How to track Facebook ad traffic in Google Analytics?

by Rubes

Posted: 14 years ago 12 replies

Hi Warriors,

As the title says, I have active Facebook ads sending traffic to my website and I want to setup some better tracking stats than what Facebook provides (mostly to test conversions).

I use Google Analytics on my site already and would like to keep using this to track the Facebook ad traffic.

I have already tried several options, including using the Analytics 'URL Builder' to create a unique landing page for each Facebook ad. I have then proceeded to create several 'Advanced Segments' within Analytics so only specified landing pages with the exact match of URL trigger a hit within my stats.

Unfortunately this method still doesn't seem to be working and my 'Advanced Segments' are still not processing traffic although it is coming in daily from Facebook.

Has anybody had experience with this and if so, is there something I'm missing? Please share your experience if possible and it would be very much appreciated as always.

Regards,
Rubes.

#ad traffic #analytics #facebook #google #track #traffic

Rubes 14 years ago

So does anybody currently promote with Facebook Ads and track them in Google Analytics? Surely, there is someone who can help me out?

Thanks in advance,
Rubes
- Thanks
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logoonlinepros

Banned 14 years ago

[DELETED]

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MichaelParsons

14 years ago

Analytics will show you that someone came to your site from Facebook as "facebook.com/referral".

I don't think Google digs that deep into the referral URL information.

You can set a "goal' in analytics ( check the analytics site for how to do this best), or you can check the enter/exit pages of the "facebook.com/referral" to see what page the land on and where they go from the landing page.

If the analytics shows a bounce rate of 100%, this might not be a bad thing, especially if you're offering an affiliate link. But if you want them to land, the go somewhere on-site from the landing page, this would be bad.

Not exactly what you're looking for, but I hope it helps.

Thanks
1 reply

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Rubes

13 years ago

Originally Posted by MichaelParsons

Thanks a lot for that Michael, appreciate you going out of your way to explain things a little more.

I ended up creating new custom profiles within Analytics and then setting 'Filters' to these profiles to only capture traffic coming from my Facebook ads.

Seems to be working ok, not 100% accurate and I'm struggling with the goals but it's better than advertising in the dark like I was previously!

Cheers again,
Rubes.

Thanks

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DumbGuy 13 years ago

I'm just getting started with something similar: I've started experimenting with Facebook Ads (FbA), and I want to get Google Analytics (GA) to track such paid traffic like it does automatically for my Google AdWords (GAW) campaigns. I'm new to this, so below are just some thoughts as I work this out myself.

I haven't yet worked with Goals and conversion tracking. For now, my experience so far with using GA to track paid campaigns is by seeing traffic behavior down the road (page views, return visitors, etc.) in GA from paid clicks via GAW referred days or weeks earlier.

I notice that GA naturally "notices" referral traffic from Facebook (and my Facebook Ads) in the generic sense -- like it does for other natural traffic from other sites, and like Michael Parsons says above.

My new tagging of links from my paid FbA campaigns using GA's URL Builder (actually, I did it manually, but following how that tool works) is, hopefully, what will allow me to draw up reports based on specific ads or campaigns, digging deeper than that basic referral tracking GA already does.

I may get to using Advanced Segments and Goals/conversions later. We'll see. First things first. I think that now that I have all incoming traffic from FbA tagged properly (I hope), GA will be collecting the data, and I can fiddle with Segments, filters, reports and so on, later. Right now I just want to see bounces, return visitors, time on site, etc.

BTW: Does anyone have an extra Facebook Ads coupon they're not using? The one FbA sent me recently just expired. (A bunch I found around the web -- blogs, Twitter, etc. -- have all expired.) Thanks!

-DG
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ursimrankhanna 13 years ago

Hi,

Really don't know about this how to track the result of face book ad.
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yanivkalfa 13 years ago

well you can change the URL of facebook's ad and make it something like ...
Seo Ultimate Network /?FB=1
And have a little Php code that counts that FB=1 . that way you'll know how many members your getting from Facebook
You can do other things like that in other pages even with carts .. or transaction result pages.

but it mainly depends on how your website is built.
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- CBMoneymachine 13 years ago
  
  If you have already got the analytics tracking code on your landing page then you need to add this to the end of your destination url:
  
  www.yoursite.com?utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=yourcampaignamegoeshere
  
  That is it, set up some goals or event tracking in analytics and you will be able to see all the stats broken down just like you would for Yahoo, Google, Adcenter or any other advertising platform.
  
  Hope that helps. If not then give me a shout and I will give you a hand.
  
  Ross
  
  Thanks
  
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DumbGuy

13 years ago

...To add to Ross's comment, GA's URL Builder allows/shows/creates a few more optional variables to help you track your ads with a little more granularity if you like.

Last night I just set up some Goals. I'm glad I did. I thought it was something I could get to down the road, and it would process/summarize all my past traffic accordingly, but it looks like it's something that only starts when you activate it.

What I really like about this tracking of GA is that it gives me insight into visitor behavior long after I stopped the ad campaigns driving new traffic.

-DG

Thanks
1 reply

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searchnology

13 years ago

Either of these will work...using a parameter like yourdomain.com?FB=1 doesn't need a special script, just look under SOURCES of traffic and find Facebook.com then select "LANDING PAGES" as a secondary filter. You will see your FB=1, FB=2, etc. codes under the "landing pages" column.

Hope that helps!

Originally Posted by yanivkalfa

well you can change the URL of facebook's ad and make it something like ...
Seo Ultimate Network /?FB=1
And have a little Php code that counts that FB=1 . that way you'll know how many members your getting from Facebook
You can do other things like that in other pages even with carts .. or transaction result pages.

but it mainly depends on how your website is built.

Originally Posted by CBMoneymachine

If you have already got the analytics tracking code on your landing page then you need to add this to the end of your destination url:

www.yoursite.com?utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=yourcampaignamegoeshere

That is it, set up some goals or event tracking in analytics and you will be able to see all the stats broken down just like you would for Yahoo, Google, Adcenter or any other advertising platform.

Hope that helps. If not then give me a shout and I will give you a hand.

Ross

Thanks
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heatmiser 13 years ago

i'm totally miffed by this! i've created unique tracking urls for my facebook ads and created a few very basic GA goals to see if i can at least see the clicks. How hard can this be??? I'm using "exact match" for the url recognition and nada! I would create a funnel and track to checkout but seriously, there is no way i'm going to track even a nuclear warhead on approach!

why doesn't someone re-make a working / useable GA and sell it?
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- chrisbazzle 13 years ago
  
  From my affiliate network, I learned about Tracking202, which you should be able to use to track Facebook ads and to do split tests.
  
  Thanks
  
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numba8 13 years ago

Try Bevo Media. You can easily track your Facebook campaigns with Bevo...and its free. I used to used tracking202, but converted instantly once I tried Bevo

Check it out Bevo Media - Your Internet Marketing Homebase
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