Exploring Facebook Collection Ads

Facebook Collection Ads, still one of our favourites - we can’t deny it! We’ve mentioned before but, short-form video is taking over our social media feeds and it would be super easy to turn a blind eye to some of the classic Facebook ad formats… including Collection Ads. But again, don’t do that. Remember, it’s all about TESTING what works for your brand! Here’s a little exploration into Collection Ads and how to use them…

What are Collection ads?

Right, let’s take it back to basics. What are Collection Ads we hear you ask? Well, a Collection Ad is a type of Meta ad (so it’s across both Facebook and Instagram) that allows users to browse a variety of products within one single ad experience - without leaving the platform. Each ad features a main image or video, with 3 product images below - the beauty here is you’re able to customise the arrangement of your product imagery to control which products catch the eye of your audience first.

Examples of Collection Ads 

• Instant Storefront

Feature products in a mobile shopping experience, you can use your catalogue to show the most relevant products. 

• Instant Lookbook

Let people explore your products in action by featuring them in lifestyle images and leveraging product tagging. 

• Instant Customer Acquisition

Encourage new customers to discover your brand and products with a mobile landing page that encourages action.

• Digital Circular

Reach local customers with your latest offers and deals to drive traffic to your stores.

Why should you use collection ads?

All things considered, Facebook Collection Ads can be super effective as they successfully shorten the user journey and allow your customers to shop for products in a smooth and immersive way. Collection Ads give brands the opportunity to showcase a variety of products, or even entire collections, at once! This is particularly useful if you’ve got a hefty amount of products across varying categories. 

From our perspective, we tend to see the most success with Collection Ads when used for Retargeting campaigns. For example, targeting those users who have viewed specific brands or products but not quite got to the stage of making a purchase yet. In this case, it’s important to really consider your ad copy and ensure that it aligns with this user in relation to where they are in their journey. 

How to get set up 

Firstly it's essential to understand Meta’s best practices so that your ads can reach their full potential and ultimately, you can reach your business goals!

• Use an engaging cover photo/video - Your creative needs to be a high-quality asset that clarifies what your business is about and what your product/service is.
  
  
• Highlight a variety of products - The more products you can include in your Collection Ad the better to keep the user engaged for as long as possible. You’re looking at a minimum of 4 products however we recommend using 12-50 products to really maximise results.
  
  
• Ad destination - Choose the relevant landing page that aligns with the products you are featuring - If you’ve successfully taken a user from your ad to your site, don’t lose them by directing them to irrelevant content! A carefully considered landing page creates a seamless user experience that allows your audience to continue their journey on your website. 

Your step-by-step guide 

1. Create a new ad 
   
   
2. Choose ‘Collection’ format 

3. Select the type of Collection Ad (Storefront recommended) 

Our top tip💡

Try testing different types of creatives on your Collection Ads such as imagery, video, dynamic slideshows and even GIFs! This gives more variety to your ads and helps to identify what types of content your customers are engaging with. 

Finally, make sure your headline is engaging - You don’t want to fall at the first hurdle. Your headline is what connects your primary ad to the products, look to make it unignorable - this is the perfect place to feature one of your USPs!

View our recent results for Paid Social using the button below!