Add Pixel Tracking
Overview
Many institutions using CAS or other Liaison products and services invest in digital marketing to attract and convert prospective students. One of the most effective ways to improve these efforts is by enabling pixel tracking on the CAS Applicant Portal.
What is a pixel?
A tracking pixel is a tiny, invisible piece of code embedded within a website or email. It collects anonymous data about how users interact with that page. Think of it like a sensor that quietly observes and logs user actions—without capturing personally identifiable information.
Pixels are named after early tracking methods, in which a single 1x1 image pixel would fire when a page loaded, triggering data collection. Today, they're just snippets of JavaScript or HTML code.
What does a pixel track?
While the data collected varies by platform, most pixels can detect the following types of user behavior on a page:
- Page loads
- Page clicks
- Button clicks/completion
These insights power campaign optimization, audience targeting, and user journey tracking.
How do pixels help you?
Higher education marketing often focuses on moving prospects through a decision journey. Pixels make that possible by giving digital teams the ability to:
- Retarget interested prospects: prospective students who visited the application but didn't finish can be shown ads that re-engage them—like reminders, success stories, or deadline-driven calls to action.
- Segment audiences: to help make ad messaging more relevant and effective, pixels help distinguish between different behavior groups:
- Application starters vs. non-starters
- Returning visitors vs. first-time visitors
- Mobile vs. desktop traffic
- Measure outcomes: by tracking who sees an ad, clicks, and completes an application, you can:
- See what messages and platforms are working.
- Optimize budget and creative assets.
- Report real outcomes.
- Build lookalike audiences: some platforms allow you to take pixel data and build "lookalike" audiences—groups of people with similar behaviors or interests to those who visited the page.
Which marketing platforms use pixels?
Here's how different platforms use pixel data to improve marketing.
| Platform | Tracking Tool | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Google Ads (Search, Display, YouTube) | Google Tag / GA4 | Retargeting, performance tracking, cross-device attribution |
| Google Analytics 4 (GA4) | GA Tag | Understand application funnel behavior and session drop-off trends |
| Insight Tag | Retargeting professionals, B2B marketing, field of study targeting | |
| Meta (Facebook & Instagram) | Meta Pixel | Retargeting, conversion tracking, lookalike audience creation |
| Programmatic Advertising | Third-party pixel or tag manager | Serve ads across thousands of websites and streaming services |
Sample Application and Pixel Workflow
Here's a scenario of an applicant's interaction with the application and how pixels can contribute to it. This workflow is an example of the phrase you've probably heard—"I looked at something once, and now I see ads for it everywhere."
| Step Number | Applicant Action | Pixel Workflow |
|---|---|---|
| Step 1 | An applicant visits a CAS application page. | A pixel fires in the background. |
| Step 2 | The applicant's browser stores a "cookie" or an ID. | The ad platform knows this applicant showed interest. |
| Step 3 | Later, the same applicant browses social media or news sites. | Ads appear reminding them about the institution from the CAS application. |
| Step 4 | The applicant returns and finishes their application. | Success is recorded and the applicant is removed from the ad list. |
Add Pixel Tracking
If your institution has a marketing department or collaborates with a digital marketing partner, share this article with them.
Using the CAS Configuration Portal, you can add a pixel to track basic user behavior. More specifically, the pixel will help tag applicants who are viewing your program, as well as applicants who have submitted an application to your program (i.e., a "conversion"). The pixel will also allow you to retarget applicants and show them specific ads related to your program.
To set up pixel tracking, you'll need a pixel from a marketing platform (note that account types, pricing, and fees may vary among ad managers). Once you have your pixel tracking ID:
- In the CAS Configuration Portal, navigate to the branding section for your program.
- Click Add Pixel Tracking, then add your pixel tracking ID. If using LinkedIn or Google, you'll need to enter a separate conversion ID to distinguish between applicants viewing your program and applicants submitting to your program. Depending on how you want to track data, you can choose to use one conversion ID for both fields or two different IDs.
- Click Save. When your program is live, you should see analytics flowing into your respective ad manager in 1–2 days.