Meta says 21 sales, Shopify says 8

Meta also counts views

Short answer. Meta (your Facebook and Instagram ads) counts a sale within 7 days of a click, or 1 day after someone only saw your ad. Shopify credits each order to the last channel the shopper clicked. So on one campaign, Meta says 21 sales where Shopify says 8. Set your budget on the 8.

Shopify gave Meta's 13 extra sales to another click, or to no ad at all.

1. Someone sees your ad, scrolls on and buys that evening after a Google search. Meta counts that sale. Shopify gives it to Google.
2. On Monday a shopper clicks your ad. On Friday she clicks your newsletter and buys. For Shopify that is a newsletter sale. Meta still counts it, because Friday is within 7 days.
3. A shopper clicks your Meta ad, then your Google ad, then buys. Shopify has one order, under the Google click. Meta counts it and so does Google Ads, which looks back 30 days.

See both counts per campaign

Sightwick counts the orders on your own site and puts them in one table with Meta's number. Link your Meta account by signing in, and each campaign shows the sales your shop had (Conversions) beside the sales Meta counts (Platform conversions).

The first number comes from your shop. On Shopify stores, Sightwick counts each order with a custom pixel. It credits the source of the buying visit, or the first source when the shopper came back direct. Each order counts once, however many ads claim it.

Open Attribution, set Group to Campaign, and under More filters set Source to Meta. Press Apply and read Conversions beside Platform conversions, row by row.

In our demo shop, Meta counts 42 sales for the campaign Prospecting NL. The shop ties 2 orders to a click on it. Start with the campaign where the two numbers are furthest apart.

Put the campaign name or ID in utm_campaign on your Meta ads, and each row lines up with Meta's campaign.

Sightwick gives credit to clicks your site saw, for at most two sources per sale: the first one and the one of the buying visit. A view never touches your site, so it stays Meta's claim.

Use Shopify's 8 for your budget

An order in your own shop is money in your account. Keep Meta's 21 for comparing ads inside Meta. Meta counts all of them by the same rule, so the ranking between two ads holds.

The campaign spent €1,132 and an average order is €124. On Meta's number, every euro brings back €2.30. Count your own orders and it brings back €0.88. Each sale costs €17.50 more than it earns.

But look at one more number before you cut the campaign. An ad that finds new shoppers often has the first click and seldom the last. Set Model to First touch in Sightwick and check if this campaign starts sales that others close.

Meta and Google claim 183 sales

Neither platform sees what the other one counts. That is how one sale is counted twice. Add them up and you have more sales than orders.

Those 85 orders came in over 30 days. Only 32 of them trace back to a click on a Meta or Google ad. The other 53 came from search, the newsletter and another site, or have no known source.

Sightwick counts each of the 85 orders once. Measure your ad spend against that number.

Questions about Meta's number

Why do Facebook ads show more sales than Shopify?

Because Meta counts sales that Shopify credits to another channel: a sale after a view, or a sale with another click in between. In the example above that is 13 of the 21.

Where do I see Shopify's number?

In your Shopify admin, open Analytics, then Reports, and filter Category on Marketing. The report Performance by marketing channel covers the last 30 days. It gives each order to the last channel that was not a direct visit.

Does Sightwick count sales after a view?

No. Where Meta's figures include views, Sightwick shows that number as Meta's claim, apart from your sales.

Can I set Meta to count clicks only?

You can, per ad set. In Ads Manager, the attribution setting lets you leave views out and count a sale within 1 day or 7 days of a click. Set it to 7 days and Meta still counts the Monday shopper from the example, the one Shopify credits to the newsletter.

What does it cost to try?

30 days free, then billed monthly. Plans start at €50 a month. Cancel within the 30 days and you pay nothing.