Question from Reddit user:
Whats the best Tracking set up for vsl / advertorials?
I have a product in the beauty niche I’d like to educate customers on and then bring them to the product page when they’re ready to buy but I cant figure out whats a good way to set up tracking
IE what to fire when they read the whole blog post / advertorial / watch the whole vsl then go check out the product but dont buy
What events should be set to what actions?
The short answer is:
To effectively track customer engagement on VSLS or advertorials, you should fire specific events like PageView, ViewContent, CompleteRegistration, and Lead when the user takes significant actions such as reading the entire blog post, watching the full VSL, or visiting the product page.
By using Facebook Conversions API, Google Tag Manager, and a platform like Stape or Google Cloud Platform, you can track these actions reliably and at a low cost.
The long answer is:
Tracking users through the journey from consuming educational content like VSLS or advertorials to eventually checking out the product page, but not necessarily purchasing, requires careful event setup.
The first step is to track when users engage with the content—whether that’s reading the entire blog post, watching the full VSL, or simply landing on the product page.
For this, you can use events such as PageView and ViewContent.
For example, a PageView can be triggered when they land on the advertorial, while ViewContent can be used to capture when they visit the product page.
To track when they have consumed significant parts of your content, like reading the full blog post or watching the entire VSL, you can use events like CompleteRegistration or even custom events if the content platform allows it.
For instance, if you have a video on your VSL, you can fire a CompleteRegistration event when the video is watched till the end.
This helps you identify users who are genuinely interested in your product but may not have converted yet.
When it comes to tracking and attributing these actions in a robust way, the Facebook Conversions API can send server-side data to Meta, which improves tracking accuracy and circumvents issues like ad blockers.
By setting this up through Google Tag Manager, you can create custom triggers for each action – whether it’s completing the VSL or visiting the product page – allowing you to track their behavior precisely.
Stape or Google Cloud Platform can host this server-side data and ensure it’s sent efficiently to Facebook, all at a relatively low cost compared to third-party apps.
This setup gives you full control over the tracking process, ensuring that even if a user doesn’t immediately buy, you can still attribute value to their actions and optimize for future conversions.
You can create a more personalized marketing strategy based on these insights, ultimately increasing your chances of converting users down the line.
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