Facebook’s new Product Catalog feature means big things for eCommerce companies.
Essentially, the catalog is a file that is filled with all the products you want to advertise, where Facebook can pick the best option for each specific consumer based on their interests and behavior.
Once you’ve got your product catalog uploaded, you can run a range of new ad formats that are proven to boost click-throughs and get you more sales.
So, first of all, let’s look at how you can upload a product catalog into Facebook.
1. Create a product feed file that contains a list of all the products you want to advertise. The WooCommerce Facebook Catalog Plugin or Easy Digital Downloads Facebook Product Catalog Plugin can help you create this. You want each line of the catalog to have a different reference, like ID, name of product, what category it falls under, the image URL, and its availability.
2. Go to Business Manager Settings and select Product Catalogs. From there, you can Add New Product Catalog.
3. Copy your XML feed URL and choose Add Product Feed, name it, and click next. Paste the URL and click Upload.
Once your catalog is uploaded, you can use it to run a variety of different adverts.
1. Running Dynamic Ads
Dynamic adverts promote certain products to people who have triggered certain event types on your site, app, or elsewhere on the internet.
So if someone has been searching for a pair of yellow trainers on the internet and you have a pair of yellow trainers in your product catalog, Facebook will bring up an ad featuring those.
If someone visited a pair of yellow trainers on your website without buying them, Facebook will bring them up an add showing that exact pair, plus some other related products. The add will stop running once the visitor buys that product, or after a predefined period of time.
Why Dynamic Ads Will Grow Your Business
- You’ll reach more shoppers because Facebook actively shows products that are tailored to the behavior and interests of the consumer.
- You can retarget shoppers who have abandoned cart and remind them of the products they’ve viewed but haven’t yet bought
- You can reach people across a variety of devices
Since running Dynamic Facebook Ads, Kristi Argylian, Senior Vice President at Target claims they have seen a 20% increase in conversions compared to other Facebook ads.
How to Set Up a Dynamic Ad
1. Go into your Power Editor and select Promote a Product Catalog as your objective
2. Select your product catalog and click Continue
3. Choose who you want to target, your budget, and your schedule
4. Choose what ad format you want to display, which Facebook page you want the ad to come from, and your Instagram account
5. Ad eye-catching copy to the ad and add dynamic elements like price by hitting +
6. Add a call-to-action button
7. Preview your ad and place the order
Dynamic ads are a great way to serve up content that consumers literally want to see.
2. Tag Products in a Post
One of the newest features Facebook has rolled out is offering Pages the opportunity to tag products from their product catalog in posts. Admins can tag up to 30 products in any post and, when someone clicks on the tag, they’re taken to a designated page that gives them more information about that product.
Why Tagging Products in Posts Will Grow Your Business
The idea behind this is organic discovery. At the moment, the feature is free, giving Page admins the chance to essentially promote their catalogs without spending any money.
This means people can “organically” learn about your products even if they have never been on your site or app.
How to Tag Products in a Post
1. Open your post and click the “Tag Products” icon at the bottom
2. Choose the product you want to tag by typing in the product’s name a clicking on it when it appears
3. Click Done Tagging
Tagging products in a Page post is a great way to start experimenting with your product catalog.
3. Facebook Ad Collections
Facebook has recently been rolling out the option to create Facebook Ad Collections.
This new format gives brands the chance to boost connection and engagement with their audiences by pairing a featured piece of media, like a video or eye-catching image, with four product images directly below it.
The idea is to create a story that users will want to continue by clicking through on the products. When they do that, they’ll be taken to a designated page where they can browse the rest of your product catalog.
Why Facebook Ad Collections Will Grow Your Business
- You can drive product discovery by display up to 50 products on the click-through page
- You tap into the need for seamless browsing, where consumers can browse products within the Facebook app
- You can easily turn demand into sales by engaging people who are interested in buying your products
How to Set Up a Facebook Ad Collection
1. Go to Ads Manager and choose Traffic or Conversions as an ad objective
2. Choose the Website or Messenger or App option depending on how you want your products to be displayed
3. Choose who you want to target, your budget, and your ad schedule
4. Choose the Collection format (on the right)
5. Choose your featured media (images should be 1,200 x 628 pixels and videos should be 16:9 aspect ratios)
6. Select your Facebook page and ad a catchy headline and copy to your ad
7. Choose your pre-installed product catalog from the drop-down menu
8. Create your product set (you can have a minimum of 8 products in each set)
9. Choose the four product images you want to show beneath the featured media in the Products Featured in News Feed section (by default, the products will be ranked by how likely they are to be purchased, but you can change this order by clicking Change)
10. Click Preview to see what the ad will look like when people click on it
11. Place your order
Facebook Ad Collections are a great way to combine the need for storytelling with product promotion and are a great way to engage with your audience.
Uploading a Product Catalog to Facebook is simple and, once it’s installed, you can run any number of ads using it. You’ll access a wider range of people and will generate awareness of your entire product collection.
If you haven’t done so yet, download our WooCommerce Product Catalog plugin and you will be ready to implement these strategies in minutes: Click here for the plugin
