Advertising Pixels

Overview

In the digital age, many healthcare organizations use Google Ads and Meta (Facebook/Instagram) Ads to drive awareness of their services and fill appointment slots. To measure what works, those campaigns need to know when someone views your booking page, moves through scheduling, and completes an appointment.

Avara includes built-in advertising pixel support on your public booking page. Enter your Google and/or Meta pixel IDs under Settings → Branding / Marketing (Edit Pixels), and Avara automatically loads the tags on your booking URL and fires standard funnel events as visitors progress — no manual script installation on the booking flow.

Pixels are optional per organization. If neither ID is configured, the booking page works normally; ad events simply do not fire.

Setup in Avara

1. Enable self-serve booking and set your public booking URL under Settings → Organization configuration.
2. Open Settings → Branding / Marketing and add your pixel IDs in Edit Pixels:

Platform	ID format	Example
Google	Measurement ID G- followed by 10 alphanumeric characters	G-XXXXXXXXXX
Meta	15–16 digit numeric pixel ID	1234567890123456

You can configure Google only, Meta only, or both. Each platform loads independently — if only Google is set, only Google receives events, and vice versa.

When a visitor opens your public booking page, Avara injects the appropriate tags and begins tracking for that clinic.

Setup in Google Ads and Meta Ads

Pixels in Avara track the booking page funnel. Your ad platforms need two things aligned with that flow:

Send traffic to your public booking page

Your ad destination URL should ultimately bring visitors to your public booking page — the same URL you configure in Organization configuration (for example avarasoftware.com/booking/{your-clinic-slug}). That is where Avara loads your pixels and records funnel events.

For the most accurate tracking, point ads directly at the booking page. Every step from first click through conversion stays on the URL where your pixel IDs are active, so Google and Meta see the full funnel with the least attribution loss.

Many organizations send ads to their main website first instead — so potential patients can learn about services, providers, and offerings before they schedule. That approach works too: add clear “Book now” links on your site that route to your public booking URL. Be aware that on some browsers, cross-site journeys are less reliable for ad platform attribution than a direct ad → booking path; early funnel events only fire once the visitor reaches the booking page, not on your marketing homepage.

Most practices choose the website-first path for patient education and trust, and accept slightly noisier mid-funnel tracking. Choose based on whether you prioritize measurement precision or brand discovery before booking.

Register primary conversions in each ad platform

Avara fires a full funnel of events (see below). For campaign optimization, mark the completed booking as your primary conversion in each platform:

Platform	Primary conversion event	Where to configure
Google Ads	purchase (GA4 event)	Link your GA4 property (same G- measurement ID), then import or mark purchase as a conversion in Google Ads
Meta Ads	Purchase	In Events Manager, select your pixel and optimize campaigns for the Purchase standard event

Secondary funnel events (checkout started, payment info added, appointment type selected, and so on) are available for retargeting audiences and reporting but are usually not the main optimization target.

Exact menus in Google and Meta change over time; your marketing team or agency configures conversion goals against the events Avara already sends — you do not need to define custom event names in Avara for the core funnel.

Booking Funnel Events

Public booking is a three-step flow. When pixel IDs are present, Avara sends parallel events to Google (gtag) and Meta (fbq) at each step. Currency is USD. Value reflects the selected appointment type price (zero for free appointment types).

Tracking runs in a safe, non-blocking way — if a pixel fails to load, booking still completes.

Step-by-step mapping

Booking step	What the patient does	Google (GA4)	Meta
Page load	Opens your public booking URL	page_view	ViewContent (Meta also fires PageView on pixel load)
Step 1 (Selection)	Chooses appointment type	select_item	AddToCart
Step 1 (Selection)	Chooses date and time	booking_step_completed (time selection)	Schedule
Step 2 (Patient info)	Enters the patient details step	begin_checkout	InitiateCheckout
Step 2 (Patient info)	Completes valid patient form	booking_step_completed (patient information)	CompleteRegistration
Step 3 (Payment)	Enters payment step	add_payment_info	AddPaymentInfo
Complete	Appointment successfully booked	purchase ★	Purchase ★

★ Primary conversion: use these when setting up Google Ads and Meta campaign goals.

Some steps fire once per session (for example time slot selected, patient step started) so duplicate noise is reduced if a user navigates back. Appointment type selection can fire again if the user switches types.

Custom Google events

booking_step_completed is a custom GA4 event for mid-funnel steps (time selection, patient information). You can register it in GA4 for reporting or secondary conversions; most practices still optimize paid campaigns on purchase.

Privacy and Data Sent to Ad Platforms

• No patient PII in ad payloads — name, email, and phone from the booking form are not sent to Google or Meta event parameters.
• Client-side only — events are fired from the browser via gtag and fbq; Avara does not send server-side Conversion API payloads to Meta or Google from this flow today.
• Optional — clinics without ad pixels receive no third-party marketing tags on the booking page from this feature.

Marketing teams should still follow their organization’s policies for healthcare advertising and audience building.

CRM Leads vs Ad Pixels

Advertising pixels (this page) send anonymous funnel and conversion signals to Google and Meta for campaign measurement.

Incomplete booking leads are separate: when a visitor enters contact info but does not book, Avara saves that for your internal CRM — not to ad platforms. See Self-Serve Booking — Incomplete Bookings and CRM.

Checklist for Marketers

1. Public booking URL live and linked from ads
2. Google G- ID and/or Meta pixel ID saved in Settings → Branding / Marketing
3. Google Ads — GA4 linked; purchase marked as primary conversion
4. Meta Ads — pixel verified in Events Manager; campaigns optimized for Purchase
5. Test by walking through a booking in a test environment and confirming events in GA4 Realtime / Meta Test Events

Pixel configuration requires admin access to organization settings. See Inviting Users — Is Admin for who can manage clinic branding and marketing settings.