At Blaze Media, we’re massive fans of data. Clearly, we’re the life and soul of any party that we’re invited to!
Data is so important to the success of any paid media campaign. When you’re backed by data, you can make changes to your campaigns and be confident in the knowledge that you’ll be having a positive impact rather than a negative one.
Therefore, any tools that make tracking your data easier is a godsend as far as we’re concerned. That’s why Pixels and other trackers are necessary to make sure that you’re collecting as much data as possible. But when you’re dealing with tools that need to be installed with code you might want some extra precautions to make sure that everything’s working correctly.
So, in this week’s blog post, we’re going to talk through some of our favourite Chrome extensions that you can use to track your paid advertising data and ensure your Pixels are working properly.
Why install Chrome extensions for tracking?
If you’re running paid ads on Google, Facebook or TikTok, then being able to measure your success is vital. You’re going to want to know whether your adverts are performing well or not and then you can go from there and make any necessary changes.
For our Paid Media Manager, JP, these Chrome extensions are also a clear indicator of potential business opportunities for potential clients:
“They’re fantastic tools to give you a quick peek into how serious businesses are about tracking their marketing efforts. For example, if a client comes to me who I know is running Facebook Ads and I can see that they don’t have the Facebook Pixel installed using the Facebook Pixel Helper, I immediately know that they aren’t running any conversion campaigns, meaning they’re leaving money at the door.”
Basically, if you’re going through the effort of running ads in the first place then you may as well make sure you do them properly. This includes installing any available tracking extensions to measure the behaviour of your potential customers.
Google Tag Assistant
If you run an online business, then it’s more than likely that you’ll have set up one or more of Google’s tools like Google Analytics or Google Tag Manager, and it’s also likely that you’ll be running Google Ads.
Google Tag Assistant will therefore be a must-have Chrome extension for you. You can use the extension to verify that Google Analytics and Tag Manager are working correctly and make sure that you’re tracking your conversions.
There’s also the useful feature of Google Tag Assistant Recording which provides a recording of what a typical visit to your site looks like.
To be really sneaky, you can also use Google Tag Assistant to check if the best competitors in your industry are using conversion tracking on their site. If not, then you know that you can quite easily compete with them if you go one step ahead and fully track your conversions and implement the proven best practices.
Microsoft Universal Event Tracking (UET) Tag Helper
Microsoft’s Universal Event Tracker is another useful tool to keep up to date with the efficacy of your ads.
You can use the tool to track several different goals. If you want to see how many people click your ads and go on to make a purchase, then the UET can easily do this. Or, if you want something more specific, like how long people stayed on your page for after clicking on your ad, then calibrate the UET to track this as well.
With the data from the UET, you then know who your ideal customers are. For example, from conversions you can identify what your ideal client journey looks like and try to replicate this. And from the people who didn’t convert but viewed and interacted with your page, you know who you can remarket to for the best chance at success.
The UET Tag Helper sits in your Chrome extensions and provides you with information on whether your UET tags are set up correctly.
Facebook Pixel Helper
Google isn’t the only platform where you should be running ads. Your ads will perform best when they are running through an omni-channel approach, with the minimum other channel as well as Google being Facebook.
Facebook adverts can be shown on Facebook and Instagram, making them very effective at targeting any audience you could possibly want to. Have a think about all of the data that Facebook (Meta) has on us, but instead of being concerned just focus on the advertising benefits!
And, if you’re running Facebook Ads, then don’t stop there! Make sure you install the Facebook Pixel so that you can properly track the performance of your adverts. Any time someone goes from your advert to your page will be logged in your Events Manager page, so you can get a read on what adverts are performing best.
Another feature of the Facebook Pixel is automatic bidding. You can set up the Pixel to target people who are more likely to perform a set action that you care about such as a purchase or a sign up to your newsletter, this way you can really drive up your conversion value or the number of results you receive for your budget.
The Facebook Pixel Helper Chrome extension identifies whether the Pixel code is present and set up correctly. It will also let you know if there’s any inactive or duplicate Pixels – which is common with Shopify sites as the Pixel often becomes duplicated and this additional code can potentially slow your site down.
TikTok Pixel Helper 2.0
TikTok: the new kid on the block when it comes to paid media advertising. If you’re running TikTok Ads then you need the TikTok Pixel to provide you with tracking data so you can make an informed report on your data.
The fact that TikTok Ads are relatively new on the scene means it’s even more important for you to get assistance from the Pixel Helper 2.0 Chrome extension as it will be able to spot things that you probably aren’t experienced at spotting just yet in terms of the Pixel set up.
You’ll be able to view a detailed diagnostic report on not only the most common issues with the TikTok Pixel but also specific issues to your case with custom troubleshooting recommendations.
Confused? Ask a Paid Media Agency Expert!
Setting up Pixels with specific lines of code on your sites can be daunting for some, never mind composing reports on the data that these Pixels provide when they’re working accurately.
At Blaze Media, we do all of this for you as part of our campaign management. We’ll provide you with monthly reports translated into simple terms so you know exactly how well your ads are doing.
We’ll also constantly track and optimise your ads for maximum return on advertising spend (ROAS) and offer helpful advice and suggestions for even more success – all based on proven, replicable data.
Get in touch with us today to get started!