Use Case - Details

PRE-SITUATION

Only 40% of conversions were measured

Through the standard Shopify plugin from Meta, only 40% of all conversions were measured. Because Meta facilitates its own plugin as a third party, they have to deal with strict legislation. As a result, Shopify webshop owners measure an average of only 20-40% of conversions. With this plugin, events cannot be sent in real time; instead, they are sent in batches every hour.

In the video below, you will see the difference between the actual conversions in Shopify and the conversions measured in Meta's Event Manager. Where in reality 70 conversions occurred, Meta was only able to measure 29 conversions.

For the analysis and optimisation of campaigns, it is naturally necessary to measure conversions as accurately as possible. Because if you don't know where conversions are coming from, how do you know where to optimise? The Meta algorithm can also optimise better if it's known where conversions originate from. This has a positive effect on campaign results.

THE PROCESS

Server-side tagging installed in conjunction with Google Analytics 4 configuration

After the problem was clear, the following steps were taken.

1. Installing a Google Tag Manager Server container

‍The Google Tag Manager Server container is an additional container on top of the existing web container. Often webshops and marketing agencies are accustomed to working within this web container, and the server container is new territory.

Because it's becoming increasingly difficult to measure visitor journeys using pixels (the cookie is deleted by Apple after 7 days), Google has created this solution. However, on the condition that the solution must be installed on your own server. This is because when data is processed via your own server, you own the data yourself and therefore use First Party data instead of Third Party data.

Additionally, there are two other key reasons why advertisers and Shopify users need Tag Manager Server Side:

• Because of the Apple ITP update, Meta can only attribute 5% of Apple user pixel data, meaning much less data is available. As a result, your campaign measurements are limited and the algorithm cannot perform correctly. Consequence: disappointing campaign results and higher costs per conversion.
• Meta's solution (Shopify plugin) can only measure 20-40% of actual conversions.

2. All events except purchase event forwarded via GA4 configuration

The next step was to forward all events. Through the Google Analytics 4 Web Configuration Trigger and the Facebook Incubator Tag, we ensured that all standard events were forwarded to Meta.

Do you want to know how we did this? Then read this article.

After the installation, Meta immediately provided a clear improvement in the measurability of a number of events:

• View content +5.1%
• Add to basket +9.6%

The improvement of this measurability has a positive effect on the final results. Meta's algorithm now gains more insight into the different data points and, as a result, into the entire customer journey. This provides more insight into which products are viewed and which products are added to the shopping cart in the webshop.

If a visitor has viewed a product and then added it to their shopping cart but not completed the order, you can use this data to show that visitor a retargeting ad to encourage a purchase after all.

3. Forward purchase events via Webhooks + DataLayer

Because Shopify is very limited in customising the checkout (unless you subscribe to Shopify Plus), measuring a payment is not straightforward. In the checkout, you only have the option to add a standard Google Tag Manager web script, meaning you can still only measure third-party data. At Detailrs, we saw that only 40% of completed payments were measured. In other words, the checkout and the thank-you page do not work well together for proper tracking.

We've solved this as follows. By including shopping data, as well as cookie data such as fbp and fbc*, in the DataLayer, we are able to also include this information in the order details. When the order is completed, we send all information to Meta via a webhook (via Tag Manager Server Side). This allows you to see that Meta also receives fbp and fbc information.

What is fbp and fbc?

An fbp is a cookie placed on your browser so that Meta can link your browser to a profile. Fbc is used to link the ad click to the advert the profile clicked on. In this case, you see that 53.16% of the buyers converted directly via the advert.

4. Adding Cookie Recovery

Apple is attempting to safeguard its users' privacy through all sorts of means. The new Safari 16.5 update also removes server-side cookies after 7 days, as the tagging domain name does not refer to the same last 6 digits of the IP address.

Because we installed a Master Cookie via AdPage Tagging, after Apple removes the cookie, it is reinstalled with the same fbp and fbc cookie.

THE CURRENT SITUATION

After implementing server-side tagging, there is 60% more data available.

By implementing server-side tagging, the available data has increased by more than 60%. Because Meta can collect more data, there is also more insight into the visitor journey. This makes optimising campaigns much easier and ultimately also leads to more conversions.

Leon speaking