How to set up a tracking pixel

In the previous piece, you learned that pixel is a code inserted into a website. By its means, you can learn which pages the user visited and thus record the performance of target actions. For example, registration on the website, product purchase, filling in the form, downloading a file, etc. This piece contains information on how to create and configure tracking pixels.

Step 1. If you are using an On-Premise solution, then ask the platform administrator to activate the pixels. To do this, he needs to go to the platform Administration Panel and activate pixels in the account settings.

As soon as you activate pixels, the corresponding «Pixels» section in the «Weblayer» will appear in the main menu of the platform

Then click «Create» in the upper panel.

Step 2. Type a name and description for the pixel. Set access groups.

Step 3. Select the database. The pixel will collect information on behaviour of the users whose data is in this database. If a new customer who has performed the target action is not in this database, their data will be uploaded here.

Step 4. If you need to block reactivation of the triggers, set the interval after which the trigger will activate again. By default, the interval is 30 minutes (i.e. if a user visits a page with a pixel several times within 30 minutes, the pixel will work only once).

Step 5. Allow data import on the pixel.

In this case, when the pixel is triggered, the data of the user who has just visited the page will be transferred to the platform. If the same customer data already exists in the database, the platform will add the information collected by the pixel to their profile. If the customer is not in the database, the platform will create a new profile.

• HTML pixels (image and link redirect) use cookies to search for a profile. If a profile with known cookies (for instance, a user opened an email from the same device) is not found, a new anonymous profile will be created.
• JavaScript pixels can use both session data and profile data in the platform. If a profile is found, data will be automatically updated. If it is not, a new profile will be added with the data you specify.

Step 6. Allow a redirect via pixel.

In this case, if a user visits a website page with your pixel, they will be redirected to the URL you specified:

Using a redirect link, an attacker can send a phishing email containing a malicious website in redirect_url. To prevent this, a redirect via pixel is disabled in the platform.

When you activate the option, a text field will appear on the screen. You can enter a list of domains that you want to redirect there. After that, in messages using this pixel, a redirect will be available only to the domains specified in the list. A redirect to other domains will be prohibited.

A redirect is only available if you add a pixel to your website («Clickthrough»).

Step 7. Save the settings by clicking the button in the upper right corner. Then you will get your pixel code.

Step 8. Open the pixel code by clicking «Show pixel code»:

Select a pixel type that you need for your marketing goals:

• Show a page — JavaScript to insert into the website code. It supports triggering when scrolling the page and waiting time.

To avoid triggering a pixel when random people visit the page, add waiting time. For example, if you set a waiting time of 20 seconds and the user leaves the page earlier, the pixel will not be triggered. Another way to avoid random website visitors is to enable the «Activate after scrolling» option. In this case, the pixel will be triggered only when the user scrolls through the page.

• Show a page (No JS) — transparent image uploaded from the tracking server. It can be applied to both a website and messages, JavaScript is not required.

• Click a link (No JS) — a redirect to link tracking. It can be applied to any links, JavaScript is not required. It can be used in social media and external resources.

Step 9. Set a goal and specify its value:

Goal is a target action. You can select one or more goals for each pixel and set your values for each goal. If a customer performs a specified action, information about it is transmitted to the platform along with the value.

Here are some examples of these actions: sale, interest, request. Their values can be expressed in points or cost. For example, the action is «Product purchase», and its value is 2000.

Step 10. Copy the pixel code and submit it and the instructions to developers. They will add the code to the pages where you want to track user activity.