Introduction
As we all know, data is king. Website analytics are vital to running a successful business. But with all the overwhelming metrics to track, you may be thinking “Where on earth do I start?”
Monitoring your metrics and creating custom Facebook events effectively is vital to a successful campaign. Knowing what to track, then implementing a strategy with the data tracked can be more complicated than it seems. We want to make the process of creating Facebook events with Google Tag Manager as seamless as possible.
In this article, you will learn how to create custom Facebook events with Google Tag Manager to effectively track specific actions taken on your website, then be able to create custom Facebook audiences based on the action taken on your site. An example of this may be as simple as a website visitor clicking an action/button on your website page or even scrolling to a specific scroll depth on your website, then being added to a custom Facebook events audience, where you can then run retargeting Facebook ad campaigns to the visitors that took the specific action defined.
How to get started with setting up Google Tag Manager and Custom Facebook Events
Now first thing is first, you will need to start off by installing your Facebook pixel code into Google Tag Manager.
This may seem overwhelming; however, this is actually a rather simple process. Follow the steps below to get your Facebook Pixel code setup with Google Tag Manager to start creating your first custom Facebook events.
In essence, you need to copy the pixel code from Facebook, make a few iterations to the code, then simply save and publish to Google Tag Manager. Once this is setup, don’t forget to test the pixel code from Facebook to make sure it is functioning properly with Google Tag Manager.
Start by going to https://business.facebook.com/adsmanager to access your Facebook Business Manager. After you navigate to your business manager, select “Ads Manager” and navigate to the “Events Manager” page.
Once you have arrived at the “Events Manager”, you should see your Facebook Pixel ID. Copy your Facebook Pixel ID to your clipboard and proceed back to Google Tag Manager.
Once you have your Google Tag Manager account setup, navigate to the “Tags” page from the side menu.
Then, select the “New” button to create a new tag for your Facebook Pixel ID.
Upon creating a new tag, decide what to name it. I suggest naming the tag “Facebook Pixel ID” for easy identification. Be sure to select “Tag Configuration” to initiate the Facebook Pixel tag configuration process.
Although there are multiple ways to connect your Facebook Pixel ID, I suggest adding it via. HTML code. To do so, click “Custom HTML” and proceed to configuring your pixel.
To complete your tag configuration, copy and paste the HTML code provided below. Be sure to paste your Facebook Pixel ID to each part of the code named: PIXEL CODE.
<!-- Facebook Pixel Code --> <script nonce="9BWeoBLb"> !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n; n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script','https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); fbq('init', 'PIXEL CODE'); fbq('set','agent','tmgoogletagmanager', 'PIXEL CODE'); fbq('track', "PageView"); </script> <noscript><img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=PIXEL CODE&ev=PageView&noscript=1" /></noscript> <!-- End Facebook Pixel Code -->
After completing your tag configuration, be sure to select save. Now that you have your Facebook Pixel ID saved as a tag, you will easily be able to add it to other custom tags and triggers you create in the future. You are not one step closer to creating your custom Facebook events!
To continue, proceed to the side menu and select the “Variables” page. Be sure to enable all the necessary variables you intend on using. In our example, we will be using all the variables related to “Clicks”.
After configuring the variables, proceed back to the menu and navigate to the “Tags” page.
Select the create a new tag button and proceed to the “tag configuration”. Once again, be sure to give the tag a name that is easily recognizable. In this case, we will be setting this tag up to create a custom event within Facebook Ads Manager. To do so, we will need to create a little Javascript. You can copy and paste the code from below.
<script> fbq('trackCustom', 'Phone',{click: {{Click URL}}}); </script>
After adding the script, proceed to the “advanced settings”. Be sure to select the following criteria to ensure your Facebook pixel fires properly.
After finishing the tag configuration, we need to set up the triggering. In this case, we want the Facebook Pixel to fire an event if a visitor clicks on the phone number button via. our website. To do this, we need to create a trigger associated with our website button text.
First, select “trigger type” and choose the option “Just Links” under “Clicks” (See Below).
After selecting your trigger type, we need to choose when to fire this trigger. To do so, we need to define an event that is associated with the “Phone” button on our website.
Finding a unique variable using Facebook events with Google Tag Manager
There are a few ways to find an event associated with a specific element on your website. You can use the Google tag manager debugger, inspect element, or simply use a URL associated with the element. In this case, we will use inspect element (this is equipped with the Google Chrome web browser).
First off, we need to go to the element on the website we are trying to set up the event with. In this case, we will use the www.stiddle.com website and setup the button, “Sales: +1 (844) STIDDLE” button.
Select “inspect element”, then find a unique variable that is associated with your site element. In this case I found the variable, “tel:” to be unique.
Copy over the unique variable from your site element to your clipboard and continue back to your Google Tag Manager. Before pasting your variable, be sure to select “This trigger fires on: Some Link Clicks”. This will ensure the trigger is only fired when a visitor selects the unique variable set by you. Be sure to paste your unique element variable to your trigger, then save your trigger configuration.
Nice work! You are almost finished. Lastly, you want to preview and submit your changes to Google tag manager. After you submit changes you will be ready to custom Facebook events!
Verify your changes
I highly recommend verifying the changes you have made. To do so, download the Google Tag Assistant Chrome extension. You can download this extension here: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/tag-assistant-by-google/kejbdjndbnbjgmefkgdddjlbokphdefk.
Once installed, you will be able to check and verify that your Google Tag Manager is installed correctly on your website.
After confirming that your Google Tag Manager was installed correctly, you can proceed to your Facebook ad account and navigate to the “Events Manager”. If everything has been setup correctly, you should see your new custom Facebook event created in your “Events Manager” where you will be able to see the custom Facebook events.
Testing your Facebook Pixel Event Trigger
The final step is to check that your new Facebook event is triggering correctly. To check this, install the “Facebook Pixel Helper” Chrome extension. You can download it here: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/facebook-pixel-helper/fdgfkebogiimcoedlicjlajpkdmockpc?hl=en.
Once installed, simply click on the website element you set up, in our case this is the “Phone” button. Then, simply select the Chrome extension to verify that your Facebook Pixel event was triggered properly.
Creating a Custom Audience From Your New Custom Event
Now that you have your Facebook Pixel properly configured with Google Tag Manager and you set up your custom Facebook events, you can now create a custom audience to run retargeting ads towards the visitors that selected your website element.
First, navigate to the Facebook Audiences page in the Facebook manager menu.
Then, click “Create Audience” and select “Custom Audience”.
Select “Website” as your Custom Audience objective. This will allow you to select the custom event we set up previously with Google Tag Manager.
Lastly, select your Facebook Pixel and the event you create. In this case, “Phone”. Then name your new custom audience and select “Create Audience”.
[BONUS] Creating an Ad Campaign with your New Custom Audience on Stiddle
To create a new Facebook campaign in Stiddle with your custom audience, you’ll need to create a Stiddle account and connect your Facebook (Feel free to view our help center for more information). Click HERE for a free trial.
First, you will need to navigate to your “Audiences” and select the audience you just created from your custom Facebook events. After selecting the audience you want to advertise to, you will need to finish setting up your campaign funnel. You will need to choose your placement, ad graphic, budget, offer, and landing page.
Lastly, you will need to publish your campaign.
Conclusion – Victory!
Congrats! You have successfully set up custom Facebook events triggered through Google Tag Manager by an element on your website, created a custom saved audience on Facebook, and set up a new campaign using Stiddle. For more tips and tricks related to marketing and advertising, be sure to check out our other blog posts.
If this seems a bit confusing to you or you’re new to Facebook advertising, I suggest grabbing a free trial of the #1 automated advertising platform, Stiddle, to simplify your Facebook ad campaigns, optimize for the highest conversions, and create high converting landing pages for all your Facebook advertisements all in the same platform with the use of AI. Signup for free HERE!
Looking for more ebooks and guides? Checkout our recent ebooks, guides, and more!
Checkout Stiddle’s Ebooks HERE
Choose a BETTER way to advertise on facebook ads.
Signup for a free trial to start boosting your Facebook ad campaign results with the leading Facebook ad-tech platform.
Track Performance Metrics (ROI/ROAS)

Automate your Facebook Ads
*No Credit Card Required
James Bender
Related posts
70 Comments
Leave a Reply Cancel reply
Explore More Topics
The Facebook Pixel Benefits and its Functionalities It is undoubtedly evident that there are numerous technological advancements in the cRead more...
Introduction - Small Business Digital Marketing You may be wondering what the best strategy for promoting your small buRead more...
Introduction - Customer Success Management Customer success management is a relatively new phenomenon. Before the 1990s, the idRead more...
Introduction - COVID Facebook Ads Affected by COVID-19, e-commerce sellers are exploring new business opportunities. Read more...
Introduction - Digital Marketing Specialization No one can deny the importance of digital marketing for a small business. But, soRead more...
order that I may just subscribe.
You could definitely see your skills in the article you
write. The arena hopes for more passionate writers like
you who aren’t afraid to mention how they believe.
At all times follow your heart.
What’s up to all, the contents existing at this website are truly remarkable for people experience, well, keep up the nice work fellows.
Magnificent site. A lot of useful information here.
I am sending it to a few friends ans additionally sharing in delicious.
And of course, thank you in your effort!
I do consider all of the ideas you have presented to your post.
They’re really convincing and will certainly work. Nonetheless, the posts
are too brief for novices. Could you please
prolong them a little from next time? Thanks for the post.
If some one wants to be updated with most up-to-date
technologies therefore he must be pay a quick visit this website and be up to date everyday.
Hmm it seems like your website ate my first comment (it was extremely long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I submitted
and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog. I too am an aspiring blog
writer but I’m still new to everything. Do you have any helpful hints
for inexperienced blog writers? I’d certainly appreciate it.
Hey! Someone in my Myspace group shared this website with us so I came to take a
look. I’m definitely enjoying the information. I’m bookmarking and
will be tweeting this to my followers! Terrific blog and outstanding style and design.
hello!,I love your writing so a lot! share we be in contact extra about your post on AOL?
I need a specialist in this area to resolve my problem.
Maybe that is you! Looking forward to see you.
Hmm is anyone else encountering problems with the images on this blog
loading? I’m trying to find out if its a problem on my end
or if it’s the blog. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Ahaa, its pleasant dialogue regarding this paragraph at this place
at this web site, I have read all that, so now me also commenting here.
Hi there! This blog post could not be written any better!
Going through this post reminds me of my previous roommate!
He continually kept preaching about this. I will forward this post to him.
Fairly certain he’ll have a good read. Thank you for sharing!
Woah! I’m really enjoying the template/theme of this blog.
It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times
it’s very hard to get that “perfect balance” between usability and visual appearance.
I must say you’ve done a very good job with this.
Additionally, the blog loads extremely quick for me on Chrome.
Exceptional Blog!
We stumbled over here by a different web address and thought I may
as well check things out. I like what I see so i am just following
you. Look forward to exploring your web page repeatedly.
I have been browsing online more than 3 hours
as of late, yet I never found any attention-grabbing article
like yours. It’s pretty price sufficient for me. In my view, if all web owners and bloggers made
excellent content as you did, the net shall be a lot more helpful than ever before.
Hey there! Do you know if they make any plugins to assist with SEO?
I’m trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not seeing very good gains.
If you know of any please share. Kudos!
Simply wish to say your article is as amazing.
The clearness in your post is just great and i could assume you are an expert on this subject.
Fine with your permission allow me to grab your feed to keep
updated with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please keep up the
enjoyable work.
I do not even know the way I ended up here, however I thought
this publish was good. I don’t understand who you are but definitely
you’re going to a well-known blogger in the event you aren’t already.
Cheers!
What’s up mates, its enormous post concerning teachingand fully explained, keep it up all
the time.
Hi would you mind stating which blog platform you’re working with?
I’m going to start my own blog in the near future but I’m having a tough time choosing
between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal.
The reason I ask is because your layout seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for something unique.
P.S Sorry for getting off-topic but I had to ask!
You’ve made some good points there. I looked on the internet to learn more about
the issue and found most individuals will go along with your views on this website.
We’re a group of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our community.
Your site offered us with valuable info to work on. You
have done an impressive job and our entire community will be thankful to you.
Appreciate the recommendation. Let me try it out.
This paragraph will help the internet viewers for building up new blog or even a blog from
start to end.
Thanks to my father who shared with me regarding
this weblog, this weblog is in fact amazing.
My brother recommended I might like this blog.
He was totally right. This put up truly made my day. You can not imagine just how so much time I
had spent for this information! Thank you!
I was suggested this web site by my cousin. I’m not sure whether this post is
written by him as no one else know such detailed about my trouble.
You are wonderful! Thanks!
I enjoy reading a post that will make men and women think. Also,
thank you for allowing for me to comment!
Can I simply just say what a comfort to discover an individual who actually understands what they’re
discussing online. You definitely know how to bring a problem to light
and make it important. A lot more people should look at this and understand this side of the story.
I can’t believe you are not more popular since you definitely possess the gift.
What’s up everyone, it’s my first go to see
at this web site, and article is really fruitful designed for me, keep up posting such articles.
Great beat ! I would like to apprentice even as you amend your web site,
how can i subscribe for a blog web site? The account aided me a applicable deal.
I were a little bit acquainted of this your broadcast offered vibrant transparent idea
My brother recommended I might like this website. He was
entirely right. This post truly made my day. You cann’t imagine simply how much time I had spent for this information! Thanks!
I’d like to thank you for the efforts you’ve put in penning this website.
I really hope to view the same high-grade blog posts by you later on as well.
In truth, your creative writing abilities has inspired me to get my very own site
now 😉
Heya i’m for the first time here. I found this board
and I find It truly useful & it helped me out much.
I hope to give something back and aid others like you aided me.
You’re so interesting! I do not think I’ve read through something like that before.
So great to find another person with some unique thoughts on this subject.
Really.. thanks for starting this up. This website
is something that is needed on the web, someone with some originality!
wonderful put up, very informative. I’m wondering why the opposite specialists of
this sector don’t realize this. You should proceed your writing.
I’m sure, you have a huge readers’ base already!
Hello there! I could have sworn I’ve visited this website before but
after browsing through a few of the articles I realized it’s new to me.
Anyhow, I’m definitely pleased I came across it and I’ll be book-marking
it and checking back frequently!
Pretty! This has been an incredibly wonderful article.
Thank you for providing this information.
Way cool! Some very valid points! I appreciate you penning this post and
also the rest of the site is very good.
magnificent points altogether, you just gained a new reader.
What may you recommend in regards to your post that you just
made a few days ago? Any positive?
Hi, I do believe this is an excellent blog. I stumbledupon it 😉 I’m going to return yet again since i have bookmarked it.
Money and freedom is the greatest way to change, may you be
rich and continue to guide other people.
Have you ever thought about creating an ebook or guest authoring on other sites?
I have a blog based upon on the same subjects you discuss and would really like
to have you share some stories/information. I know my
subscribers would value your work. If you’re even remotely interested, feel free to send me an email.
You completed certain fine points there. I did a search on the
subject and found mainly persons will have the same opinion with your blog.
I’m extremely impressed with your writing skills and also with the layout on your blog.
Is this a paid theme or did you customize it yourself?
Anyway keep up the excellent quality writing, it is rare to see a nice blog like
this one today.
I could not refrain from commenting. Exceptionally well written!
You made some decent points there. I looked on the web for additional information about the issue and found
most people will go along with your views on this site.
Nice post. I learn something totally new and challenging on websites I stumbleupon everyday.
It will always be exciting to read through content from other authors and use something from other websites.
Your mode of explaining everything in this paragraph is in fact good, every
one can easily know it, Thanks a lot.
Very good write-up. I certainly love this website.
Stick with it!
Very rapidly this website will be famous among all blog visitors, due to it’s nice articles
or reviews
I’ve been surfing online more than 3 hours today, yet I never
found any interesting article like yours. It’s pretty worth enough for me.
Personally, if all web owners and bloggers made good content as you did,
the web will be much more useful than ever before.
I’m curious to find out what blog system you happen to be using?
I’m having some small security problems with my latest blog and I’d like to
find something more secure. Do you have any suggestions?
Hello to all, it’s in fact a good for me to visit this website, it consists of valuable Information.
Hi, after reading this awesome paragraph i am as well glad to share my
knowledge here with colleagues.
I know this site offers quality depending content and additional information, is
there any other web page which provides these data in quality?
Hi i am kavin, its my first time to commenting anyplace, when i read this paragraph i thought i
could also create comment due to this good
article.
This post will assist the internet viewers for building up new web
site or even a weblog from start to end.
Hmm is anyone else encountering problems with the images on this blog loading?
I’m trying to determine if its a problem on my end or if it’s the
blog. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Terrific work! That is the type of info that are supposed to be shared across the net.
Shame on Google for not positioning this put up higher!
Come on over and talk over with my website .
Thanks =)
Hi my friend! I want to say that this article is awesome, great written and include approximately all important infos.
I would like to see extra posts like this.
Hi, i think that i saw you visited my web site thus i came to “return the
favor”.I’m attempting to find things to enhance my site!I suppose its ok to use some of
your ideas!!
Quality posts is the crucial to attract the users to visit the website, that’s what this
web page is providing.
Very good information. Lucky me I ran across your blog by accident (stumbleupon).
I’ve book-marked it for later!
This piece of writing is really a fastidious one it helps new
the web visitors, who are wishing in favor of blogging.
Write more, thats all I have to say. Literally, it seems as though you relied
on the video to make your point. You obviously know what youre talking about, why waste
your intelligence on just posting videos to your weblog when you could be giving us something enlightening to read?
Wow that was odd. I just wrote an extremely long comment but after I clicked submit my
comment didn’t appear. Grrrr… well I’m not writing
all that over again. Anyway, just wanted to say superb
blog!
Wow, awesome blog layout! How long have you been blogging for?
you made blogging look easy. The overall look of your website is fantastic, as well as the content!
I know this if off topic but I’m looking into starting my own weblog and was curious what
all is needed to get set up? I’m assuming having a blog like yours would cost a pretty penny?
I’m not very internet smart so I’m not 100%
positive. Any recommendations or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you
Great post! We will be linking to this great article on our website.
Keep up the great writing.
Heya are using WordPress for your blog platform? I’m new to
the blog world but I’m trying to get started and set up
my own. Do you require any html coding expertise to make your own blog?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!