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Facebook

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Facebook

Activate Permutive cohorts to Facebook for custom audience targeting and advertising campaigns.

Setup

Troubleshooting

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Overview

The Permutive Facebook Pixel integration enables you to send rich cohort information to Facebook in real-time for audience targeting. These audiences are passed to Facebook via custom pixel events and can be used to build custom audiences in Facebook Ads Manager. This integration is a Destination:
  • Destination: Permutive sends cohort membership data to Facebook via the Facebook pixel, enabling you to build custom audiences based on Permutive cohorts.
Use cases include:
  • Build custom audiences in Facebook Ads Manager based on your Permutive cohorts
  • Retarget users across Facebook, Instagram, and Meta Audience Network
  • Target users with precision using real-time cohort membership data
  • Create lookalike audiences based on Permutive cohorts

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Environment Compatibility

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Prerequisites

  • Facebook Pixel: You must have the Facebook pixel already installed and active on your website. Verify this by searching for _fbq in the browser console. The Permutive SDK integrates with the existing Facebook pixel implementation to send cohort membership data.
  • Facebook Business Manager Access: You should have access to your Facebook Business Manager account to view and manage custom audiences created from Permutive cohorts.
  • Facebook Account Type: Your Facebook account administrator or Facebook representative should confirm whether you have a Core Setup or Non-Core Setup account, as this determines the pixel event configuration.
  • Permutive SDK: The Permutive Web SDK must be deployed on your site. The Facebook integration is an add-on that works with the core Permutive SDK.
The Facebook pixel integration works by firing custom events to the Facebook pixel SDK that is already present on your page. Permutive does not install the Facebook pixel for you. The integration automatically works with multiple Facebook pixels on your site.

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Setup

1

Verify Facebook Pixel Installation

Before enabling the Permutive integration, verify that the Facebook pixel is properly installed on your site:
  1. Open your website in a browser
  2. Open Developer Tools (F12 or right-click → Inspect)
  3. In the Console tab, search for _fbq
  4. If the Facebook pixel is installed, you should see the _fbq object defined
  5. If you see an error message that _fbq is not defined, please refer to the Facebook pixel implementation documentation and contact Facebook support if needed
You can also use the Meta Pixel Helper Chrome extension to verify pixel installation.
2

Add Integration in Permutive Dashboard

  1. Navigate to Settings > Integrations in the Permutive Dashboard
  2. Click + Add Integration
  3. Select Facebook Pixel from the list of available integrations
  4. You will see a configuration screen where you need to select your Facebook account type
3

Select Facebook Account Type

Depending on the type of Facebook account you have, select either Core Setup or Non-Core Setup. This configuration determines the type of pixel event that will be sent by the Facebook pixel.Core Setup: If you have a Core Setup Facebook account, you will see two unique pixel events collected for every cohort: PermutiveSegmentEntry_<CohortCode> and PermutiveSegmentExit_<CohortCode>. For example, if a user is segmented into Permutive cohort 123, the following pixel event will fire: PermutiveSegmentEntry_123Non-Core Setup: If you have a Non-Core Setup Facebook account, you will see two generalized pixel events for all cohorts — only one event named PermutiveSegmentEntry will represent all cohort entries and only one event named PermutiveSegmentExit will represent all cohort exits. An event property named segment_id stored within each of those generalized events will contain the Permutive cohort code.
Your account administrator or Facebook representative will be able to confirm what type of account you have.
Once you have selected your Facebook account type, click Add Integration.
4

Wait for Integration to Activate

The integration will be available for use in under 20 minutes. Once activated, you can begin sending cohorts to Facebook.
5

Configure Cohort Activations

For each cohort you want to activate to Facebook:
  1. Navigate to the cohort in the Permutive dashboard
  2. In the Activation Syncs section, toggle the Facebook Pixel activation to On
  3. The cohort will now be sent to Facebook when users enter or exit the cohort
6

Verify Setup

To verify that cohorts are being sent to Facebook:
  1. Use the Meta Pixel Helper Chrome extension to monitor pixel events on your site
  2. For Core Setup accounts, look for custom events named PermutiveSegmentEntry_<CohortCode> when users enter cohorts
  3. For Non-Core Setup accounts, look for events named PermutiveSegmentEntry with a segment_id property
  4. In Facebook Business Manager, check that custom audiences are being populated with data from the pixel events

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Data Types

With your Facebook integration setup, Permutive fires custom events to your Meta pixel to enable audience building:
Custom event fired when a user enters a cohort that has Facebook activation enabled. This event is used by Facebook to build custom audiences.
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string
The custom event name: PermutiveSegmentEntry
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string
The Permutive cohort code that the user entered. This property contains the unique identifier for the cohort.
Custom event fired when a user exits a cohort that has Facebook activation enabled.
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string
The custom event name: PermutiveSegmentExit
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string
The Permutive cohort code that the user exited.
For Core Setup accounts, a unique custom event is fired for each cohort when a user enters that cohort.
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string
The custom event name: PermutiveSegmentEntry_[COHORT_CODE] where [COHORT_CODE] is the unique identifier for the cohort. For example: PermutiveSegmentEntry_123
For Core Setup accounts, a unique custom event is fired for each cohort when a user exits that cohort.
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string
The custom event name: PermutiveSegmentExit_[COHORT_CODE] where [COHORT_CODE] is the unique identifier for the cohort. For example: PermutiveSegmentExit_123
Custom events sent to Facebook are subject to Facebook’s data processing and matching. Match rates depend on Facebook’s ability to match users based on cookies and other identifiers. Third-party cookies may be blocked in some environments, which can affect match rates.

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Troubleshooting

First, verify that the Facebook pixel is properly installed on your site by checking that _fbq is defined in the browser console. If the pixel is installed but Permutive events are not appearing:
  • Check that the Facebook integration is enabled in the Permutive dashboard and has been active for at least 20 minutes
  • Verify that cohorts are configured with Facebook activation enabled
  • Ensure that the Permutive SDK has loaded successfully on the page
  • Check the browser console for any JavaScript errors that might be preventing the Permutive SDK from executing
  • For Non-Core Setup accounts, look for PermutiveSegmentEntry events with a segment_id property
  • For Core Setup accounts, look for PermutiveSegmentEntry_<CohortCode> events
Facebook custom audiences built from pixel events can take 24-48 hours to populate after pixel events start firing. If audiences are still not populating after this time:
  • Verify that pixel events are firing correctly using the Meta Pixel Helper
  • Check that the pixel ID in your pixel implementation matches the pixel ID in Facebook Business Manager
  • For Non-Core Setup accounts, ensure your custom audience definition in Facebook includes the PermutiveSegmentEntry custom event with the correct segment_id value
  • For Core Setup accounts, ensure your custom audience definition includes the specific PermutiveSegmentEntry_<CohortCode> event
  • Check Facebook’s Event Match Quality score, which indicates how well Facebook can match pixel data to Facebook users. Low match quality may be due to cookie blocking or other privacy restrictions.
By default, Permutive automatically detects and works with all Facebook pixels on your site. The integration will pick up whichever Facebook pixel is available on the page for the domain where it is running. This means:
  • Different domains with different pixel IDs will automatically send data to their respective Facebook accounts
  • Users who enter a cohort from one domain will be sent to that domain’s associated Facebook account
  • Users who enter a cohort from another domain will be sent to that domain’s associated Facebook account
If you want to control which specific pixels receive Permutive data, this requires custom configuration. Please contact your Customer Success Manager to discuss options for selective pixel activation.
If you selected the wrong account type (Core Setup vs Non-Core Setup) during integration setup and cohort data isn’t appearing in Facebook:
  1. Verify your Facebook account type with your account administrator or Facebook representative
  2. Core Setup accounts require unique events per cohort (PermutiveSegmentEntry_<CohortCode>)
  3. Non-Core Setup accounts use generalized events with a segment_id property (PermutiveSegmentEntry)
  4. If you selected the wrong account type, you will need to remove and re-add the Facebook integration with the correct configuration
  5. Contact Permutive Support if you need assistance reconfiguring the integration

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Changelog

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April 2025

  • Added support for selective pixel firing to control which Meta pixels receive Permutive activations

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October 2024

  • Enhanced configuration options for Meta Core Setup accounts to support separate custom events per cohort
For detailed changelog information, visit our Changelog.