.
Benefits of Pixel Tracking
Improved Understanding of User Behavior
Pixel tracking allows website owners and marketers to track user behavior in a more granular and detailed way. It helps find answers to three vital questions:
- Which pages does a user visit?
- How long do they stay?
- What actions did they take? (such as clicking on a link or filling out a form)
Having answers backed by data allows you to create targeted and personalized marketing campaigns for users.
Better ROAS
Comparing campaign performance is not uncommon among organizations or marketing teams. After all, we’ll want to bet on the winning horse.
Pixel tracking provides essential data for measuring the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. By tracking which ads are most effective at driving conversions, savvy marketers like you can optimize their campaigns to target the right audience with the right message.
Here are the benefits pixel tracking offers:
- Improve brand recall
- Higher engagements
- More conversions
Enhanced Data Collection
Pixel tracking can be used to collect customer data like demographics, gender, device used, etc. You can use this data to create detailed buyer personas that will help you understand your customers better.
Pixel Tracking Best Practices
Use a Third-Party Pixel Tracking Tool
Third-party pixel tracking tools can help you get accurate user behavior data from your website. Such tools leverage pixel tracking to analyze user activity that allows you to get insights into how a visitor behaves from the start to the end of their journey on your website.
Use Pixel Tracking to Optimize Your Campaigns
When creating pixels, ensure that it’s targeted and intent-driven. For example, you can use pixels to determine which pages on your website are the most popular, which products or services are the most in demand, and which types of content are most engaging to your audience.
Placement Matters
To get the most accurate data from your pixel tracking, it’s crucial to implement it correctly. This means placing your pixel code in the right location on your website or app and ensuring it functions properly.
You should also regularly test the reliability and effectiveness of your placed pixels using A/B testing (most third-party tools offer this functionality) to ensure that it collects data accurately and consistently.
Respect Users Privacy
When it comes to pixel tracking, respecting user privacy is crucial. No user wants a business to look into what they browse through or do on the web all day. This means ensuring that only the data relevant to your marketing goals are collected and not any sensitive information without user consent.
Top Pixel Tracking Tools
#1. LinkTrackr
LinkTrackr is a web-based pixel tracking tool that allows you to accurately track visitors’ behavior on your website. This feature is highly customizable, enabling users to set up tracking for specific pages, track different events, and even monitor conversions.
Implementing pixel tracking with LinkTrackr is easy, and it doesn’t require any technical knowledge or coding expertise. Simply copy and paste the pixel code on your website, and you’re good to go.
Additionally, LinkTrackr’s Pixel Tracking provides real-time reporting, giving users instant access to their website’s performance. This feature enables businesses to adjust their marketing strategy quickly and make data-driven decisions based on their website’s performance.
#2. AdsBridge
AdsBridge is a global affiliate software with its services spread over 160 countries. Its pixel tracking feature is ideal for affiliate networks or offers to track conversion directly.
AdsBridge provides ready-made pixel templates that can be copied and pasted onto a landing page, offer, or affiliate network. When the pixel fires up (an industry term for when a pixel sends an inquiry to servers), the conversion is recorded in AdsBridge statistics.
You can then view statistics by all conversions in total or separately by specific ones as well as filter them and sort them by various parameters (by traffic source or by affiliate network).
#3. Cometly
Cometly is an easy-to-setup pixel tracking tool with the most advanced technology. To begin with, the tool has the ability to bypass ad blockers, especially on iOS 14, that limit your attribution.
For most affiliate networks, the attribution window is narrowed down to 7 days. That means if someone makes a sale using your ad on day 8, the ad platform won’t record it. Cometly, however, bypasses this limitation and tracks pixels for up to 30 days. So now, you will never miss out on commissions.
Last but not least, Cometly advanced tracking algorithm implements data directly from your 1st party platforms. This means the data is hyper-accurate with absolutely no guessing or modeling involved.
#4. OpenedOrNot
OpenedOrNot has a suite of tools, one of which is dedicated to pixel tracking, allowing companies and marketing teams to track email activities with the help of invisible pixel tracking.
You can add it as an extension to your browser and easily keep a record of how your emails are being opened and by whom.
There are several features of the tool that excite us. For example, you can:
- Use email tracking pixels to optimize future campaigns and choose the best-performing campaigns using A/B testing.
- Receive real-time notification when someone opens up your email
- Receive daily/weekly reports of email campaigns for various parameters such as read/unread emails, clicking on internal links, etc.
- Set automated reminders at your convenience to follow up on the emails
Besides, OpenedOrNot does not collect personal or sensitive data, so your data is always safe, secured, and yours.
#5. PastePixel
PastePixel is an easy-to-use email tracking tool. It lets you create and embed trackable pixels in your email with just a few steps.
Moreover, the tool has built-in analytics allowing you to foresee performance on the go. You can either choose from the gallery of pre-built graphs and diagrams or create custom data visuals to present your data.
With a simple and intuitive interface, users can easily create and share pixel-tracking code or directly copy-paste the code into the editor. The tool also supports syntax highlighting for various programming languages, making embedding tracking codes into your website even easier.
Wrapping Up
Every marketer needs to track customer behavior to know their audience better. Pixel tracking gives you this opportunity to do so, at same time taking care of the user’s privacy.
The tools we mentioned above are the best in the business out in the market to embed pixels on your website and get things started. Use all of them and choose the one that suits your business needs.
you may also explore how to create a step-by-step data-driven marketing strategy for your business.
