Understanding The Basics of Conversion APIs and Lowering Ad Costs

A conversion API (CAPI for short) is an API that you send data back to help train it. Training is important because it helps the ad platform send you the right people. When you initially set up an ad, you will enter targeting information such as gender, age, location, interests and other information, and the ad platform starts to deliver those results.

Now of course the majority of people won't convert at first. To help the API send more of the right people, you have to send data back to it. It will take your target information and further narrow it down to send more people like the ones that convert.

Almost every ad platform has a CAPI—they're all different but follow the same concepts. If you want to read more about each one, check the links below:

• Meta Conversion API
• Google Conversion API
• Reddit Conversion API
• TikTok Conversion API

What Kind Of Events Can You Send To The CAPI

As you want to get more advanced, there are different kinds of events you can send to the conversion API beyond just the conversion. Now each CAPI has its own set of events that it uses.

For example:

• Facebook: AddPaymentInfo, AddToCart, AddToWishlist, CompleteRegistration, Contact, CustomizeProduct, Donate, FindLocation, InitiateCheckout, Lead, Purchase, Schedule, Search, StartTrial, SubmitApplication, Subscribe, ViewContent
• Reddit: Page Visit, View Content, Search, Add To Cart, Add To Wishlist, Purchase, Lead

All of those are standard events the specific API has built in. But you can add your own custom events as well. Now here is where we can start to get a little bit advanced with the API. Sending events like PageVisit are good for retargeting (we will cover that later), but installs are always the main metric to focus on, especially for Free To Play Games.