A website owner notes a discrepancy between their Meta Pixel 'Purchase' events and actual sales in their CRM after an iOS 14+ update. What specific Meta technology should they implement alongside the Pixel to improve data accuracy and reliability for conversions?
The specific Meta technology the website owner should implement alongside the Meta Pixel to improve data accuracy and reliability for conversions, especially after an iOS 14+ update, is the Conversions API. The Meta Pixel, a piece of JavaScript code installed on a website, primarily collects conversion data from users' browsers. However, the iOS 14+ App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework significantly limits the ability of browsers and apps to track user activity, reducing the completeness and accuracy of Pixel-collected data and leading to discrepancies with actual sales. The Conversions API, often referred to as CAPI, addresses these limitations by establishing a direct, server-to-server connection between the website owner's server, CRM, or e-commerce platform and Meta's systems. Instead of relying solely on browser-side data, CAPI sends conversion events, such as purchases, directly from the advertiser's secure server to Meta. For example, when a customer completes a purchase, the website's backend system or CRM can send a signal containing the purchase details via CAPI to Meta. This server-side data transmission is more resilient to browser restrictions, ad blockers, and user privacy settings, ensuring a more comprehensive and stable flow of conversion information. By implementing CAPI in conjunction with the Pixel, Meta receives data from two distinct sources. Meta's system is designed to deduplicate these events, ensuring each conversion is counted accurately and only once, even if both the Pixel and CAPI report it. This dual approach provides robust data redundancy and resilience, significantly improving the overall reliability and accuracy of reported conversions and effectively bridging the discrepancy between Meta's reported events and actual sales in the CRM.