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Optimizing Facebook Ads for Content Engagement: 4 Custom Conversion Ideas

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optimizing facebook ads for content engagement 4 custom conversion ideas

We all know Facebook Pixel. The little snippet of code that is tasked with sending interaction and conversion data back to Facebook Ads algorithm for delivery optimization and tracking. With its set of standard events and the ability to track Custom Conversions, Facebook Pixel is a key element of the Facebook Ads platform.

While the standard events cover different scenarios for a variety of common conversions such as purchases or downloads, but what if we need to track and optimize for something that’s not “standard”? In this post, we will take a look at some unconventional use-cases for implementing Facebook Pixel custom conversion with a focus on optimizing for content engagement.

In order to follow the instructions provided in this post, you will need basic Google Tag Manager knowledge. If you’re not familiar with GTM or need to refresh your mind about it, make sure to check out Google Tag Manager Basics.

Base Facebook Pixel installation using Google Tag Manager

Before diving into our use cases, let’s quickly go through installing Facebook Pixel through GTM. All of the custom event codes that we will add later will rely on this base code. It’s not necessary to install the Pixel using GTM, you might as well do a manual installation.

Google Tag Manager has native integrations for a wide range of platforms but Facebook Pixel needs to be installed as a Custom HTML tag.

  1. Login to Google Tag Manager and create a New Tag.
  2. Name your Tag, something like Base Facebook Pixel.
  3. Select Tag Configuration and then pick Custom HTML as the tag type.Google Tag Manager tag type selector
  4. Copy your Facebook Pixel code, paste it here and save the tag.Paste Facebook Pixel code in the Custom HTML tag.
  5. Now it’s time to define a trigger and set the conditions for firing the tag we just defined. We want the Facebook Pixel to be fired on every page of our website. Set the Trigger to Page View on All Pages. Don’t forget to save your tag.Setting the Page View trigger to All Pages
  6. Make sure to test your new tag using Preview mode and also through Facebook Pixel Helper plugin for Chrome.

Now that we have our base Pixel set up, let’s look into use cases for Custom Conversions.

1- Delayed Pixel fire

A while back we were asked by a client about optimizing Facebook campaigns towards content consumption. Optimizing for Landing Page View seems to be a good way for achieving that goal if you see the engagement you expect but in this case, we needed to make sure the visitor spends a minimum amount of time on the landing page. That’s why we started to look for ways to define that as a custom conversion and optimize for it.

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  1. The first thing we need is to fire a conversion pixel for the desired web page engagement. Here we want to create a custom conversion if a visitor spends 7 seconds or more on our page In Tag Manager, create another Custom HTML tag and type the code below.<script>
    fbq("trackCustom", "Content Engagement");
    </script>

    As you see we’re taking advantage of Facebook Pixel’s fbq function to define a custom event called Content Engagement.
    Naming the Custom Conversion using fbq function.

  2. The script we just wrote is dependent on the base Facebook Pixel code and for this reason, we need to make sure it fires up after the base code is loaded. We will be using the Tag Sequencing feature under Advanced Settings to load the custom event code after the base Pixel tag.
    Expand the Advanced Settings section and check the box next to “Fire a tag before [your tag name] fires”. Select the base Facebook Pixel tag from the dropdown menu.Setting the Tag Sequencing settings.
  3. Now it’s time to define the trigger. Click on Triggering panel and then on the (+) sign on the top right of the page. Select Trigger Configuration so you can see the list of all triggers. Select Timer trigger type. As you see, we’ve named our trigger “7 Seconds”.
  4. Enter the amount of time that you like to delay your pixel fire (aka when your custom event fires) under Interval. As you see this is in milliseconds so we have entered 7000 for 7 seconds.Another important setting here is Limit, we want the custom event to only fire once, so we have entered 1. If you leave this blank the custom conversion will fire every 7 seconds (or whatever interval duration you have defined).

    Finally, we need to define the conditions for firing the tag. We would like to record our Content Engagement custom event on every page of your website and have used the RegEx (regular expression) operator to include all pages. Save your work!Setting up Timer trigger.

  5. Publish your Tag Manager workspace with all new changes. It’s time to test now. You can use GTM’s preview and debug mode or Facebook Pixel Helper like us. In addition to the PageView event which shows the base Pixel is fired we should also see our custom event loaded after our defined interval. This is how it loads in our example: it takes a couple (7 seconds to be exact) for the conversion action to load:Checking the Custom Conversion with Pixel Helper plugin.

Voila! We got our Custom Event fired, all we need to do next in order to be able to optimize our campaigns for this conversion is to define a Custom Conversion.

Navigate to Custom Conversions in Events Manager and create a new conversion. Select the Custom Event you created in previous steps under Website Event dropdown. You can add rules to your custom conversion if you wish to track it only on certain pages of your website. Assign a name, a category, and a value. The last two are optional but very helpful when it comes to reporting and measuring the RoAS (Return on Ad Spend).

Choosing Content Engagement as a Conversion Event in Facebook Ad Manager

That’s it! You have successfully created your Custom Event and also Custom Conversion for a delayed Facebook Pixel. In the following sections, we apply the same process to other use cases of deploying Facebook Custom Events using Google Tag Manager.

2- Page Scroll Depth

Defining page scroll depth as a Custom Conversion can work as a proxy for how well the audience is engaged with the landing page. Examples are more complex products or services with content-heavy and long landing pages or simply on blogs, news websites and other content distribution businesses.

The process for defining our Custom Event and Conversion is the same as what we just went through for the Delayed Pixel fire example. The only thing that changes Step 4 from the previous section and that is the Trigger Type that we need to select in GTM. This time we will be using the Scroll Depth trigger.

Google Tag Manager Page Depth trigger settings

You have options for making our Custom Event tag fired for vertical, horizontal or a hybrid of both depending on the user experience on your website or app. And the measurement of the scroll depth can be based on the percentage or pixels. So for example, you can define your Custom Event tag to fire only when the user has scrolled down 75% of your landing page.

3- YouTube Video Views

This will be a great fit for those who use videos embedded from YouTube on their pages. It can be a recorded webinar, a video course website or a vlog. You can tie your Facebook Custom Conversion to YouTube Video trigger in GTM and optimize towards different sorts of video content engagement.

Google Tag Manager YouTube Video View trigger settings

Again, the main process stays the same as our first example of Delayed Pixel fire. The only different step is the Trigger Type and this time we are using YouTube Video.

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You can track video start, completion, pause, seeking and most importantly video watch progress. Make sure you’re creating separate tags in case you’re interested in testing different optimization actions as it can muddy up your results. You can define either percentage or time-based event captures depending on your video length and user experience.

4- Element Visibility

There can be cases where you are interested in tracking and optimizing for actions like the visibility of a certain element on your landing page. Examples can be firing a Custom Conversion when a user stays on a certain image for more than 2 seconds. Or, if they made it to at least the 3rd photo in your product photo gallery. The Trigger Type that allows us to define such engagements to fire a Custom Conversion tag is Element Visibility. 

Google Tag Manager Element Visibility trigger settings.

Follow the same process that is explained in the first section of this post. Element Visibility tag gives us options to identify the desired page element(s) with their element ID or CSS Selector. You can define a minimum time for the on-screen duration (in milliseconds) and also there are other settings that you can tweak to get the right combination of conditions that you like to be considered as a conversion. 

As you see the options for firing your Custom Conversion code using Google Tag Manager are almost endless. You can track and optimize your Facebook conversion campaigns for different types of user interactions depending on your use case and user experience. 

I hope this blog has given you some great ideas for optimizing your Facebook campaigns with creative Custom Events that are representative of high-quality content engagement. If you’re interested in learning more about Google Tag Manager and tracking important interactions on your website or apps, this Google Analytics Academy course is a great place to start.

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How To Combine PR and Content Marketing Superpowers To Achieve Business Goals

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A figure pulls open a dress shirt to reveal the term PR on a Superman-like costume, reflecting the superpower resulting from combining content and PR.

A transformative shift is happening, and it’s not AI.

The aisle between public relations and content marketing is rapidly narrowing. If you’re smart about the convergence, you can forever enhance your brand’s storytelling.

The goals and roles of content marketing and PR overlap more and more. The job descriptions look awfully similar. Shrinking budgets and a shrewd eye for efficiency mean you and your PR pals could face the chopping block if you don’t streamline operations and deliver on the company’s goals (because marketing communications is always first to be axed, right?).

Yikes. Let’s take a big, deep breath. This is not a threat. It’s an opportunity.

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Reach across the aisle to PR and streamline content creation, improve distribution strategies, and get back to the heart of what you both are meant to do: Build strong relationships and tell impactful stories.

So, before you panic-post that open-to-work banner on LinkedIn, consider these tips from content marketing, PR, and journalism pros who’ve figured out how to thrive in an increasingly narrowing content ecosystem.

1. See journalists as your audience

Savvy pros know the ability to tell an impactful story — and support it with publish-ready collateral — grounds successful media relationships. And as a content marketer, your skills in storytelling and connecting with audiences, including journalists, naturally support your PR pals’ media outreach.

Strategic storytelling creates content focused on what the audience needs and wants. Sharing content on your blog or social media builds relationships with journalists who source those channels for story ideas, event updates, and subject matter experts.

“Embedding PR strategies in your content marketing pieces informs your audience and can easily be picked up by media,” says Alex Sanchez, chief experience officer at BeWell, New Mexico’s Health Insurance Marketplace. “We have seen reporters do this many times, pulling stories from our blogs and putting them in the nightly news — most of the time without even reaching out to us.”

Acacia James, weekend producer/morning associate producer at WTOP radio in Washington, D.C., says blogs and social media posts are helpful to her work. “If I see a story idea, and I see that they’re willing to share information, it’s easier to contact them — and we can also backlink their content. It’s huge for us to be able to use every avenue.” 

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Kirby Winn, manager of PR at ImpactLife, says reporters and assignment editors are key consumers of their content. “And I don’t mean a news release that just hit their inbox. They’re going to our blog and consuming our stories, just like any other audience member,” he says. “Our organization has put more focus into content marketing in the past few years — it supports a media pitch so well and highlights the stories we have to tell.”

Storytelling attracts earned media that might not pick up the generic news topic. “It’s one thing to pitch a general story about how we help consumers sign up for low-cost health insurance,” Alex says. “Now, imagine a single mom who just got a plan after years of thinking it was too expensive. She had a terrible car accident, and the $60,000 ER bill that would have ruined her financially was covered. Now that’s a story journalists will want to cover, and that will be relatable to their audience and ours.” 

2. Learn the media outlet’s audience

Seventy-three percent of reporters say one-fourth or less of the stories pitched are relevant to their audiences, according to Cision’s 2023 State of the Media Report (registration required).

PR pros are known for building relationships with journalists, while content marketers thrive in building communities around content. Merge these best practices to build desirable content that works for your target audience and the media’s audiences simultaneously.

WTOP’s Acacia James says sources who show they’re ready to share helpful, relevant content often win pitches for coverage. “In radio, we do a lot of research on who is listening to us, and we’re focused on a prototype called ‘Mike and Jen’ — normal, everyday people in Generation X … So when we get press releases and pitches, we ask, ‘How interested will Mike and Jen be in this story?’” 

3. Deliver the full content package (and make journalists’ jobs easier)

Cranking out content to their media outlet’s standards has never been tougher for journalists. Newsrooms are significantly understaffed, and anything you can do to make their lives easier will be appreciated and potentially rewarded with coverage. Content marketers are built to think about all the elements to tell the story through multiple mediums and channels.

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“Today’s content marketing pretty much provides a package to the media outlet,” says So Young Pak, director of media relations at MedStar Washington Hospital Center. “PR is doing a lot of storytelling work in advance of media publication. We (and content marketing) work together to provide the elements to go with each story — photos, subject matter experts, patients, videos, and data points, if needed.”   

At WTOP, the successful content package includes audio. “As a radio station, we are focused on high-quality sound,” Acacia James says. “Savvy sources know to record and send us voice memos, and then we pull cuts from the audio … You will naturally want to do someone a favor if they did you one — like providing helpful soundbites, audio, and newsworthy stories.”  

While production value matters to some media, you shouldn’t stress about it. “In the past decade, how we work with reporters has changed. Back in the day, if they couldn’t be there in person, they weren’t going to interview your expert,” says Jason Carlton, an accredited PR professional and manager of marketing and communications at Intermountain Health. “During COVID, we had to switch to virtual interviewing. Now, many journalists are OK with running a Teams or Zoom interview they’ve done with an expert on the news.”

BeWell’s Alex Sanchez agrees. “I’ve heard old school PR folks cringe at the idea of putting up a Zoom video instead of getting traditional video interviews. It doesn’t really matter to consumers. Focus on the story, on the timeliness, and the relevance. Consumers want authenticity, not super stylized, stiff content.”

4. Unite great minds to maximize efficiency

Everyone needs to set aside the debate about which team — PR or content marketing — gets credit for the resulting media coverage.

At MedStar Washington Hospital Center, So Young and colleagues adopt a collaborative mindset on multichannel stories. “We can get the interview and gather information for all the different pieces — blog, audio, video, press release, internal newsletter, or magazine. That way, we’re not trying to figure things out individually, and the subject matter experts only have to have that conversation once,” she says.

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Regular, cross-team meetings are essential to understand the best channels for reaching key audiences, including the media. A story that began life as a press release might reap SEO and earned media gold if it’s strategized as a blog, video, and media pitch.

“At Intermountain Health, we have individual teams for media relations, marketing, social media, and hospital communications. That setup works well because it allows us to bring in the people who are the given experts in those areas,” says Intermountain’s Jason Carlton. “Together, we decide if a story is best for the blog, a media pitch, or a mix of channels — that way, we avoid duplicating work and the risk of diluting the story’s impact.”

5. Measure what matters

Cutting through the noise to earn media mentions requires keen attention to metrics. Since content marketing and PR metrics overlap, synthesizing the data in your team meetings can save time while streamlining your storytelling efforts.

“For content marketers, using analytical tools such as GA4 can help measure the effectiveness of their content campaigns and landing pages to determine meaningful KPIs such as organic traffic, keyword rankings, lead generation, and conversion rates,” says John Martino, director of digital marketing for Visiting Angels. “PR teams can use media coverage and social interactions to assess user engagement and brand awareness. A unified and omnichannel approach can help both teams demonstrate their value in enhancing brand visibility, engagement, and overall business success.”

To track your shared goals, launch a shared dashboard that helps tell the combined “story of your stories” to internal and executive teams. Among the metrics to monitor:

  • Page views: Obviously, this queen of metrics continues to be important across PR and content marketing. Take your analysis to the next level by evaluating which niche audiences are contributing to these views to further hone your storytelling targets, including media outlets.
  • Earned media mentions: Through a media tracker service or good old Google Alerts, you can tally the echo of your content marketing and PR. Look at your site’s referral traffic report to identify media outlets that send traffic to your blog or other web pages.
  • Organic search queries: Dive into your analytics platform to surface organic search queries that lead to visitors. Build from those questions to develop stories that further resonate with your audience and your targeted media.
  • On-page actions: When visitors show up on your content, what are they doing? What do they click? Where do they go next? Building next-step pathways is your bread and butter in content marketing — and PR can use them as a natural pipeline for media to pick up more stories, angles, and quotes.

But perhaps the biggest metric to track is team satisfaction. Who on the collaborative team had the most fun writing blogs, producing videos, or calling the news stations? Lean into the natural skills and passions of your team members to distribute work properly, maximize the team output, and improve relationships with the media, your audience, and internal teams.

“It’s really trying to understand the problem to solve — the needle to move — and determining a plan that will help them achieve their goal,” Jason says. “If you don’t have those measurable objectives, you’re not going to know whether you made a difference.”

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Don’t fear the merger

Whether you deliberately work together or not, content marketing and public relations are tied together. ImpactLife’s Kirby Winn explains, “As soon as we begin to talk about (ourselves) to a reporter who doesn’t know us, they are certainly going to check out our stories.”

But consciously uniting PR and content marketing will ease the challenges you both face. Working together allows you to save time, eliminate duplicate work, and gain free time to tell more stories and drive them into impactful media placements.

Register to attend Content Marketing World in San Diego. Use the code BLOG100 to save $100. Can’t attend in person this year? Check out the Digital Pass for access to on-demand session recordings from the live event through the end of the year.

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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute

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Trends in Content Localization – Moz

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Trends in Content Localization - Moz

Multinational fast food chains are one of the best-known examples of recognizing that product menus may sometimes have to change significantly to serve distinct audiences. The above video is just a short run-through of the same business selling smokehouse burgers, kofta, paneer, and rice bowls in an effort to appeal to people in a variety of places. I can’t personally judge the validity of these representations, but what I can see is that, in such cases, you don’t merely localize your content but the products on which your content is founded.

Sometimes, even the branding of businesses is different around the world; what we call Burger King in America is Hungry Jack’s in Australia, Lays potato chips here are Sabritas in Mexico, and DiGiorno frozen pizza is familiar in the US, but Canada knows it as Delissio.

Tales of product tailoring failures often become famous, likely because some of them may seem humorous from a distance, but cultural sensitivity should always be taken seriously. If a brand you are marketing is on its way to becoming a large global seller, the best insurance against reputation damage and revenue loss as a result of cultural insensitivity is to employ regional and cultural experts whose first-hand and lived experiences can steward the organization in acting with awareness and respect.

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How AI Is Redefining Startup GTM Strategy

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How AI Is Redefining Startup GTM Strategy

AI and startups? It just makes sense.

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