Facebook API - its function and use
Porady
20 July 2025
New technologies always open up previously unknown opportunities. This has been no different in the case of e-commerce. Previously costly and not always effective forms of advertising have given way to more precise online promotion of products and services. To make this possible, however, the right tools are required. Find out what Facebook API is, one of the most important solutions to implement in your company too.
Facebook API - what is it?
The business model of Meta, the owner of social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, is to make its services available for free to millions of users around the world. In reality, however, every user of these and other social media applications of the US giant pays for access to them with their data. This is what the Facebook API - a software tool that collects data about people using the portal - is used for. To understand exactly what it is, it is first necessary to know what the API is. This is an acronym for Application Programming Interface, a solution that enables the integration of smaller applications to provide specific functionality. In this case, it is the collection of user data for advertising purposes.
The use of this technology is not limited to Facebook itself. The REST API used by advertisers allows them to easily integrate their own services and applications with Meta's website without having to know its internal architecture. This makes it possible to connect service providers' websites to the Facebook API tool. WordPress, on which most of them are built, makes it possible to track the behaviour of people accessing a site and record, for example, clicks on specific banner ads. Furthermore, it is also possible to integrate the WooCommerce sales plugin with the Facebook API.
User profiling tools are furthermore used in mobile applications linked to Facebook. The Chat API is primarily used in Messenger, one of Meta's two instant messaging applications (in addition to WhatsApp). Owners of external applications can also benefit from the ability to precisely reach their target customer group. For example, it is possible to integrate the Facebook API with Java, in which many of them are written.
It is worth bearing in mind that the advertiser's website server is used to implement this solution, while a similar Pixel uses a cookie that is automatically installed in the browser when the user clicks on a banner ad on the portal. It can therefore be said that the API and the Pixel are interlinked tools. This means that using only one will not have the expected effect of increasing advertising revenue. 
How does the Facebook Conversion API work?
The Facebook API is based on cookies which store data about a user's actions on a particular website. This makes it possible to link them to the social network's database. The information collected is used to assign an individual identifier to each visitor of the website. This allows the user's next steps to be tracked even after leaving the website.
With the help of this data, the e-shop owner has the chance to increase conversions in the shop. The Facebook API definitely increases the chance of reaching a person who is potentially interested in an ad. What's more, you can even count on an additional increase in reach. This is because there is a good chance that the advertiser's offer will be shared with other people in private conversations and comments under posts. In this way, the target audience for the offered product or service can expand spontaneously.
What data can we obtain with the Facebook API?
The monitoring of an Internet user's activities starts by identifying the browser he or she is using and the location of the connection. Further characteristics, such as gender and age, are then assigned to the user based on Facebook data. If necessary, additional information can be used, such as the IP address of the device from which the internet user connected to the advertiser's website. These are not absolutely necessary to increase the effectiveness of the advertisement. However, they are useful for even more precise identification of the customer, e.g. in terms of the device used.
Importantly, the collected information that internet users provide by accepting cookies can be legally used. The reason for this is to adapt to changes in the privacy policies of technology solution providers (operating systems, browsers) and countries. The Facebook API not only enables their use, but allows advertisers to use them as their owners. Another advantage of implementing this solution is the possibility to control quite accurately the activity of users distributed across multiple mobile devices.
In addition to this, there is information that the Facebook API is unable to obtain. The legal status of data such as name, phone number and email address precludes collecting it without the owner's consent. While this obviously makes the job of marketers seeking customer contact very difficult, as much as possible it should be understood. Unlimited access to almost all data would undermine respect for privacy too much. 
Facebook API implementation - what you need to know
Setting up a conversion API is a task that can usually only be partially performed by someone unfamiliar with the implementation of such tools. On the advertiser's side, it is primarily a matter of providing the developer with the information already collected about customers visiting the e-shop website. Sending such data will allow the person implementing the ad targeting system to adjust, among other things, the timing of the campaign. It is also important to note the type of profile on which the API operates. Facebook Business requires the creation of a company account.
But why is it so important to configure parameters such as the campaign period? The reason is the additional possibilities Facebook provides. The Marketplace API enables precise customer targeting that takes into account those potentially most interested in certain products at a given time. For example, a user deemed by the algorithms to be looking for Christmas items in the run-up to Christmas will be shown goods associated with that period.
What is more, it is also possible to use Facebook Ads at times without special occasions. The API can be precisely set, for example, so that users are shown adverts related to them at certain times of the year. For example, in the spring and summer months, interested consumers are likely to receive offers to buy lightweight clothing or hiking accessories. In autumn, on the other hand, adverts featuring, for example, school supplies can increase conversions in the online shop. The possibilities are almost endless and are really only narrowed down by the range or type of service offered by the advertiser.
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