Facebook standard events are a set of predefined events that allow developers to track user actions and funnel performance in their Facebook apps. These events enable developers to understand how users interact with their apps and website, ultimately helping them improve the user experience and achieve their business goals.
Why are Facebook standard events important?
There are several reasons why Facebook standard events are important for developers:
- Provide insights into user behavior – Standard events allow you to see what users are doing in your app such as viewing content, making purchases, registering accounts etc. This helps understand user journeys.
- Track conversion funnels – Events can be strung together into conversion funnels from initial engagement to final conversion. This helps identify where users are dropping off.
- Compare event performance – You can compare performance of different events to see which parts of the app are doing well and which need improvement.
- Optimize user experience – The insights from standard events can guide UX optimization and improvement of your app.
- Trigger automated flows – Events can trigger automated messages or follow-up actions to engage users.
- Attribute actions to campaigns – You can attribute specific on-site actions to Facebook ad campaigns to better understand their ROI.
In summary, implementing standard events provides the data you need to optimize user engagement, conversion, and overall app performance.
What are the different types of Facebook standard events?
Facebook defines 10 standard events that fall into three main categories:
Conversion Events
Conversion events track when a user completes a desired action. The 4 conversion events are:
- Purchase – User completes a purchase
- Lead – User becomes a sales lead by filling out a form
- Complete Registration – User finishes registration process
- Subscribe – User subscribes to a mailing list
Engagement Events
Engagement events measure interactions that bring users closer to conversion. There are 4 engagement events:
- View Content – User views page content
- Search – User performs a search
- Add to Cart – User adds item to shopping cart
- Add to Wishlist – User adds item to wishlist
App Events
App events track actions within mobile or desktop apps. The 2 app events are:
- Achieve Level – User completes game level or milestone
- Unlock Achievement – User unlocks achievement in-app
How to implement Facebook standard events
To implement Facebook standard events, you need to:
- Install the Facebook pixel plugin on your website or integrate the Facebook SDK into your mobile app.
- Initialize the Facebook pixel with your pixel ID.
- Trigger event tracking code at appropriate points within your app or website.
- Map your website or app actions to matching standard events.
- Test event tracking to confirm correct implementation.
- Optimize over time by analyzing event reports and adjusting where events are triggered.
Here is some sample code for triggering two common standard events:
Purchase Event
fbq('track', 'Purchase', {
value: 59.99,
currency: 'USD'
});
Complete Registration Event
fbq('track', 'CompleteRegistration');
How do Facebook pixel and standard events work together?
The Facebook pixel and standard events work hand-in-hand. Here is how they complement each other:
- Pixel installs tracking code needed to monitor events.
- Standard events provide predefined schemas for tracking actions.
- Pixel fires off event data to Facebook when standard events are triggered.
- Facebook aggregates event data from pixel into reports.
- Developers analyze standard event reports to optimize apps.
In summary, the Facebook pixel does the technical heavy-lifting of tracking while standard events provide the structure and categorization for tracking website and app activity.
What are some best practices for setting up standard events?
Some best practices for setting up standard events effectively include:
- Place the pixel base code on every page.
- Map events to logical pages or user actions.
- Avoid triggering too many events on one page.
- Make sure events are triggered at obvious points.
- Use unique event names if custom events are created.
- Use event parameters for extra tracking data.
- Enable server-side validation for purchase events.
- Check for unsuccessful events in the Events Manager.
- Review events frequently and optimize.
Properly implementing events from the start will allow you to maximize the value of Facebook analytics moving forward.
What are some advanced features of Facebook standard events?
Some advanced features that enable deeper tracking and analysis with standard events include:
- Custom data parameters – Add extra event-specific data like revenue or content IDs.
- Event sources – Denote events from web, mobile web, or app.
- Scheduled events – Schedule events to match actual activity timing.
- Attribution windows – Define windows for attributing conversions to ads.
- Automated advanced matching – Matches web and app events automatically.
- Aggregated events – Combines event data across domains and apps.
Marketers can leverage these advanced features to get an even more precise understanding of event and conversion performance.
What are some common use cases for Facebook standard events?
Some common ways that businesses leverage Facebook standard events include:
- Ecommerce sites tracking purchases, add-to-carts and product views.
- SaaS companies tracking subscriptions and registrations.
- Mobile apps tracking in-app purchases, levels achieved, and more.
- Blogs and publishers tracking content views and engagement.
- Marketplaces tracking transactions between buyers and sellers.
- Games tracking unlocking achievements and advancing to higher levels.
Virtually any app or website that wants to track conversions, engagement, and user behavior can benefit from standard events.
What are some limitations of Facebook standard events?
While standard events are very useful, some limitations include:
- Require technical implementation which may need developer help.
- Only work for users who don’t block the Facebook pixel.
- Offer less flexibility vs. fully custom events.
- Don’t track every single user action possible.
- Event data relies on pixel firing correctly.
- Complex flows may require custom events.
Standard events are meant to cover common scenarios for most businesses, but cannot account for every single use case. Custom events help fill these gaps.
How do Facebook standard events differ from custom events?
Standard events differ from custom events in a few key ways:
| Standard Events | Custom Events |
|---|---|
| Predefined by Facebook | Created according to your needs |
| Fixed parameters | Custom parameters |
| Standardized reporting | Ad-hoc reporting |
| Less implementation required | More implementation work |
| Automated advanced matching | Require manual advanced matching |
In summary, standard events are quicker to implement while custom events allow for more tracking flexibility and specificity.
Can Facebook standard events integrate with third-party tools?
Yes, Facebook makes standard event data available to many third-party tools via APIs, server-side feeds, and data partners. Some ways to leverage standard event data include:
- CRMs – Send event data to CRMs like Salesforce for further analysis.
- Analytics platforms – Import data into tools like Mixpanel for cross-channel analysis.
- Attribution tools – Attribute conversions to marketing channels.
- Data warehouses – Extract event data for business intelligence uses.
- Tag management systems – Use events as triggers for tags.
Standard events don’t lock you into only using Facebook’s analytics. They provide interoperability with many other marketing and analytics tools.
Should businesses create their own custom events or only use the standard ones?
The best practice is to use a combination of both standard and custom events tailored to your business needs. Here are some guidelines on when to use each type:
- Leverage standard events for common actions like sign-ups or purchases.
- Build custom events for unique or complex user flows.
- Start with standard events first to cover basics.
- Add custom events later to fill any gaps.
- Audit events periodically and optimize tracking.
In most cases, standard events will satisfy core tracking needs. Custom events can address more advanced or niche requirements. The two work together to provide comprehensive tracking of all user actions and conversions.
Conclusion
Facebook standard events are an invaluable tool for measuring app usage, engagement, and conversions. By providing predefined schemas for common actions, they make it easy for developers to start capturing behavioral data and connecting it back to business objectives. While not a fully comprehensive tracking solution, standard events lay a strong analytics foundation. Developers can build on top of them with custom events specific to the unique needs of their apps and use cases. Given their flexibility and wide adoption, Facebook standard events will continue providing actionable insights to developers far into the future.