What is a Tracking Pixel

Tracking Facebook Pixels

In the digital marketing world, you hear the words “tracking pixel” or just “pixel” thrown around a lot, often times without any context as to what the heck it is. So, before we get into the nitty gritty, let’s start with the basics…

Have you ever been scrolling through Facebook and an ad shows up for something you were literally just talking about?

Weird, right?

While Facebook isn’t actually reading your mind (yet), they are using what we call a tracking pixel.

What is a Tracking Pixel?

Marketing pixels, aka tracking pixels, are essentially these tiny snippets of code that allow you to gather information about visitors on a website—how they browse, what type of ads they click on, etc.

Edit your tracking code

Retargeting Pixels

Retargeting pixels are focused solely on the behavior of your website’s visitors.

For example, let’s say you’re shopping online for new furniture and then you go onto an entirely different website, like Facebook, and notice that all of the pop-up ads are furniture related.

That’s how retargeting pixels work. They’re basically monitoring your behavior in order to tailor ads they think will catch your attention on other websites.

Conversion Pixels

A conversion pixel comes into play once a purchase has actually been made. They are responsible for tracking sales from a specific ad campaign.

Configure Conversion Pixel Code

In order to gather correct data, conversion pixels need to be placed within the code of an order confirmation page such as an automated “Thank You” you typically find in your inbox after buying something.

Conversion pixels also allow marketers to identify the source of their conversions and measure the success or failure of specific campaigns.

Why are Pixels Valuable?

As we mentioned before, pixels allow you to better understand your users’ online behaviors and shopping patterns.

By using pixels, marketers are able to track useful metrics like digital ad impressions, email opens, sales conversions, and pretty much any other type of activity related to their campaign.

Setup for Facebook Pixels

They also extend the impressions on a potential customer by showing them related paid ads even after they’ve left your website. A win-win situation.

The Downside

Unfortunately, the use of tracking pixels isn’t popular with everyone. Data protection advocates frown upon this marketing tool because it gathers extensive information about a user without their knowledge.

Critics argue that pixels violate user privacy and allow spammers to more easily access personal data.

That’s why it’s important to give your users the option to opt out.

Best Practices

Once you’ve familiarized yourself with the function of tracking pixels, it’s important to have some key strategies in place before getting started.

1. Be selective and intentional with your pixel usage. Quality over quantity is important here. Attaching pixels to every single user for every page they visit is overkill.

2. Be cautious of tracking pixel frequencies. They can slow down your site, and slow load times are the best way to ensure users will leave your page.

3. Keep your targeted campaigns in mind. There’s no need to waste tracking pixels on demographics you’re not aiming for.

4. Respect a user’s privacy and allow them to opt out of tracking if they choose.

Facebook Pixels can help you determine your digital audience and target market

The Takeaway?  

Size isn’t everything. By that, I mean tracking pixels might be a teeny tiny, practically invisible piece of technology, but they play a huge role in our current and future digital marketing landscape.

Never underestimate the power of the pixel.

This article was originally posted and adapted from Digital Marketer.

As one of the leading digital marketing agencies in Namibia, we specialise in tracking your social media to help your business succeed and determining your target market.

Don’t hesitate to contact V5 Digital for a free assessment or to help activate your Facebook Pixels today! It will help you track conversions from Facebook ads, optimize ads, build targeted audiences for future ads. With the tracking we can remarket to people who have already taken some kind of action on your website.

Falling in love with email

Email was and always will be marketers’ first (digital) love, and it’s turning more heads today than ever before. It has revolutionised the way in which marketing communications are executed.

But what about communicating with clients and employees on a more personal level?

Here’s a few suggestions you might find useful if you are serious about using email to its full potential; ensuring optimised customer service performance and consistent employee satisfaction.

Falling in love with emails

A labour of love

What’s your business relationship online status? Would clients call it a little “complicated”?

Gain some clarity by including one-click surveys in the form of a “Rate my Service” banner on all your employee emails. This will give your client the opportunity to provide feedback on the service they just received, and in return produce valuable insights on how your employees are really representing your business.

Real-time click alerts put you in the position to quickly work out how to put right any problems flagged up by unfavourable responses, so you can save the relationship. But there’s more…

What did the rating reveal about your employee? Did they measure up to the level you’ve come to expect from them or did they fall short of expectation? This invaluable information will help you to give praise (boosting employee confidence and leaving them with a feeling of appreciation) or maybe open your eyes to the need for some tough love and additional training.

I bet you never knew that one email could provide you with insights on both your clients and employees at the same time. Now isn’t that great news!

Emails can provide insights

Finding (and keeping) the perfect match

Email is the perfect solution for HR departments when it comes to recruiting and retaining employees.

When looking to fill new available positions, why not turn to existing employees first? Internal positions can be advertised in email banners to specific departments in order to target ideal candidates who fit the necessary criteria.

But this is just the beginning.  After having found the perfect candidate (whether internally or externally), your entire on boarding process can be automated. Do you remember your first day at a new company? Did you feel slightly overwhelmed, and a little unloved?

Make the candidate feel welcome and simplify the admin process with an on boarding campaign. Include valuable information and documentation in each mailer, such as policies and procedures, training schedules and more.

Every click is recorded, keeping you informed on the candidate’s engagement.

For the love of your employees

What if I told you that losing an employee could cost as much as 213% of their annual salary? I’ll give you a moment to let that one sink in.

And no, it’s not always “all about the Benjamin’s” for employees. They want to feel valued. They want to be involved. They want to feel empowered. They want to be challenged. They want to feel appreciated and loved.

Do any of these feelings resonate with you? Yes, we’ve all been there. And we have the perfect email solution for you.

Enter Internal Marketing.  You can inject specific, targeted internal marketing messages on email banners to different departments within your organisation. Distribute an important message from the CEO or convey a simple staff survey. Raise internal brand awareness to ensure employees are aligned with the organisation’s mission and vision. Notify them of upcoming events and don’t forget about wellness and safety messages.

The options really are endless and the key is to keep the communication alive. It’s all about engaging and involving them in the process.

An employee who is engaged, inspired, motivated and loved is not thinking about dumping you for another competitor anytime soon.

Have a look at these 6 Benefits of Email Branding for Internal Communications.

How does your communication skills measure up?

Our world is email, and well, we just LOVE email and all its endless possibilities.

It’s interactive. It’s personalised. It’s targeted. And the analytics speak for themselves.

So, if you feel that your business communication skills might be lacking and you’re serious about building stronger, more meaningful relationships with your clients and employees alike, we would love to hear from you. Maximize the potential of your email for improved, all-round communication.

This article was originally published by Rocketseed.

V5 Digital is the official Rocketseed Partner for Namibia. Unlock the power of email signature marketing!

Why not brand your most used form of communication and see the difference. Contact V5 Digital today, to get your company set up with Rocketseed.

How to Legally Use Copyrighted Images

With so much emphasis on visual content these days, it can be hard for businesses to keep up with their image demands, and continue to post high quality, relevant photos and graphics.

The ideal solution, of course, is to establish your own collection of original visual content to use, but that's often not possible, either due to time or capacity constraints. In that case, marketers and publishers will turn to the web for visual resources - but usage of the images you find via Google Images and the like can be risky, and could get your business in legal trouble, if you're not careful.

To help you avoid such, the team from Visme have put together this flow chart on digital image use, which provides pointers on where to seek permission, when you need to do so, and what you should look out for. 

And in addition to the flow chart, Visme has also put together a Fair Use Checklist (below the Infographic), providing additional insight on usage rules.

Make sure you take care in what, and how, you post with these tips. 

How to determine if you can use an images without any repercussion

This article was originally published by Social Media Today

As one of the leading digital marketing agencies in Namibia, we specialise in crafting clear and customer centric digital marketing content. We are more than capable to assist with any further inquiries you may have regarding copyrighted images. Don’t hesitate to contact V5 Digital today.