Level-up your paid social activity with Facebook collection ads

Paid Social Article

Facebook may be turning 17 years old this year but the social media giant is still a huge part of our everyday lives. With over 2.8 billion monthly active users spending an average of 38 minutes per day scrolling, sharing, and posting, Facebook remains a significant channel to reach consumers at multiple stages of the marketing funnel.

Millions of advertisers across countless industries all over the world are flocking to Facebook for this very reason. It’s more important than ever to create engaging ads that cut through the noise. Use striking creatives, short-and-snappy video content, and compelling copy but, above all, be relevant.

Facebook collection ads are a fantastic way to do just that. Find out why below…

Combine branded creatives with personalisation

If you’re selling any kind of physical product, collection ads could work for you!

The idea is to leverage the benefits of a great creative while showcasing a range of products that your audiences are likely to be interested in.

You enter text and a headline, as with other ad formats, and then choose a static image or video to feature. When the ad is clicked, this will open up full-screen, so make sure to use high-resolution!

Underneath the creative, you can choose up to 4 products to showcase initially. When on full-screen, you can choose up to 50 products to show users the best you have to offer. Users can then click on a product to be taken through to the product page on your website.

There are two ways you can display your products: by selecting a product set from your catalogue or by choosing items to appear in a specific order. Using a product set allows Facebook to choose and arrange products based on individual user behaviour. This customisation really helps to make your ads as relevant as possible!

As a result, collection ad formats tend to yield incredibly strong engagement and conversion rates. They brilliantly bridge the gaps between attracting attention, driving desire, and harvesting intent.

Designed for mobile

From searching the web to reading the news, browsing, and making buying decisions, people are spending more time on their mobile phones than ever before.

Around 20% of that time is spent on Facebook. In fact, a whopping 91% of all Facebook sessions are via mobile devices, with a further 79.9% of users never accessing Facebook via a desktop computer.

So, advertisers not only have to cut through the noise and grab user attention but they must also provide a seamless mobile transition from ad to the website.

This fuelled the creation of Facebook collection ads. A mobile-only ad format, collection ads are a fast-loading, full-screen experience that fully immerses mobile users in an online shopping experience from the moment their attention is captured - without ever leaving the Facebook platform. The journey from ad to purchase is now quicker and easier than ever!

Why we love collection ads

There are plenty of ways in which collection ads are beneficial for your campaigns. This type of ad offers a dynamic and exciting way for users to interact with your brand and products.

Here are some of the reasons why we love collection ads:

Different formats

Collections ads are just one type of instant experience ad that you can run on Facebook. From Storefront to Lookbook, to a completely customised full-screen ad, there are different ways you can showcase your products while simultaneously growing your brand.

It’s important to test a variety, as one ad format may resonate more with your audiences than others. We’ve found that providing a variety of ad formats gives Facebook more opportunities to test and learn about how to best engage with your audiences.

Themed ads

If you have a large inventory or your product offering covers multiple categories, you can define product sets to create a custom collection ad for each type. This can make your ads even more relevant for users.

For example, a clothing retailer may want to promote their female and male clothing ranges separately, or they may run a specific collection ad to promote a new season launch.

Perfect for promotions

Collection ads are a fantastic way to promote a sale, site-wide discount, or new product range. Design an eye-catching creative to pull users in and then showcase the applicable products - make sure the discounted prices are correct in your product catalogue!

Earlier this year, we used sale-focused collection ads for one of our e-commerce clients that achieved click-through rates over 70% higher than other live ads featuring the same creatives and messaging.

Remarketing capabilities

Although collection ads work well with a variety of objectives and KPIs, they make a worthwhile addition to your remarketing activity. Remind users why they visited your site in the first place!

For instance, if you’re running dynamic ads using a catalogue sales objective, including a collection ad variation helps to maximise mobile user experience and can boost overall engagement. It’s a great way to promote your brand, a sale, or some engaging video content to your remarketing audiences.

Video Potential

Facebook tracks users who have viewed your videos, whether shared organically or through paid activity. Why not fuel your warm audiences and re-engage with these users at a later date?

Previously we served video ads to some cold audiences to drive brand awareness for one of our clients. We later retargeted users who had watched at least 75% of the video with a sales-focused message. This audience had a much higher conversion rate than the general traffic retargeting audiences, as there was a higher level of intent after already engaging with the brand and watching most of the video.

Final Thoughts

Collection ads offer the opportunity to combine creativity with personalisation that can level up your Facebook marketing strategy. Embrace a test and learn mentality. Maximise your mobile user experience. Stand out from the crowd and show potential customers how great your product offering is.