Offline Conversions API

Use the Offline Conversions API to send offline conversion events and to see how many customers viewed or clicked Meta ads before converting.

Before You Start

To use this API, you need:

1. Meta Business Manager

If you don't have one, create one.

2. Meta App ID

For access to Marketing API. To create a Meta app:

• Visit Business Manager > Business Settings.
• Select Apps.
• Click Add New App and follow the instructions.

3. App Review and Permissions

Rules around app review and permissions depend on how you are implementing our API:

4. Business Manager System User and Token

With system user access, your app can send data to Meta using the API. To create it:

• Visit Business Manager > Business Settings.
• Select System Users.
• Click Add New System User.
• Select Admin System User as the role for the system user.

An access token provides access to Meta data. To create system user access tokens:

• Visit Business Manager > Business Settings.
• Select System Users.
• Select the system user and click Generate New Token.
• Select your app > for scope, select ads_management.

5. Ad Account

You need an ad account to run ad campaigns on Meta. To create one, see Marketing API or Business Help Center: About your business settings in Meta Business Manager.

6. Grant System User Access to Ad Account

Grant your system user access to your ad account.

• Go to Business Manager > Business Settings.
• Select System Users.
• Select the system user and click Assign Assets.
• Select your ad account.

7. Offline Event Set

These are uploaded files with offline conversion data. When you create an ad, set tracking_spec to the offline event set ID to correctly attribute events. You can then create event sets, view stats on your imports, delete, and modify this data in Business Manager.

With older implementations, you could do offline event set CRUD operations at the Business Manager level to share event sets with other objects and entities.

Upload Event Data

You need specific access to create offline event sets, upload, or view data for an event set. You also need this access to assign these permissions to an ad account. You must be one of the following:

• Business Manager admin
• Admin system user who created the offline event set
• Admin on the ad_account connected to the offline event set

See Offline Conversion Event Set, Reference.

1. Create Offline Event Set

curl 
  -F 'access_token=<SYSTEM_USER_ACCESS_TOKEN>' 
  -F 'name=offline_event_set',
  -F 'description=conversion data used for superbowl campaign',
  https://graph.facebook.com/<API_VERSION>/<BUSINESS_MANAGER_ID>/offline_conversion_data_sets

Make a HTTP POST:

POST /<BUSINESS_MANAGER_ID>/offline_conversion_data_sets HTTP/1.1
Host: graph.facebook.com

curl -X POST \
  -F 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
  https://graph.facebook.com/<BUSINESS_MANAGER_ID>/offline_conversion_data_sets

The response includes an event set id:

{
  "id": <OFFLINE_EVENT_SET_ID>
}

Parameters

2. Assign Ad Account Permissions

To assign tracking and read permissions to an ad account:

POST /<OFFLINE_EVENT_SET_ID>/adaccounts HTTP/1.1
Host: graph.facebook.com

curl -X POST \
  -F 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
  https://graph.facebook.com/<OFFLINE_EVENT_SET_ID>/adaccounts

Parameters

3. Set Ad Tracking

When you update tracking_spec, we overwrite it. Make sure to do GET first, then append the associated String for the offline event set to the existing tracking_spec. See Ads Management or use Ads Manager. For example, provide an appropriate tracking spec:

curl \
  -F 'tracking_spec=[{action.type:"offline_conversion", dataset:["123"]}]' \
  -F 'access_token=<SYSTEM_USER_ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
  https://graph.facebook.com/<API_VERSION>/<AD_ID>

To update your ads's tracking spec:

POST /<AD_ID>/?tracking_specs=[{"action.type":"offline_conversion","dataset": <OFFLINE_EVENT_SET_ID>}] HTTP/1.1
Host: graph.facebook.com

curl -X POST \
  -F 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
  https://graph.facebook.com/<AD_ID>/?tracking_specs=[{"action.type":"offline_conversion","dataset": <OFFLINE_EVENT_SET_ID>}]

Parameters

4. Upload Offline Events

You should upload transaction within 62 days of the conversion. Upload the conversion data:

curl \
  -F 'access_token=SYSTEM_USER_ACCESS_TOKEN' \
  -F 'upload_tag=store_data' \
  -F 'data=[ \
    { 
      match_keys: {"phone": ["HASH1","HASH2"], "email": ["HASH3","HASH4"]}, 
      currency: "USD", 
      value: 16,
      event_name: "Purchase",
      event_time: 1456870902,
      contents: [
        {id: "A", quantity: 1},
        {id: "B", quantity: 2},
        {id: "C", quantity: 1}
      ]
      custom_data: {             
      },
    }, 
    { 
      match_keys: {"lead_id": "12345"}, 
      event_name: "Lead",
      event_time: 1446336000,
      contents: [
        {id: "A", quantity: 1},
        {id: "B", quantity: 2},
        {id: "C", quantity: 1}
      ]
      custom_data: {
        event_source: "email",
        action_type: "sent_open_click",
        email_type: "email_type_code", 
        email_provider: "gmail_yahoo_hotmail",
      }
    }, 
  ]'
  https://graph.facebook.com/VERSION/OFFLINE_EVENT_SET_ID/events

To send conversions, make a HTTP POST:

POST /<OFFLINE_EVENT_SET_ID>/events HTTP/1.1
Host: graph.facebook.com

curl -X POST \
  -F 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
  https://graph.facebook.com/<OFFLINE_EVENT_SET_ID>/events

Parameters

Use the same upload_tag for all event upload API calls in the same batch to group them. This helps you debug event uploads, and you should use this for any event uploads made in more than one API call.

Parameters within data include:

For example, you can upload information with the data field:

{
  match_keys: MATCH_KEYS,
  event_time: EVENT_TIME,
  event_name: "Purchase",
  value: 400,
  currency: "USD",
  contents: [
    {
        id: "A",
        quantity: 1,
        brand: "brand_of_A",
        category: "Apparel & Accessories | Clothing",
        price: 100,
    },
    {
        id: "B",
        quantity: 2,
        brand: "brand_of_B",
        category: "Apparel & Accessories | Shoes",
        price: 50,
    },
    {
        id: "C",
        quantity: 1,
        brand: "brand_of_C",
        category: "Apparel & Accessories | Jewelry | Watches",
        price: 200,
    }
  ],
}

Use the same upload_tag for all event upload API calls in the same batch to group them. This helps you debug event uploads, and you should use this for any event uploads made in more than one API call.

Match Keys

match_keys is a set of identifiers to match people for attribution. See Custom Audiences from CRM Data for normalizing and hashing your data. Only SHA256 is supported and we do not accept unhashed data.

The response:

On errors you see an exception including invalid entries and the reason. Fix the errors or skip the data rows with errors and retry the API call.

View Upload Stats

A Business Manager admin or system user who created the offline event set can retrieve upload stats. Also any admin on the ad_account which is connected to the offline event set can read this data.

To view stats about offline event sets such as valid entries and matched entries:

GET /<OFFLINE_EVENT_SET_ID>/uploads HTTP/1.1
Host: graph.facebook.com

curl -X GET -G \
  -d 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
  https://graph.facebook.com/<OFFLINE_EVENT_SET_ID>/uploads

View daily breakdowns of offline events in Offline Events Manager in Business Manager. For more precise breakdowns, make this call:

GET /<OFFLINE_EVENT_SET_ID>/stats HTTP/1.1
Host: graph.facebook.com

curl -X GET -G \
  -d 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
  https://graph.facebook.com/<OFFLINE_EVENT_SET_ID>/stats

Parameters

Create Offline Custom Conversions

Offline Custom Conversions currently do not backfill. We do not attribute data from event uploads made before you created the custom conversion. You cannot use offline custom conversion data for ads delivery optimization. See Custom Conversion, Reference.

To create a custom conversion using your offline events, make a POST:

POST /act_<ACCOUNT_ID>/customconversions HTTP/1.1
Host: graph.facebook.com

curl -X POST \
  -F 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
  https://graph.facebook.com/act_<ACCOUNT_ID>/customconversions

Parameters:

The response, on success:

{
  "id": <CUSTOM_CONVERSION_ID>
}

Measure with Custom Data

You can use the custom_data field to create rules that later determine if a conversion counts or not. This is similar to Offline Custom Audiences. The maximum number of custom conversions you can have per ad account is 40.

For example, include product category in uploads with custom_data:

data=[
  {
    match_keys: {"phone": ["<HASH>","<HASH>"], "email": ["<HASH>","<HASH>"]}, 
    currency: "USD", 
    value: 16,
    event_name: "Purchase",
    event_time: 1456870902,
    custom_data: {
      product_category: "ICECREAM",
    },
  },
]

Then use custom_data.{YOUR_CUSTOM_PARAM} to create a Custom Conversion rule:

curl \
  -F 'name=Ice Cream Purchasers' \
  -F 'custom_event_type=Purchase' \
  -F 'event_source_id=<OFFLINE_EVENT_SET_ID>' \
  -F 'rule={"and": [{"event_name":{"eq":"Purchase"}},{"custom_data.product_category":{"i_contains":"ICECREAM"}}]}' \
  -F 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \

"https://graph.facebook.com/<API_VERSION>/act_<ACCOUNT_ID>/customconversions"

Offline Conversions for Partners

To attribute offline conversion events to your client's ad, follow these steps. The API calls for most of these steps are same as when someone manages their own offline event set and campaign management.

1. Partner - Create offline event set
2. Partner - Share event set with client's Business Manager
3. Client - Assign ad account offline tracking permission
4. Client - Set offline tracking on ads
5. Partner - Upload offline events, view stats
6. Partner - Display ad insights for client

These steps vary depending on how your partner or agency permissions are set up with client ad accounts:

• You may own all ad accounts, event sets or any other assets of your client.
• You may have permission to your client's assets to perform certain actions.

To setup these permissions, see Business Manager Assets.

Partner - Share Event Set

Share the event set your client's Business Manager. Your client can then use the event set for ads tracking.

GET /<OFFLINE_EVENT_SET_ID>/agencies HTTP/1.1
Host: graph.facebook.com

curl -X GET -G \
  -d 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
  https://graph.facebook.com/<OFFLINE_EVENT_SET_ID>/agencies

Parameters

Client - Assign Ad Account Offline Tracking Permission

Share offline event sets created by a partner with their client. You need to be the Business Manager admin or admin system user who created the offline event set to enable tracking for ads under and ad account. If you are an admin on the ad account connected to the offline event set, you can also can do this. To make this API call, the business in the call has to have access to the offline event set.

You can assign offline event tracking and viewing permissions to an ad account with this call:

POST /<OFFLINE_EVENT_SET_ID>/adaccounts HTTP/1.1
Host: graph.facebook.com

curl -X POST \
  -F 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
  https://graph.facebook.com/<OFFLINE_EVENT_SET_ID>/adaccounts

Parameters

Provide External IDs

There may be scenarios where you provide your own external ID to represent a customer and match them to someone. To do this, use extern_id following these guidelines.

Data partners who went through the match process can use partner ID as the namespace ID and extern_id as your tpid.

Provide only match_keys

We use match_keys to try to determine if the conversion data you shared can be matched to a Meta user. If you provide match_keys, you cannot also provide a namespace_id parameter.

Provide both match_keys and extern_id

We use match_keys to try to find people on Meta and forward mappings from {dataset_id, extern_id} to {facebook_user_id}. If you provide match_keys and extern_id, you cannot also provide namespace_id.

Provide only extern_id

If you already sent data with match_keys and extern_id, Meta uses {dataset_id, extern_id} to retrieve a {facebook_user_id}.

Provide namespace_id

The namespace_id parameter applies to the entire API call. You can use it to refer to another offline event set that is accessible or owned by a business or a partner profile ID. If you already sent data with match_keys and extern_id, Meta uses {namespace_id, extern_id} to retrieve a {facebook_user_id}. You should only provide one extern_id per row of data.

Insights and Attribution

See offline events attributed to an ad someone viewed or clicked. We attribute offline conversions after more than 1 day. This means you need to set your attribution window to 28d_view, or action_attribution_windows=['28d_view']', otherwise you will not see any conversions in reports. See Insights API and Insights Guide.

GET /act_<ADACCOUNT_ID>/insights HTTP/1.1
Host: graph.facebook.com

curl -X GET -G \
  -d 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
  https://graph.facebook.com/act_<ADACCOUNT_ID>/insights

Parameters

Results look like this:

{
  "data": [
    {
      "date_start": "2015-12-01",
      "date_stop": "2015-12-01",
      "actions": [
        {
          "action_type": "offline_conversion.purchase",
          "value": 1
        },
        {
          "action_type": "offsite_conversion.lead",
          "value": 3
        },
      ],
      ...
    }
  ]
}

For example, to view attribution:

curl -G \
  -d 'access_token=<SYSTEM_USER_ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
  -d 'fields=unique_actions,action_values' \
  https://graph.facebook.com/<API_VERSION>/act_<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>/insights

The result looks like this:

{
  "data": [
    {
      "unique_actions": [
        {
          "action_type": "link_click",
          "value": 94
        },
        {
          "action_type": "offline_conversion",
          "value": 1
        },
        {
          "action_type": "offline_conversion.purchase",
          "value": 1
        },
        {
....
          "value": 1
        }
      ],
      "action_values": [
        {
          "action_type": "offline_conversion.purchase",
          "value": 27.5
        },
        {
          "action_type": "offline_conversion",
          "value": 27.5
        }
      ],
      "date_start": "2016-06-06",
      "date_stop": "2016-06-07"
    }
  ],
  "paging": {
    "cursors": {
      "before": "MAZDZD",
      "after": "MAZDZD"
    }
  }
}

Data Processing Options for US Users

{
    "data": [
        {
            "event_name": "Purchase",
            "event_time": <EVENT_TIME>,
            "user_data": {
                "em": "<EMAIL>"
            },
            "custom_data": {
                "currency": "<CURRENCY>",
                "value": "<VALUE>"
            },
            "data_processing_options": []
        }
    ]
}

{
    "data": [
        {
            "event_name": "Purchase",
            "event_time": <EVENT_TIME>,
            "user_data": {
                "em": "<EMAIL>",
                "client_ip_address": "256.256.256.256"
            },
            "custom_data": {
                "currency": "<CURRENCY>",
                "value": "<VALUE>"
            },
            "data_processing_options": ["LDU"],
            "data_processing_options_country": 0,
            "data_processing_options_state": 0
        }
    ]
}

{
    "data": [
        {
            "event_name": "Purchase",
            "event_time": <EVENT_TIME>,
            "user_data": {
                "em": "<EMAIL>"
            },
            "custom_data": {
                "currency": "<CURRENCY>",
                "value": "<VALUE>"
            },
            "data_processing_options": ["LDU"],
            "data_processing_options_country": 1,
            "data_processing_options_state": 1000
        }
    ]
}

Learn more about Data Processing Options.