Google Analytics for Facebook Tutorial
Tracking Facebook ad campaigns in Google Analytics
In order to track the performance of various Facebook ad campaigns in Google Analytics, add following UTM parameters at the end of the destination URL of each Facebook ad:
utm_source
Use this parameter to specify traffic source.
For example: utm_source= facebook
Note: utm_source is a required parameter.
utm_medium
Use this parameter to specify traffic medium.
For example: utm_medium= social
Note: utm_medium is a required parameter.
utm_content
Use this parameter to differentiate various Facebook ads or links that point to the same destination page.
For example: utm_content=ad1
utm_campaign
Use this parameter to specify the name of the Facebook campaign.
For example: utm_campaign= pdf-book-campaign
Note: utm_campaign is a required parameter.
Following is an example of Facebook ad URL which contains UTM parameters:
https://www.optimizesmart.com/book-maths-and-stats-for-web-analytics-conversion-optimization/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=ad1&utm_campaign=pdf-book-campaign

Always use Google URL builder to add UTM parameters to the destination URL of your Facebook ads.
Always use Facebook Power Editor to create and manage Facebook ads.
Many people use Facebook boost post to create and publish ads.
While it is easy to create ads via the boost post feature, it lacks many advanced features, like adding UTM parameters to the Ads’ URLs.
Without adding the UTM parameters to the ads’ URLs, you won’t be able to measure the performance of various Facebook ad campaigns in Google Analytics.
Understanding how Facebook traffic moves through the checkout process
One of the best ways to analyse Facebook traffic data in Google Analytics is through a filtered view.
If you use filtered view, you will never forget to segment the data and segmenting the data is very important in order to get a better understanding of the Facebook traffic.
If you use advanced segment (to filter out Facebook traffic), then you need to consciously remember to use this segment each time, before you begin your analysis. Moreover, Google Analytics does not let you apply advanced segments on the funnel visualization report and multi-channel reports. So you would never know, how Facebook traffic moves through the checkout process or complete a goal conversion.
Create a new view in Google Analytics and apply following filter to it:

This filter will include only the Facebook traffic.
Determining top traffic generating web pages shared on Facebook
You can determine top shared web pages (in terms of driving traffic to your website) on Facebook through ‘Network referrals’ report in Google Analytics. Navigate to Acquisition > Social > Network Referrals in your GA view and then click on the ‘Facebook’ link:

You can now see the website usage data of top shared web pages on Facebook:

Tracking assisted and last click conversions from Facebook
Facebook, just like any other marketing channel, not only helps in completing conversions but also help in assisting conversions. So while evaluating its overall performance as a marketing channel, we need to look beyond the last click. Through ‘social conversions‘ report you can track the overall performance of Facebook by analysing the following metrics:
- Assisted Conversions
- Assisted Conversion Value
- Last Click or Direct Conversions
- Last Click or Direct Conversions Value
- Assisted / Last Click or Direct Conversions
If you are not sure what these metrics mean, then read this article: Google Analytics Attribution Modeling – Beginners Guide
Navigate to Acquisition > Social > Conversions in your GA view and then look at the data row for Facebook:

From the report above we can conclude following:
- Facebook helped in generating 557 conversions of value $28,233.40 in the last one month.
- Facebook directly completed 556 conversions of value $24,890.30 in the last one month.
- The assisted / last click or direct conversions is 1. What that means, Facebook is equally good in both assisting conversions and directly completing conversions.
So for Attribution modelling, the ‘social conversions‘ report in extremely important.
Understanding Facebook users flow
Through ‘Social Users Flow’ report in Google Analytics, you can determine the paths users took through your website, from Facebook. Basically, you can determine how users browsed your website, after finding you on Facebook. This is a good report to understand the behaviour of Facebook users on your website.
Navigate to Acquisition > Social > Users flow in your GA view, click on the Facebook white box and then select ‘View only this segment‘:
You can then see the Facebook users flow on your website:

Related Articles
- Facebook Attribution and Conversion Windows Guide
- How to calculate the ROI of your Facebook Marketing Campaigns
- How to set up the Facebook Attribution Tool
- How to Setup Funnels in Facebook Ads Manager
- How to use funnels for your Facebook Ad Campaigns
- How to advertise on Facebook for FREE with unlimited budget
- Secret to Setup Facebook Pixel Tracking Correctly in Google Tag Manager
- Why Facebook and Google Analytics data do not match
- Learn to correctly track Facebook Referral traffic in Google Analytics
- Learn to set up Facebook Pixel Tracking via Google Tag Manager
- Tracking Website Sales in Facebook via Google Tag Manager
- Understanding Facebook Referral traffic in Google Analytics
- Open Graph Protocol for Facebook Explained with Examples
- Tracking Facebook ‘Likes’ and ‘Unlikes’ in Google Analytics
- Introduction to Attribution Models in Facebook
Other articles on specialized tracking in Google Analytics
- Ecommerce Tracking in Google Analytics – Tutorial
- Event Tracking via Google Tag Manager – Tutorial
- Event Tracking in Google Analytics – Tutorial
- Guide to Google Analytics Store Visits Tracking
- Offline Conversion Tracking in Google Analytics – Tutorial
- Implementing E-Commerce Tracking via Google Tag Manager
- Tracking Virtual Pageviews in Google Tag Manager – Tutorial
- YouTube Video tracking via Google Tag Manager
- How to Use Keyword Hero to Reveal Not Provided Keywords in Google Analytics
- Virtual pageviews in Google Analytics – Tutorial
- Google Analytics and YouTube Integration Tutorial
- Google Analytics for Facebook Tutorial
- Google Analytics Cross Domain Tracking Explained Like Never Before
- Using multiple Google Analytics tracking codes on web pages
- The one thing that you don’t know about PayPal.com and the referral exclusion list
- Calculated Metrics in Google Analytics – Tutorial
- Creating your own Google Analytics Tag Auditing System
- Tracking Site Search without Query Parameter in Google Tag Manager
- Tracking true referrals in Google Analytics when using PayPal and other payment gateways
- Phone Call Tracking in Google Analytics and Beyond
- Learn to Track Qualified and Won Leads in Google Analytics
- Introduction to Postbacks in Google Analytics
- Google Analytics Recurring Revenue and Subscriptions Tracking Tutorial
- How to track the impact of cookie consent on website traffic in Google Analytics
- Tracking Offline Conversions in Google Ads
- Implementing Scroll Tracking via Google Tag Manager
- Scroll Tracking via Scroll Depth Trigger in Google Tag Manager
- Site Search Tracking In Google Analytics Without Query Parameters
- Video Tracking via YouTube Video Trigger In Google Tag Manager
- How to Correctly Measure Conversion Date & Time in Google Analytics
- Google Analytics Social Tracking – Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus and LinkedIn
- Google Analytics Cross Domain Tracking (ga.js)
- Tracking Twitter and Linkedin Social Interactions in Google Analytics
- Creating Content Group in Google Analytics via tracking code using gtag.js
- Tracking Site Search in Google Analytics with Query Parameters
- Understanding site search tracking in Google Analytics
- Creating and Using Site Search Funnel in Google Analytics
- Learn to Setup Facebook Pixel Tracking via Google Tag Manager
- Setting up & Tracking AMP Pages in Google Analytics
- Setting up Sales Funnel across websites in Google Analytics
- Regular Expressions (Regex) for Google Analytics & Google Tag Manager – Tutorial
Register for the FREE TRAINING...
"How to use Digital Analytics to generate floods of new Sales and Customers without spending years figuring everything out on your own."
Here’s what we’re going to cover in this training…
#1 Why digital analytics is the key to online business success.
#2 The number 1 reason why most marketers are not able to scale their advertising and maximize sales.
#3 Why Google and Facebook ads don’t work for most businesses & how to make them work.
#4 Why you won’t get any competitive advantage in the marketplace just by knowing Google Analytics.
#5 The number 1 reason why conversion optimization is not working for your business.
#6 How to advertise on any marketing platform for FREE with an unlimited budget.
#7 How to learn and master digital analytics and conversion optimization in record time.
My best selling books on Digital Analytics and Conversion Optimization
Maths and Stats for Web Analytics and Conversion Optimization
This expert guide will teach you how to leverage the knowledge of maths and statistics in order to accurately interpret data and take actions, which can quickly improve the bottom-line of your online business.
Master the Essentials of Email Marketing Analytics
This book focuses solely on the ‘analytics’ that power your email marketing optimization program and will help you dramatically reduce your cost per acquisition and increase marketing ROI by tracking the performance of the various KPIs and metrics used for email marketing.
Attribution Modelling in Google Analytics and Beyond
Attribution modelling is the process of determining the most effective marketing channels for investment. This book has been written to help you implement attribution modelling. It will teach you how to leverage the knowledge of attribution modelling in order to allocate marketing budget and understand buying behaviour.
Attribution Modelling in Google Ads and Facebook
This book has been written to help you implement attribution modelling in Google Ads (Google AdWords) and Facebook. It will teach you, how to leverage the knowledge of attribution modelling in order to understand the customer purchasing journey and determine the most effective marketing channels for investment.
Tracking Facebook ad campaigns in Google Analytics
In order to track the performance of various Facebook ad campaigns in Google Analytics, add following UTM parameters at the end of the destination URL of each Facebook ad:
utm_source
Use this parameter to specify traffic source.
For example: utm_source= facebook
Note: utm_source is a required parameter.
utm_medium
Use this parameter to specify traffic medium.
For example: utm_medium= social
Note: utm_medium is a required parameter.
utm_content
Use this parameter to differentiate various Facebook ads or links that point to the same destination page.
For example: utm_content=ad1
utm_campaign
Use this parameter to specify the name of the Facebook campaign.
For example: utm_campaign= pdf-book-campaign
Note: utm_campaign is a required parameter.
Following is an example of Facebook ad URL which contains UTM parameters:
https://www.optimizesmart.com/book-maths-and-stats-for-web-analytics-conversion-optimization/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=ad1&utm_campaign=pdf-book-campaign
Always use Google URL builder to add UTM parameters to the destination URL of your Facebook ads.
Always use Facebook Power Editor to create and manage Facebook ads.
Many people use Facebook boost post to create and publish ads.
While it is easy to create ads via the boost post feature, it lacks many advanced features, like adding UTM parameters to the Ads’ URLs.
Without adding the UTM parameters to the ads’ URLs, you won’t be able to measure the performance of various Facebook ad campaigns in Google Analytics.
Understanding how Facebook traffic moves through the checkout process
One of the best ways to analyse Facebook traffic data in Google Analytics is through a filtered view.
If you use filtered view, you will never forget to segment the data and segmenting the data is very important in order to get a better understanding of the Facebook traffic.
If you use advanced segment (to filter out Facebook traffic), then you need to consciously remember to use this segment each time, before you begin your analysis. Moreover, Google Analytics does not let you apply advanced segments on the funnel visualization report and multi-channel reports. So you would never know, how Facebook traffic moves through the checkout process or complete a goal conversion.
Create a new view in Google Analytics and apply following filter to it:
This filter will include only the Facebook traffic.
Determining top traffic generating web pages shared on Facebook
You can determine top shared web pages (in terms of driving traffic to your website) on Facebook through ‘Network referrals’ report in Google Analytics. Navigate to Acquisition > Social > Network Referrals in your GA view and then click on the ‘Facebook’ link:
You can now see the website usage data of top shared web pages on Facebook:
Tracking assisted and last click conversions from Facebook
Facebook, just like any other marketing channel, not only helps in completing conversions but also help in assisting conversions. So while evaluating its overall performance as a marketing channel, we need to look beyond the last click. Through ‘social conversions‘ report you can track the overall performance of Facebook by analysing the following metrics:
- Assisted Conversions
- Assisted Conversion Value
- Last Click or Direct Conversions
- Last Click or Direct Conversions Value
- Assisted / Last Click or Direct Conversions
If you are not sure what these metrics mean, then read this article: Google Analytics Attribution Modeling – Beginners Guide
Navigate to Acquisition > Social > Conversions in your GA view and then look at the data row for Facebook:
From the report above we can conclude following:
- Facebook helped in generating 557 conversions of value $28,233.40 in the last one month.
- Facebook directly completed 556 conversions of value $24,890.30 in the last one month.
- The assisted / last click or direct conversions is 1. What that means, Facebook is equally good in both assisting conversions and directly completing conversions.
So for Attribution modelling, the ‘social conversions‘ report in extremely important.
Understanding Facebook users flow
Through ‘Social Users Flow’ report in Google Analytics, you can determine the paths users took through your website, from Facebook. Basically, you can determine how users browsed your website, after finding you on Facebook. This is a good report to understand the behaviour of Facebook users on your website.
Navigate to Acquisition > Social > Users flow in your GA view, click on the Facebook white box and then select ‘View only this segment‘:
You can then see the Facebook users flow on your website:
Related Articles
- Facebook Attribution and Conversion Windows Guide
- How to calculate the ROI of your Facebook Marketing Campaigns
- How to set up the Facebook Attribution Tool
- How to Setup Funnels in Facebook Ads Manager
- How to use funnels for your Facebook Ad Campaigns
- How to advertise on Facebook for FREE with unlimited budget
- Secret to Setup Facebook Pixel Tracking Correctly in Google Tag Manager
- Why Facebook and Google Analytics data do not match
- Learn to correctly track Facebook Referral traffic in Google Analytics
- Learn to set up Facebook Pixel Tracking via Google Tag Manager
- Tracking Website Sales in Facebook via Google Tag Manager
- Understanding Facebook Referral traffic in Google Analytics
- Open Graph Protocol for Facebook Explained with Examples
- Tracking Facebook ‘Likes’ and ‘Unlikes’ in Google Analytics
- Introduction to Attribution Models in Facebook
Other articles on specialized tracking in Google Analytics
- Ecommerce Tracking in Google Analytics – Tutorial
- Event Tracking via Google Tag Manager – Tutorial
- Event Tracking in Google Analytics – Tutorial
- Guide to Google Analytics Store Visits Tracking
- Offline Conversion Tracking in Google Analytics – Tutorial
- Implementing E-Commerce Tracking via Google Tag Manager
- Tracking Virtual Pageviews in Google Tag Manager – Tutorial
- YouTube Video tracking via Google Tag Manager
- How to Use Keyword Hero to Reveal Not Provided Keywords in Google Analytics
- Virtual pageviews in Google Analytics – Tutorial
- Google Analytics and YouTube Integration Tutorial
- Google Analytics for Facebook Tutorial
- Google Analytics Cross Domain Tracking Explained Like Never Before
- Using multiple Google Analytics tracking codes on web pages
- The one thing that you don’t know about PayPal.com and the referral exclusion list
- Calculated Metrics in Google Analytics – Tutorial
- Creating your own Google Analytics Tag Auditing System
- Tracking Site Search without Query Parameter in Google Tag Manager
- Tracking true referrals in Google Analytics when using PayPal and other payment gateways
- Phone Call Tracking in Google Analytics and Beyond
- Learn to Track Qualified and Won Leads in Google Analytics
- Introduction to Postbacks in Google Analytics
- Google Analytics Recurring Revenue and Subscriptions Tracking Tutorial
- How to track the impact of cookie consent on website traffic in Google Analytics
- Tracking Offline Conversions in Google Ads
- Implementing Scroll Tracking via Google Tag Manager
- Scroll Tracking via Scroll Depth Trigger in Google Tag Manager
- Site Search Tracking In Google Analytics Without Query Parameters
- Video Tracking via YouTube Video Trigger In Google Tag Manager
- How to Correctly Measure Conversion Date & Time in Google Analytics
- Google Analytics Social Tracking – Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus and LinkedIn
- Google Analytics Cross Domain Tracking (ga.js)
- Tracking Twitter and Linkedin Social Interactions in Google Analytics
- Creating Content Group in Google Analytics via tracking code using gtag.js
- Tracking Site Search in Google Analytics with Query Parameters
- Understanding site search tracking in Google Analytics
- Creating and Using Site Search Funnel in Google Analytics
- Learn to Setup Facebook Pixel Tracking via Google Tag Manager
- Setting up & Tracking AMP Pages in Google Analytics
- Setting up Sales Funnel across websites in Google Analytics
- Regular Expressions (Regex) for Google Analytics & Google Tag Manager – Tutorial
Register for the FREE TRAINING...
"How to use Digital Analytics to generate floods of new Sales and Customers without spending years figuring everything out on your own."
Here’s what we’re going to cover in this training…
#1 Why digital analytics is the key to online business success.
#2 The number 1 reason why most marketers are not able to scale their advertising and maximize sales.
#3 Why Google and Facebook ads don’t work for most businesses & how to make them work.
#4 Why you won’t get any competitive advantage in the marketplace just by knowing Google Analytics.
#5 The number 1 reason why conversion optimization is not working for your business.
#6 How to advertise on any marketing platform for FREE with an unlimited budget.
#7 How to learn and master digital analytics and conversion optimization in record time.
My best selling books on Digital Analytics and Conversion Optimization
Maths and Stats for Web Analytics and Conversion Optimization
This expert guide will teach you how to leverage the knowledge of maths and statistics in order to accurately interpret data and take actions, which can quickly improve the bottom-line of your online business.
Master the Essentials of Email Marketing Analytics
This book focuses solely on the ‘analytics’ that power your email marketing optimization program and will help you dramatically reduce your cost per acquisition and increase marketing ROI by tracking the performance of the various KPIs and metrics used for email marketing.
Attribution Modelling in Google Analytics and Beyond
Attribution modelling is the process of determining the most effective marketing channels for investment. This book has been written to help you implement attribution modelling. It will teach you how to leverage the knowledge of attribution modelling in order to allocate marketing budget and understand buying behaviour.
Attribution Modelling in Google Ads and Facebook
This book has been written to help you implement attribution modelling in Google Ads (Google AdWords) and Facebook. It will teach you, how to leverage the knowledge of attribution modelling in order to understand the customer purchasing journey and determine the most effective marketing channels for investment.