How conversion APIs improve campaign performance — Hallam

It ought to come as no shock that when the objective is performance marketing, knowledge is king. With out knowledge, you can not optimise your campaigns. Therefore, you may’t maximise your ROI. Sounds apparent, doesn’t it?

However what can we do when third-party cookies are on the brink of demise, iOS 14 privateness modifications are in full swing, and we’re unable to gather the information that we have to optimise our campaigns? Enter: Conversion APIs.

What are conversion APIs?

A conversion API, also called a server-side API, is a software that lets you ship knowledge out of your server to third-party promoting platforms. This implies you may ship occasions out of your CRM straight into Meta, TikTok, or different promoting platforms.

As a result of conversion APIs are usually not restricted by monitoring or cookies, they’re versatile and dependable. The information being shared is coming straight from your individual server moderately than counting on browser-based monitoring strategies, like an online pixel, which can be changing into more and more ineffective as a consequence of privateness laws and consumer preferences.

What’s the distinction between conversion APIs and pixels?

An internet pixel is a code snippet that sits in your web site and collects knowledge to ship again to third-party promoting platforms. As a result of it sits in your web site, it’s impacted by customers not accepting cookies, not desirous to be tracked, and all the opposite privateness laws in place. Which means that a pixel has change into much less efficient in totally speaking the worth of your campaigns. It additionally signifies that much less knowledge is being shared along with your chosen promoting platform, so the campaigns are usually not being optimised to the perfect of their skill.

Conversion APIs, on the other hand, bypass all these hurdles and ship by way of all of your knowledge on to promoting platforms. Since they aren’t reliant on customers accepting cookies, the information saved in your individual server offers an entire image that may be handed again to make sure your campaigns are acting at their finest.

What are you able to observe with conversion APIs?

One of many greatest benefits of conversion APIs is the breadth of information they will seize. Not like browser-based monitoring, which is proscribed to what occurs on the web site, conversion APIs help you observe:

• Web site Occasions: Similar to pixels, conversion APIs can observe web page views, button clicks, add-to-cart occasions, and purchases, however with increased reliability.
• Offline Conversions: If a sale or lead conversion occurs offline, equivalent to in a retailer, by way of a cellphone name, or by way of an e mail follow-up, conversion API ensures that knowledge continues to be captured and linked again to the marketing campaign.
• Cross-System Behaviour: With customers switching between gadgets, conversion APIs assist observe interactions throughout cellular, pill, and desktop extra successfully than browser cookies.
• First-Social gathering Knowledge: conversion APIs permit advertisers to ship buyer knowledge securely, making certain the next match charge for higher focusing on and attribution.

How does conversion API enhance marketing campaign efficiency?

Now that we perceive how conversion APIs work, do they really enhance marketing campaign efficiency? The quick reply is ‘sure’. The lengthy reply is ‘hell sure’.

However how, you ask? There are a number of methods your marketing campaign efficiency improves by way of the implementation of conversion API:

1. Smarter marketing campaign optimisation

As a result of conversion APIs move again all the information within the server, together with from customers who didn’t settle for cookies, the extra knowledge means your bidding methods work extra effectively. It additionally means that you may have improved viewers focusing on as a result of you could have an entire view of the information and might enhance your focusing on accordingly.

This finally results in extra environment friendly advert spend, as platforms like Meta, Google, and TikTok use the extra knowledge to refine viewers segmentation, enhance lookalike viewers accuracy, and improve retargeting efforts.

2. Capacity to trace offline conversion knowledge

One of many key issues that conversion APIs can do however a pixel can’t is move again conversions that aren’t taking place on the web site. When you’re a lead technology enterprise the place your sale really occurs a lot later after producing a lead, your browser-based pixel won’t ever be capable of seize that knowledge.

Equally, if your enterprise sees most conversions occur offline, like in a bodily retailer or over the cellphone, your campaigns will solely observe on-line interactions, lacking essential touchpoints within the funnel. Conversion API helps you move again this knowledge so your campaigns can optimise in direction of metrics that impression your backside line.

3. Extra correct reporting

One of many greatest downsides of cookie depreciation was not having the ability to report precisely on marketing campaign efficiency. When the information being handed into the platform was incomplete, so was the reporting. However with conversions API, you get a full image of your marketing campaign efficiency and might higher show the worth it’s producing to your purchasers or stakeholders.

With correct knowledge, you may measure ROAS (Return on Advert Spend) extra exactly and make data-driven selections to scale profitable campaigns and minimize ineffective ones.

4. Improved understanding of the shopper journey

Since conversions  API captures behavioural knowledge and allows cross-device monitoring, it offers an improved understanding of consumer behaviour. This implies you may:

• Attribute conversions extra successfully.
• Establish high-intent customers earlier within the journey.
• Perceive which touchpoints are driving probably the most engagement and income.

Slightly than counting on fragmented knowledge from totally different gadgets and browsers, conversion APIs create a more cohesive view of how users interact with your brand earlier than making a purchase order or finishing a lead kind.

Are there any downsides to utilizing conversion API?

As with something, there are some downsides to utilizing conversion APIs. Nonetheless, the advantages far outweigh them.

1. Technical data is required

Implementing conversion APIs isn’t so simple as including a tag to your GTM container. It requires growth assets and a deeper understanding of server-to-server integration.

2. Time-consuming setup

Not like a pixel, which may be carried out in minutes, establishing conversion API can take extra time, particularly since it’s good to configure it individually for every promoting platform.

3. Ongoing upkeep is required

Pixels are extra of a one-time arrange, however conversion APIs require ongoing monitoring to make sure knowledge accuracy and correct integration along with your advertising platforms.

Which promoting platforms provide a conversion API?

A number of platforms have launched their very own model of a conversion API to assist advertisers keep marketing campaign efficiency in a privacy-first world. A number of the main platforms that help conversion API embody:

• Meta Conversion API
• Google Enhanced Conversions API
• LinkedIn Conversion API
• TikTok Occasions API

Do you have to implement a conversion API?

The quick reply: Sure. When you’re working performance-driven campaigns and wish to make sure you’re getting probably the most out of your advert spend, implementing conversion APIs is likely one of the finest methods to future-proof your monitoring and optimisation efforts.

Because the promoting panorama continues to shift in direction of extra privacy-focused options, relying solely on pixels will put your campaigns at a drawback. By integrating conversion API, you achieve entry to richer knowledge, smarter marketing campaign optimisation, and finally, higher outcomes.

So, when you haven’t already made the transfer, now could be the time to discover conversion APIs. Your campaigns will thanks for it. Communicate to our Data and Insights team to be taught extra.