What is Event Match Quality Score?

Simply put, a high Event Match Quality Score helps Meta understand your website visitors’ data better. The more accurate customer data you provide, the more effectively Meta can target ads, which ultimately boosts your Return on Ad Spend (ROAS).

In simple terms, Facebook Event Match Quality (EMQ) measures how well Meta can match your tracked events—like purchases, sign-ups, and add-to-cart actions—to real users. The better the match, the more accurate your tracking and targeting, leading to stronger ad performance and higher return on ad spend.

For every event on your website, Meta checks how much data you’re sending and how well it matches their user database. It also evaluates the completeness of the customer information parameters you provide. Meta then assigns a score, which is your Event Match Quality Score

First Things First: What is an Event?

An event refers to any action a visitor performs on your channels. Examples include:

• Viewing a product
• Adding a product to their cart
• Initiating checkout
• Completing a purchase
• Signing up for a newsletter

These actions are valuable because they provide insights into customer behavior and preferences. The data collected from these events is crucial for understanding customer behavior and refining targeting strategies.

For example, if a customer adds a product to their cart but then leaves the page, you’ll eventually want to reconnect with that person. The best way to do that is through ads, but to target them effectively, you’ll need as much data about them as possible. Collecting and utilizing data points can significantly enhance processes like checkout and event matching, improving metrics and optimizing performance

How Does Facebook Event Matching Work

When you run ads, Meta relies on event data to understand who took action. Meta tries to match these events to actual users by using identifiers like:

• Email addresses
• Phone numbers
• Names (first and last)
• IP addresses
• Browser & device information
• Location data
• Postal/ZIP codes

Using tools like Google Tag Manager can enhance browser-side tracking by utilizing the latest web tags, ensuring that data transfer from the browser to the destination spot is maximized.

Advanced matching plays a crucial role in improving event match quality by ensuring more accurate user data transmission.

If Meta can match an event to a known user, that event gets attributed correctly, meaning:

• ✅ You get better ad reporting
• ✅ Your targeting improves (hello, lookalike audiences!)
• ✅ You waste less ad spend on people who aren’t converting

Automatic advanced matching helps in identifying recognizable customer information from various form fields on websites, enhancing customer data accuracy for ad targeting.

For optimal performance in ad campaigns, it is recommended to use manual advanced matching as well, giving you greater control over the data shared.

How Event Match Quality is Calculated

Each event you send gets a Match Quality Score (out of 10), telling you how well Meta matched it to a real user. A higher score = better attribution and performance. Server events, transmitted directly from servers to Meta via conversion APIs, significantly impact the accuracy of user data.

A higher EMQ score improves the chances of successfully matching server events to user profiles, thereby enhancing the accuracy of conversion attribution for Facebook ads campaigns.

The event data Meta measures on your website consists of various parameters. The more parameters you include per event, the higher your score.

Meta calculates the Event Match Quality score based on several factors:

1. The number of identifiers sent: More identifiers (email, phone number, etc.) help improve the match
2. The quality of those identifiers: Correct, real data improves matching accuracy
3. Cross-referencing data: Meta also uses other identifiers like IP address, device, and browser info to strengthen the match

This means that sending more data is not enough; sending accurate data that Meta can actually use for matching is essential. Customer information parameters play a crucial role in improving the Event Match Quality Score by ensuring the data is precise and reliable.

Why does a low Event Match Quality Score hurt your ads?

If your Event Match Quality Score is low, your ads might not reach the right audience. You’re not maximizing the potential of your ad targeting, which means your ROAS will likely be lower than it could be. On top of that, your ad campaigns can’t learn and optimize properly, causing you to miss out on a lot of potential. Utilizing the Conversions API helps mitigate data loss and improve event match quality by enabling server-side data transmission, which allows for more precise user matching and better control over data privacy.

The benefits of a higher EMQ score can be summarized in three key points:

1. A higher EMQ score results in a higher ROAS
2. A higher EMQ score results in a lower CPM (Cost Per Mille/thousand impressions)
3. Your advertisements have shorter learning phases during the optimization process

Where can You find the Event Match Quality Scores in Meta?

Here's how to find them:

• Open Facebook Ads Manager and log in.
• Open the side menu and select Events Manager.

• Select the pixel whose Event Match Quality Score you want to see.

• You'll now see a page showing all the events tracked by your pixel and their corresponding Event Match Quality Scores.

Which events you should send and how

Not all events are created equal. Focus on these high-value events for the best results:

• Purchase events - The crown jewel of ecommerce events; include complete transaction details
• Add to Cart events - Critical for retargeting abandoned carts
• Initiate Checkout events - Strong intent signals for your targeting
• View Content events - Important for building product interest audiences
• Complete Registration events - Valuable for lead generation

Incorporating server events can significantly improve event match quality by ensuring precise user interaction tracking and better data attribution.

For each event, include as many parameters as possible, but prioritize accuracy over quantity.

Gathering more data points can optimize ad performance by enhancing metrics like EMQ scores and providing better algorithm support.

The most important Parameters for Event Match Quality

While all parameters contribute to your score, some have a more significant impact:

• Email address - The gold standard for user identification
• Phone number - Almost as valuable as email for matching
• Name (first and last) - Strengthens matching when combined with other identifiers
• Location data (city, zip code, country) - Especially important for local businesses
• Device and browser information - Helps with cross-device attribution

Customer information parameters significantly impact the Event Match Quality (EMQ) score. The quality and accuracy of these parameters directly influence how well server-side events are matched to user profiles on platforms like Meta, thereby affecting the effectiveness of advertising campaigns and conversion attribution.

Remember: It’s better to send fewer, highly accurate parameters than many inaccurate ones

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Often-overlooked Parameters

Advertisers often provide incomplete data because they underestimate the importance of parameters like postal codes and browser types. While these may not seem essential for online targeting, they can make a big difference.

The data collected from these parameters can significantly improve event match quality. This data reflects user interactions on websites or apps, which is crucial for advertisers to refine targeting strategies and improve ad performance.

For instance, postal codes are crucial for regional ad targeting. Ads are more likely to match the right audience when information like postal codes or city names is available to Meta. Similarly, browser type helps optimize ads for specific devices.

How to Improve Your Event Match Quality Score

Best Practices for Better Matching

1. Implement both Pixel and CAPI tracking

• Relying solely on the Facebook Pixel leads to data loss
• The Conversion API provides more reliable, server-side tracking
• Using both creates a more complete data picture. Automatic advanced matching enhances customer data accuracy for ad targeting by autonomously identifying recognizable customer information from various form fields on websites.

2. Collect comprehensive user data

• Make important fields (like email and phone) required at checkout
• Ensure forms are user-friendly to encourage accurate completion
• Consider offering incentives for customers to create accounts. Manual advanced matching allows users to manually specify customer information to be sent to Meta, providing better control over the data shared.

3. Format data correctly

• Use consistent formatting for phone numbers, emails, and addresses
• Hash PII (Personally Identifiable Information) properly
• Follow Meta’s parameter specifications exactly

4. Regularly audit your tracking setup

• Check your Events Manager for warnings or errors
• Monitor your Match Quality Scores over time
• Test your events regularly to ensure they’re firing correctly

Meta Account Quality and it's impact on Match Scores

Your overall Meta Account Quality can influence how well your events are matched. Factors that affect your account quality include:

• Ad policy compliance history - Frequent violations can lower your account trust
• Feedback on your ads - High rates of negative feedback can impact performance
• Customer experience - Poor landing page experiences or misleading ads hurt your account

Meta accounts play a significant role in improving event match quality. Accurately linking user data with Meta accounts enhances ad targeting and personalization, ultimately boosting return on ad spend (ROAS).

Real-World Impact: Case Study - Petrol Industries

Petrol Industries, a leading fashion retailer, struggled with underperforming Meta campaigns due to a low Event Match Quality Score. Before optimizing their tracking, their scores averaged around 4/10, limiting their ability to optimize campaigns and reducing ROAS. Implementing server events helped improve the Event Match Quality Score by enhancing the precision of user interaction tracking.

After implementing proper server-side tracking and enriching their data with missing parameters like ZIP codes, browser types, and device IDs, they saw dramatic improvements:

• Event Match Quality Score jumped from 4/10 to 8/10
• ROAS for Meta campaigns doubled within two months
• Google Ads performance improved by 20%

Collecting and utilizing more data points, such as ZIP codes and device IDs, played a crucial role in optimizing ad performance and improving metrics like EMQ scores.

This demonstrates the substantial impact that improving your EMQ score can have on your bottom line.

How TrackBee Improves Your Event Match Quality Score

If you’ve read this far, you’re probably already brainstorming ways to improve your Event Match Quality Score. TrackBee is a tool specifically designed to boost your score automatically and hassle-free.

More Data with Combined Tracking

Platforms like Meta use client-side tracking to collect data. Client-side tracking pulls data from a user’s browser, but its effectiveness is limited by things like cookies and AdBlockers.

The data collected from combined tracking significantly improves event match quality by reflecting user interactions on websites or apps, which is crucial for advertisers to refine targeting strategies and improve ad performance.

TrackBee takes it a step further by combining client-side tracking with server-side tracking. This combined approach:

• Captures 30-40% more conversion data
• Automatically deduplicates events to prevent double-counting
• Increases EMQ scores by an average of 3-4 points

Richer data with Data Enrichment

TrackBee doesn’t just collect more data—it also enriches it with additional information, like browser types and IP addresses. The more parameters you provide, the higher your Event Match Quality Score. Customer information parameters play a crucial role in enhancing the Event Match Quality Score by ensuring that server-side events are accurately matched to user profiles on platforms like Meta.

For example: Imagine you’re tracking purchases in your webshop. Without TrackBee, you might only collect the basic details the customer provides during checkout. With TrackBee, you’d also capture additional details like phone numbers, IP addresses, and device types. This extra data increases the chances of a match with Meta’s database, boosting your Event Match Quality Score.

Easy Implementation

Unlike manual solutions that require technical expertise, TrackBee offers:

• Quick setup in under 5 minutes
• Zero maintenance required to reach and maintain high EMQ scores
• Seamless integration with existing platforms like Shopify

Conclusion: Why EMQ Matters More Than Ever

A high Event Match Quality Score means better ad targeting, higher ROAS, and more successful campaigns. In today's digital landscape, with increasing privacy concerns and tracking restrictions, focusing on your Event Match Quality is no longer optional—it's essential.

By improving your EMQ Score, you can:

• Target your ads more precisely
• Optimize your campaigns more effectively
• Maximize your return on ad spend
• Future-proof your marketing strategy against further tracking restrictions

Remember: In an increasingly privacy-focused digital world, the marketers who maintain high-quality, accurate event data will have a significant competitive advantage. Don't leave your ad performance to chance—start optimizing your Event Match Quality today.

Want to see your Event Match Quality scores skyrocket? Tools like TrackBee can help your EMQ scores improve quickly and sustain those improvements over time.

Tools like TrackBee can help your EMQ scores improve quickly and sustain those improvements over time.