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When you’re done, Northbeam shows your Meta spend, impressions, visits, and attributed revenue on the same campaigns, ad sets, and ads.
Before you start, make sure you have:
  • A Meta login with admin access to every ad account you plan to connect, with ads_read and ads_management permissions
  • Access to Meta Ads Manager to edit your ads

1. Connect the account

Sync spend, impressions, and campaign structure from Meta.

2. Add Northbeam parameters

Add nbt and nb_placement so visits and orders tie back to your ads.

3. Confirm tracking

Test a live ad to check the parameters and the Pixel.
1

Connect your Meta ad account

  1. Open Connections. If you’re still in onboarding, go to Integrations instead.
  2. Find Meta Ads and click Connect.
  3. Sign in with a Meta user that has admin access to every ad account you want to connect.
The connection pulls your current and historical campaigns, ad sets, and ads from the Meta Ads API, along with spend, impressions, Meta-reported conversions, and creative metrics. Impressions also power the Clicks + Modeled Views attribution model.
The connecting user needs ads_read and ads_management permissions. To check them, go to Meta Business Manager → App Dashboard → App Review → Permissions and Features. See Meta’s permissions guide for details.
If you skip this step: campaign, ad set, and ad details may be missing, along with spend, impressions, and Meta-reported metrics.
2

Add Northbeam parameters to your ads

Most advertisers add the two Northbeam parameters below. Two cases are different:

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Northbeam UTM Parameters

In Meta Ads Manager, add these two parameters to every new and existing ad:
  1. Open the ad and find the URL parameters section.
  2. Click Build a URL parameter, then Add parameter twice.
  3. Enter nbt and nb_placement exactly as shown above, then click Apply.
  4. Check the Parameter preview before you publish.
Build a URL Parameter > Custom Parameters

Build a URL parameter > Custom parameters

The Parameter preview should show nbt=nb%3Afb%3A{{site_source_name}}%3A{{campaign.id}}%3A{{adset.id}}%3A{{ad.id}}&nb_placement={{placement}}. Meta turns : into %3A on its own. Don’t type %3A yourself, or it gets encoded twice (%253A) and tracking breaks.
These work alongside your usual utm_source, utm_medium, and utm_campaign values. To have Northbeam add the parameters to new Meta ads automatically, ask Support to turn on UTM auto-appending.

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Using Supported Parameters From Another Attribution Platform

If your ads already use one of these structures, you don’t need to add nbt and nb_placement. Names and values must match exactly, including capitalization. Other parameters from these platforms aren’t supported.
PlatformSupported Parameters
Triple WhaleRequires both: (1) a supported source parameter and (2) a supported Ad ID parameter.Source parameter:
  • tw_source={{site_source_name}}
  • tw_source=facebook
  • utm_source=facebook
  • utm_source={{site_source_name}}
Ad ID parameter:
  • tw_adid={{ad.id}}
  • fbadid={{ad.id}}
Example:tw_source=facebook&tw_adid={{ad.id}}
Hyrosfbc_id={{adset.id}}&h_ad_id={{ad.id}}
Rockerboxfb_campaignid={{campaign.id}}&fb_adsetid={{adset.id}}&fb_adid={{ad.id}}
Wicked ReportsWickedSource=Facebook&WickedID={{ad.id}}
If yours don’t match, use the Northbeam UTM Parameters.

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Sending Meta Traffic to an Off-Domain Page

If your ad sends people to a different root domain before your site (for example, Meta Ad → advertorial.com → yourstore.com), Northbeam needs the original Meta tracking when the visitor reaches your site. You have two options:
  • Option 1: Northbeam Redirect Link (recommended). The ad points to a redirect on your own domain, which sends the visitor on to the off-domain page. Northbeam records the visit before they leave.
  • Option 2: Preserve the Northbeam UTM Parameters. If you control the off-domain page, pass the original Northbeam parameters along on the link back to your site. utm_source=facebook on its own isn’t enough.
See Tracking Ads using Off-Domain Sites for full setup.If you skip this step: Northbeam can’t tie visits and orders to your Meta ads, so spend and revenue show up on separate lines.
3

Confirm tracking

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Test a live ad

A Live Preview Link from Meta Ads Manager tests the parameters and the Northbeam Pixel in one go. If your ad uses an off-domain page, test the full journey through to your site.
  1. Get the link. In Meta Ads Manager, open the ad, click Preview, then Share → Share a link, and copy it.
  2. Open the ad like a customer. Paste the link into your browser, find the ad in your feed (scroll if it isn’t at the top), and click through to your site.
  3. Check the parameters. Accept any cookie banner, open Developer Tools → Network, and refresh. Open the first Northbeam request and look in the Payload for an nbt value like nb:fb:fb:XXXXXXXXX:XXXXXXXXXX:XXXXXXXXXXX.
  4. Check the Pixel. In the same tab, search for nb-collector or tp2 and confirm one request’s Payload contains pv.
If both show up, Northbeam records the visit and can attribute orders to the right Meta campaign, ad set, and ad.
Meta Ads Manager preview with Share a link option

Share a link from the ad preview

Click the first 'Network' request, then look in the 'Payload'

The nbt value in the first Northbeam request's Payload

Network tab with multiple Northbeam collector requests, one showing pv in the Payload

It's normal to see several requests. Look for the one with pv in the Payload.

Chrome / Edge / Brave / Opera: right-click the page and select Inspect, or press Cmd+Option+I on Mac / Ctrl+Shift+I on Windows. Then open the Network tab.Firefox: right-click the page and select Inspect, or press Cmd+Option+E on Mac / Ctrl+Shift+E on Windows. Then open the Network tab.Safari: go to Safari → Settings → Advanced and enable Show Develop menu. Then go to Develop → Show Web Inspector and open the Network tab.
If any check fails, see Troubleshooting Northbeam data.
Sell on Meta Shops? Shopify stores should connect Facebook and Instagram by Meta. Custom stores should tag Meta Shops orders with a unique order_tag through the Server API, then tell our team the tag name. See Meta Shops and TikTok Shops.

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Optional Meta features

These are separate from the setup above and need their own configuration.

Clicks + Deterministic Views (C+DV)

An attribution model that credits Meta ads people saw but didn’t click, using verified view data.

Northbeam Apex for Meta

Sends Northbeam attribution back to Meta so it can optimize toward it. Runs alongside your Pixel and Conversions API.

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Need help?

Meta Ads FAQ

Common Meta setup and reporting questions.

Troubleshooting Northbeam data

Start here if a check above fails.