Leveraging Facebook's Online and Offline Conversions APIs with Lexer

The third-party cookie is on the way out and retailers will have to adapt to stay ahead.  Fortunately, integrating Facebook’s Conversion APIs (CAPIs) with Lexer can help you continue to track conversions and improve Facebook ad performance regardless of the shift.

Online privacy has become much more of a priority for both consumers and digital retailers alike. This shift in web tracking has led to a movement away from third-party cookies. As a result, retailers are having a harder time tracking the performance of their campaigns.

Thankfully, Facebook has been hard at work developing ways to ensure marketers on the platform can mitigate the challenges presented by these changes. For retailers in particular, two products have come about, Facebook’s Offline Conversions API and Online Conversions API. When Facebook’s Offline and Online Conversions API is implemented retailers can realize improved attribution, enhanced Facebook ad performance, and more refined audience building. Both of these products are must-haves for any brands running digital advertising campaigns on Facebook, and they can be easily integrated into Lexer's CDP (customer data platform).

The death of the third-party cookie

The sad truth is the third-party cookie is on the way out. With Google working to phase out third-party cookies from their web browser, Chrome, retail marketers are faced with the challenge of continuing to track the right data. In fact, according to a recent Hubspot poll, 41% of retail marketers believe that their campaigns will be hindered due to an inability to properly track ad campaign performance.

The dreaded ‘death of the cookie’ isn’t the only new privacy challenge facing retailers. Additionally, there has been a complete behavioral shift as users prioritize privacy. Users have begun to lean more heavily on ad-blocking and privacy software which only adds to the tracking gap that marketers are grappling with.

This is where Facebook’s Conversion APIs and integrations with Lexer’s CDP come into play.

Lexer and Facebook’s Conversions API (CAPI)

Launched in 2021, the Facebook Conversions API (commonly known as CAPI) was developed to help retailers get a better understanding of the ROI (return on investment) of their advertising campaigns. Facebook’s CAPI finds a solution by directly linking marketing with Facebook advertising metrics, giving retail marketers access to first-party data in the Facebook platform.

How does it work? This integration allows you to track sales data without having to rely on third-party cookies. When a customer navigates to your site via a Facebook ad and makes a purchase, Facebook can link that sales data to a customer’s digital profile.

You can then leverage this information to understand both the results of your marketing campaign and your customer’s unique behaviors. These insights provide a benefit beyond just a single ad campaign too, as this knowledge can be used to create high-value customer segments that you can directly market to.

Continue to track real-world conversions

Sometimes a digital ad campaign can have an effect on in-store purchases as well. Enter Facebook’s Offline Conversions API, another solution that allows retailers to track conversions offline in the form of in-store purchases, phone orders, bookings, and more. As a result, retailers can continue to track real-world outcomes and tie them back to digital ad campaigns, granting improved attributions and a more optimized process of tracking campaign performance.

With Lexer’s integrations retailers can benefit from a deeper understanding of their customers, allowing them to continuously send offline transaction data to Facebook increasing the accuracy of campaign performance reporting. Retailers can also use that data to create FB conversion audiences to target with in-store promotions to drive foot traffic.

See Lexer + Facebook CAPIs in action

Any retailer with a Facebook Business account, and the technical know-how, can easily leverage these APIs for their business. Thanks to integrations with Lexer, you can seamlessly connect your data from Lexer’s CDP (customer data platform) to Facebook’s platform. Facebook’s Offline Conversions and Online Conversions APIs combine with Lexer’s CDP to deliver customer data with high accuracy, allowing you to continue to gain deep customer insights without the need for third-party cookies.

While the third-party cookie may be on the way out, Lexer can help you adapt, so you can continue to track the performance of your campaigns and adjust to shifting customer behaviors.

Use the calendar below to schedule a demo of Lexer’s CDP and see our integrations with Facebook CAPIs in action.