How to Use Tracking Pixels — Your Ticket to Unlocking Customer Insights

“Data doesn’t matter,” said no one ever. In fact, marketing data — information about how your marketing efforts perform — is everything. It’s a key component of marketing attribution, which helps you determine which marketing channels drive the best results.

As your data becomes more reliable and consistent, you can use it to inform and better execute your marketing decisions. And one effective way to garner that data on customer behavior is tracking pixels.

What is a tracking pixel?

A tracking pixel is a 1-by-1-pixel graphic (also known as 1x1 pixel or pixel tag) that tracks customer activities — think website visits, email opens, form submissions and sales conversions —  to provide valuable marketing data. HTML and CSS code makes a tracking pixel invisible so customers won’t spot it on your website or email.

How tracking pixels work

The tracking pixel code is embedded in the webpage or email you want to track. When the page loads, it requests to load the tracking pixel. Meanwhile, the server records how many of those load requests it receives — showing you how many people visited the page you’re tracking.

Depending on where you place the tracking pixel, you can collect all kinds of useful information, such as:

• Operating system and mobile device use
• Number of site visits
• Time of day the customer read the email or visited the website
• IP address, which provides data on the customer’s internet service provider and location
• What they looked at and clicked on (if you use multiple tracking pixels)
• Email or newsletter open rates

Adding a pixel to your website is easy. If you’re not well-versed in HTML, your internal development team or third-party website administrator can help. Plus, you can remove tracking pixels from your webpages and contact forms as needed.

Why you should use tracking pixels

Tracking pixels provide actionable data, which you can use to identify the marketing channels that work and those that don’t attract or engage your audience.

Increased visibility

How do customers find and use your website? Zillow Group tracking pixels help you monitor website referral traffic from Promoted Communities listings so you can better understand these home shoppers and the actions they take on your website.

Customer insights

With a Zillow Group tracking pixel on your landing page or contact forms, you see website lead conversion data from customers who found your page directly from your Promoted Communities listings. These performance insights can help you pinpoint your audience and better understand their online behavior so you can personalize their digital experience.

Where to use tracking pixels

Zillow Group listings

Tracking pixels can show you how many home shoppers view your homes and communities, and how many click for more information. High views but low conversions can indicate that your listings need to be more attractive and engaging.

Landing pages and contact forms

Landing pages and forms with a submission button are ideal spots to add a tracking pixel because they precisely measure the action a home shopper takes (conversion). A sparse click count might mean that some pages or calls to action (CTAs) need retooling.

Emails and newsletters

Tracking pixels in emails and newsletters can show open rates, which help you identify which campaigns are successful or which ones need to be more compelling and relevant. You can also add a tracking pixel to an email address link to measure how many home shoppers contact you that way.

Tracking where buyers come from and how they search for homes is a critical part of your marketing attribution efforts. Zillow Group tracking pixels are an easy way to gain valuable insights into how customers find and use your website so you can better understand their needs and engage more of them.