[Test Results] The "Pixel Process": How Digital Marketer Gets 81% More Leads and 38% More Sales From Paid Traffic

There’s a new sheriff in the traffic world.

It’s called Cost Per Pixel. (You can learn more about this metric here).

CPP is how much it costs YOU to send a user to your site (preferably a piece of content, such as a blog post) in order to pixel them.

But, it’s much more than a new metric.

The idea of pixeling users has changed our ENTIRE traffic strategy at Digital Marketer over the past few months and we’re not just talking about “retargeting”.

Here’s what you’ll see in this case study…

A new traffic strategy
Proof that it works
The 3-step process you can use to set it up (it’s easy!)


As digital marketers, we MUST start building these pixeled audiences (on Facebook, Google, YouTube, etc.) so that we can LEVERAGE them… now and later. These audiences are OWNED MEDIA, they’re assets that are just as important as your email list.


(Pixeled audiences in Facebook Ads Manager – we can run ads to these people at any time!)

But, why does this matter now?

1. Traffic platforms are changing and becoming crowded!

Remember when you could send Facebook traffic straight to a video sales letter (VSL)? Remember when you could send Facebook traffic to a squeeze page with just a headline and an opt in box?

Remember the Google “slap”? As ad platforms mature they become more selective with where they allow advertisers to send traffic.

For example, Facebook wants ads that give the best experience for the end user. Most end users are agitated when they’re sent to a squeeze page from cold traffic (a brand they’ve never interacted with before).

So, over the past year, Facebook has become more strict with what kind of landing pages they allow traffic to go to. They will become more and more strict as time passes!

This is why we’re sending cold traffic to content pieces.

Sending cold traffic to content is HELPFUL to the end user and allowed on almost every traffic platform.

2. Online buying behavior is changing!

We’re seeing that people are opting in for 2, 3, or 4 of our Lead Magnets before buying.

As we flood the online space with more and more commerce, buyers have more choices. They have the desire (and ability) to become familiar with a brand before they buy.

This is another reason sending traffic to content is SO important. It allows YOU to establish yourself as an authority in your market and build trust before you ask someone to give their email address or purchase.

Also, sending traffic to content happens to be pretty cheap!

(Want to know how to create high-converting, low-cost ads with Facebook advertising pixels? Click to grab The Ultimate Guide to Facebook Conversion Pixels)

Let’s walk through the new traffic process…

Step 1 – Traffic is Sent to Content

Send traffic to a content page on your site. The content should resemble a blog post and give readers the BEST information possible. The example below is a Facebook ad to a blog post on Facebook pixels.

Keep in mind, you won’t see a direct return on investment from this ad (until later… just wait :)). You’re running this ad to get visitors to your site in order to pixel them.

What do we know about someone that visits the blog post in the example above?

Answer: We know they are interested in Facebook Advertising.

So, we set up a retargeting audience for this segment of our audience.  (Learn more about this here) For this ad, we’re building an audience of people who are interested in Facebook advertising.

Step 2 – Retarget the Pixeled Audience

Retarget the pixeled audience that you built in step one with a RELEVANT offer (Lead Magnet).

Using the content, you built an audience of people who were interested in a specific topic. Now, you’ll run an ad to that audience offering them something free in return for their email address.

For this example, we ran ads for our Facebook Ad Templates lead magnet. If you’re interested in Facebook advertising, you’d love templates, right?

This is the step in the process where you start generating leads and sales! You’re sending them to a landing page, such as the one above.

Step 3 – Dynamically Retarget

Set up dynamic retargeting throughout the funnel.

With this retargeting, you’re just following up with users based off of which step they fell out of the funnel. You’re reminding them to take the next step. This is FREE money, easy to set up, and runs on autopilot.

For example, if they landed on the squeeze page but didn’t opt in – we’d run an ad like the one below to remind them:

To learn how to set up full funnel retargeting, click here.

That’s it. There are three steps to our new traffic strategy at Digital Marketer. So… what’s actually new about the strategy?

We added content at the top of the funnel. We added content because it allows us to indoctrinate our users and pixel them. We also added content because it’s allowing us to MAKE MORE MONEY.

Yes, I told you there’d be proof :).

Here’s a case study from the Facebook ad templates funnel I’ve been referencing throughout the post.

The NEW Traffic Model:

The Results:

We spent 30-50 cents to send people to our blog post.

We then spent $1.21 for each visitor who went to our landing page and gave us their email address.

That gives us a total Cost Per Lead of $1.51-1.71 for the new traffic model. (I wanted to make sure we were adding in the cost of sending that initial content click).

The OLD Traffic Model:

The Results:

When sending cold traffic directly to a squeeze page, we had a Cost Per Lead of $1.71.

So, why is this important? The cost per lead is the same?

On the Tripwire sales page (we were making a $7 offer) the conversion rate was 38% higher to the pixeled audience than to cold traffic. That’s where the MONEY starts talking!

So, not only are we building pixeled audiences of visitors based off of their specific interests – we are seeing MUCH higher conversion rates throughout our funnel by deploying this new traffic strategy.

Let’s Recap

Even after paying for an extra click to content, the cost-per-lead (CPL) for both methods was $1.71

Pixeled traffic converted 81% higher on the lead capture page

Pixeled traffic converted 38% higher on the Tripwire sales page= $$$

You’re building OWNED Media (e.g. You’re now able to advertise to this pixeled audience any time you want)

You’re indoctrinating visitors and establishing yourself as an authority so that they will BUY!

(Want to know how to create high-converting, low-cost ads with Facebook advertising pixels? Click to grab The Ultimate Guide to Facebook Conversion Pixels)

Ready to put these three easy steps to work? Have a question or want to share your own results? Leave it below!

About Molly Pittman

Molly Pittman is Digital Marketer's Vice President and Traffic Manager. She uses her wide range of business and communication skills to enhance our presence on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and more. She graduated with a degree in Business Administration & Marketing from Transylvania University in Lexington, KY. Molly has a tiny black dog named Larry. Connect with Molly on Facebook