Marketing and ads: pixels, analytics and Meta Ads
Tell Meta, TikTok and Google what happens in your store: page views, add to cart and purchases, from the browser and from the server. Compare the tools and pick.
Ad platforms improve your ads only when they know who bought. A pixel is a small tag on your store that reports what visitors do. Jukto adds the tag for you; you only paste an ID. For purchases it can also report from the server, which is more reliable than the browser alone. You find these tools in Tools > Integrations > Marketing & ads.
Compare the tools#
| Tool | Use it for | You paste | Server purchase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meta Pixel | Facebook and Instagram ads | Pixel ID; optional Conversions API token and test event code | Yes, with the token |
| TikTok Pixel | TikTok ads | Pixel code; optional Events API token and test event code | Yes, with the token |
| Google Analytics 4 | Visitors, sources and sales reports | Measurement ID; optional API secret | Yes, with the secret, for orders confirmed later |
| Google Tag Manager | Managing all your tags in one place | Container ID | No |
| Meta Ads | Seeing and running your Meta ads inside the dashboard | Ad account ID and access token | Not a tag: it reads your ad account |
The tools themselves are free from the providers. Ad spend and any provider plan are set by the provider; check its own page.
How a browser event and a server event reach the platform#
While a visitor browses, the tag in their browser reports page views, product views, add to cart and checkout. A purchase is reported twice on purpose: by the browser on the thank-you page, and by Jukto's server when the order is confirmed. Both carry the order number as the event id, so Meta and TikTok recognise the pair and keep one copy.
Text version of the diagram
- Visitor browses your store to Browser tag: PageView, ViewContent, AddToCart, checkout
- Browser tag: PageView, ViewContent, AddToCart, checkout to Order is placed
- Order is placed to Thank-you page: browser sends Purchase
- Order is placed to Order is confirmed
- Thank-you page: browser sends Purchase to Meta and TikTok keep one copy
- Order is confirmed to Server sends Purchase with the same event id
- Server sends Purchase with the same event id to Meta and TikTok keep one copy
- Order is placed to GA4: confirmed at placement?
- GA4: confirmed at placement? to Browser sends the purchase (Yes)
- GA4: confirmed at placement? to Server sends it when you confirm (No)
- Live store only. Events fire on your live website, never in the editor preview.
- Once per order. A reload of the thank-you page does not send the purchase again.
- Server events need a token. Without the Conversions API token (Meta), Events API token (TikTok) or API secret (GA4), only the browser tag is used.
- GA4 never gets the purchase twice. If the order is confirmed right away (automatic confirmation) the browser sends it; if you confirm it later the server sends it then. Google Analytics does not merge the two, so Jukto uses only one.
Privacy and consent#
Which ones should I turn on?#
- Running Facebook or Instagram ads? Turn on Meta Pixel and add the Conversions API token. Add Meta Ads to see the ads next to your orders.
- Running TikTok ads? Turn on TikTok Pixel.
- Want to see visitors and sales? Turn on Google Analytics 4.
- Already use Tag Manager for everything? Turn on Google Tag Manager instead, and add the GA4 tag inside it. With a container on, Jukto does not load Google Analytics itself.
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