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7  min read

How to set up Facebook Offline Conversions

Abhishek Agrawal
By Abhishek A Agrawal
May 31, 2023
Table of Contents

    Introduction 

    Can you imagine😶‍🌫️ your online ads effortlessly translating into real-world actions? That moment when a customer walks into your store, picks up a product and makes a purchase—a tangible result of your Facebook ad campaign. Well, let’s make it happen!

    Lets walk through setting up Facebook Offline Conversions in this guide. 📈 Get ready to connect with your customers on a whole new level & drive meaningful offline engagement.

    What are offline conversions

    Offline conversions are actions that people take in the real world after seeing an online ad. These actions might be as varied as purchasing a product in a physical store, making a phone call to a business, or signing up for a service in-person.

    What is an example of offline conversion

    Let’s dive into an example to understand offline conversions better.

    For instance, say you own a bookstore and advertise a special discount code on Facebook. A reader, Sarah:

    • Sees this ad, 
    • Visits your bookstore, and 
    • Buys some books using the discount code from the ad. 

    Sarah’s action – buying books in your store – is an offline conversion triggered by your online ad. 

    That, in a nutshell, is an example of an offline conversion – a real-world action that happened because of an online advertisement. 

    The Facebook Offline Conversions tool helps you track real-world actions influenced by your online ads.

    What Next? – Automation

    Harnessing the power of Facebook Offline Conversions is the beginning of your journey to truly unified and impactful marketing. But there’s a way to make this journey even smoother, even more effective – by using a tool that seamlessly integrates all your marketing efforts.

    Meet Integrately – your ultimate automation companion! 🚀

    Imagine effortlessly connecting your Facebook ads to your CRM, email marketing, customer service software, and more. Automatically triggering all those personalized emails, updating customer information, and sending follow-ups,  based on your offline conversions. 

    With Integrately – it’s not just a possibility but a reality!

    8 Million+ Ready Automations
    For 750+ Apps

    How does offline conversion tracking work?

    Offline conversion tracking is a pretty nifty system that helps businesses connect their online ads with real world actions. Continuing with our example, where Sarah has made an offline purchase seeing an online ad, here’s what happens next :

    • At checkout, Sarah provides her email or phone number, which the store records along with the purchase details.
    • The store sends this information to Facebook, which looks for a match between the contact details and the users who viewed the ad.
    • If a match is found, Facebook tags it as an offline conversion. This means the online ad led to an offline purchase.
    • The business now knows its online ad campaign worked well because it brought a customer into the store.

    How to set up Facebook Offline Conversions

    To set up Facebook Offline Conversions, you need to follow a few simple steps:

    1. Create an Offline Event Set or Dataset: To start:

      1. Log in to your Facebook account and navigate to Meta’s Events Manager. This is where you’ll manage your offline conversion tracking. 
      2. Once there, look for the green plus sign icon (this could be in the upper right or left side of the page, depending on your view) and click on it. 
      3. Choose ‘Connect data sources‘ from the dropdown menu.
    2. Next, you’ll see several options – choose `Offline.` and click on the `Connect` button.
    3. Now, assign a name to your offline event set and add a description. Once you’re done, click on `Create`.
    4. Select Ad Accounts: After creating your offline event set, the next step is to associate it with the correct ad account. You’ll see a prompt to choose which ad accounts you want this offline event set to track.
    5. You also have the option to turn on `auto-tracking` and `auto-assignment.` Auto-tracking means that any new ads you create will default to using this offline event set for tracking. Auto-assignment means that any new ad accounts you create will automatically be assigned to use this offline event set. If you want these features, ensure they are turned on.

    How to track offline conversions on Facebook ads

    To track offline conversions on Facebook ads, you need to:

    • Upload Offline Event Data: Consistently upload new data about the offline actions for up-to-date tracking.
    • View Offline Conversions: Analyze the results once you upload your offline event data to the event set. Just:

      • Go back to Meta’s Events Manager, and
      • You’ll see the number of offline conversions your ads have generated. 
      • Go back to Meta’s Events Manager, and
      • You’ll see the number of offline conversions your ads have generated. 

    This helps you understand your online ads’ real-world impact, helping you refine your ad strategy for maximum ROI.

    Top Facebook Offline Conversions Integrations

    A common pitfall in tracking offline conversions is the consistency in updating the offline data. While the setup may be a one-time process, regular updates are necessary for accurate tracking and results. 

    However, businesses often opt for manual work to keep their data up-to-date, leading to potential discrepancies and missed opportunities.

    This is where Integrately steps in as a game-changer. Instead of manually tracking purchases, it takes over the task with its automated workflows. 

    Here are a few popular automations that you can set up to track your offline conversions on Facebook ads:

    Ecommerce Integrations

    If you use platforms like WooCommerce or Shopify, Integrately can monitor new sales in your eCommerce platform or payment processor and automatically add new sales data to Facebook Offline Conversions.

    Facebook Offline Conversions + WooCommerce integration

    Facebook Offline Conversions + Shopify integration

    Marketing and CRM Apps Sync

    Integrately can pull data from your marketing and CRM apps like ActiveCampaign or Mailchimp. Every new subscriber who signs up after seeing your Facebook ad is automatically logged as a new event in Facebook Offline Conversions, helping to optimize your ad spend and refine your audience profiles.

    Sales Pipeline Tracking

    Integrately tracks progress with leads, updating your Facebook Offline Conversions whenever you close a deal, update a lead’s status, or tag a user for a post-purchase update. This integration ensures each milestone is recorded and used to refine your ad targeting.

    Spreadsheet Data Transfer

    If you use Google Sheets or any other spreadsheet tool to track your customers, Integrately can automate the transfer of data to Facebook Offline Conversions. This ensures your account is always up-to-date without you having to check for updates or add new contacts manually.

    Form Responses Tracking

    If you use tools like Typeform to collect feedback, segment leads, or register new customers, Integrately can send this data to Facebook Offline Conversions. This helps Facebook to optimize and target your ads for better ROI.

    Webhooks Setup

    For apps not yet supported by Integrately, you can always set up a webhook. These are automated messages sent from one app to another when a specific event occurs.

    What are the benefits of offline conversion tracking?

    Offline conversion tracking offers several benefits helping you understand the broader impact of  your online advertising efforts:

    💪 Insightful Ad Performance: Offline conversion tracking provides understanding of how online ads drive real-world actions.

    💪Improved ROI: Businesses can identify which ads lead to profitable customer actions by tracking offline conversions. This helps optimize ad spend and improve their return on investment (ROI).

    💪Refined Audience Targeting: Offline conversion data helps you better understand the audience. This helps refine the ad targeting strategies and craft effective ads tailored to the preferences and behaviours of your audience.

    💪Data-Driven Decision Making: With accurate data on how online ads drive offline actions, you can make more informed decisions about your marketing strategies.  

    💪Customer Journey Insights: Offline conversion tracking can help businesses understand the customer journey from online engagement to offline conversion. These insights can be invaluable in refining the marketing strategy to improve customer experiences and increase conversions.

    💪Seamless Integration with Marketing Tools: As we saw with the example of Integrately, offline conversion tracking can be integrated with marketing tools. This combination not only streamlines marketing operations but also enhances the effectiveness of ad campaigns by ensuring all customer interactions are captured and used for future targeting and personalization.

    Bottom Line

    Leveraging Facebook Offline Conversions is a strategic step towards understanding the complete picture of your customer journey. It connects your online ads to real-world results. This insightful tool empowers you with data-driven decision-making and amplifies your ad campaigns’ efficiency and ROI. 

    Integrating Facebook Offline Conversions using automation tools like Integrately helps you to capitalize on your advertising efforts, streamline marketing operations, and create a cohesive customer experience that bridges the gap between the digital and physical worlds.

    So, take the plunge! Set up your Facebook Offline Conversions and unveil the hidden potential of your ad campaigns today.

    FAQ's about Facebook Offline Conversions

    What is Facebook Offline Conversions API?

    The Facebook Offline Conversions API was a tool for tracking offline actions influenced by online ads. However, it's being phased out, with its functionality incorporated into the Facebook Conversions API as of Graph API v17.0

    What does Facebook Offline Conversions integrate with?

    Facebook Offline Conversions integrates with several tools like Salesforce, WooForms, Spreadsheets, ActiveCampaign, Mailchimp and many more. Integrately helps you integrate it with 1050+ apps in just a few clicks.
    Abhishek Agrawal
    Author - Abhishek A Agrawal
    Abhishek is the founder of Integrately, CompanyHub, and Dreamwares. He is passionate about technology and entrepreneurship. He is always looking to leverage technology for the growth of the business. He has a deep understanding of how businesses work and uses this knowledge to build products that help entrepreneurs grow their businesses.
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