How to create Facebook Dynamic Ads for your WooCommerce store

If you’re familiar with e-commerce, you’ll know that WooCommerce is one of the top e-commerce technologies in the market. According to Barn2, WooCommerce held 22% market share in 2019, putting the WordPress plugin ahead of both Shopify and Magento.

WooCommerce is especially popular with small online businesses, which is why we thought it apt to write an article about creating Facebook Dynamic ads for WooCommerce stores. Facebook’s reach is astounding but it’s really the targeting capabilities that are the main draw. With dynamic ads you can promote your products, on Facebook, to users who’ve been browsing your e-commerce site in the past. This means your store stays top-of-mind and you get the most out of your advertising budget.

We’ve broken down the basics for you in the write-up below.

Create a Facebook Business Management account

• Go to Business Manager and click on Create Account
• Enter business info and details, then click Submit

Create an Ad account

Ad accounts are used to manage and run your Facebook ads through the Business Manager.  

• Log into your Business Manager Account and click Add Ad Account on the landing page.
• If you have no existing add account, select Create Ad Account. 
• Fill in your Ad account name, Time Zone, Currency and Payment method, then click Next.
• You will be asked what the ad account will be used for. Select My Business > Create.
• You will be asked to Add People and Set Permissions. Select your name in the left column to grant yourself permission, and set the toggle on Manage Ad Account to the right, so that you are able to control all your ad accounts, view performance and manage campaigns. Then click Assign.
• You can also assign access to other users. Simply type in the user’s email address and choose between employee and admin access. Then click Next.

Create a Page

In order to push ads you need to have a Facebook Page users can interact with.

• From your Business Manager dashboard, click Add Page
• Here you can either add an existing page, request access to an existing page or create an entirely new page. Simply follow the prompts to supply your page information and save.

Create a Facebook Pixel

A Facebook Pixel is a piece of code that gets added to your online store to track activity and conversions and collect data. The pixel will track which products or pages on your website a user has visited before, so that you can retarget them with Facebook ads.

• From Business Manager go to Menu > Pixels
• Add new data source > Facebook Pixel
• Enter any pixel name and your store’s URL, then click Create

Install Facebook Pixel

You must install the pixel in order to start tracking events

• Click Connect to a partner platform
• Select WooCommerce
• Follow the prompts to connect to your store

(We recommend turning on Advanced Matching to help grow your audience size. This will match info people share on your website, like an email address, to info on Facebook.)

Once you’ve installed the pixel, Business Manger will instruct you on how to verify that the pixel is working. This will only take a few moments.

Create Catalog

Your Facebook Catalog is a collection of all of your store’s products which must be uploaded in order to create your Facebook ads.

• From Business Manager click on Menu > Catalogs > Create Catalog
• Under Business Category click E-commerce > Next
• Upload Product Info
• Select your business as the catalog owner, then name the catalog
• Create > View Catalog
• Product Data Sources > Add Products > Use Data Feeds > Next
• Click on Set a schedule

You will now be asked to add your Feed URL to complete your catalog.

Create a Facebook Feed

You can easily create a Facebook XML feed using ShoppingFeeder. If you do not already have an account, you can register for a tree trial on the ShoppingFeeder website.

• Log into your ShoppingFeeder account in a separate tab
• Go to Feed Management > Channel Management
• Type ‘Facebook’ into the channel search box and select the correct feed you wish to subscribe to (there are feeds in several countries)
• Check the box besides your desired feed to subscribe
• Select your channel settings then click Next
• Scroll up to your subscribed channels
• Click the link icon besides the Facebook feed you just subscribed to
• Copy the feed URL in the pop-up box

Upload the Facebook feed

• Return to your Business Manager tab, then paste the URL you just copied in the box below ‘Add a Data Feed URL’.
• Select the box on the right hand side that says ‘Start a Schedule’. 
• Schedule your automatic uploads either hourly, daily, or weekly at a certain time, and select your default currency.
• Click Start Upload.

Set up pixel tracking

• From Business Manager click on Events Data Sources > Set up Item Tracking > Connect to tracking
• Select the pixel you created earlier then click Save

Now your catalog is complete and your tracking is enabled.

Create Ad

• In Business Manager, click on Shortcuts in the top right-hand corner > Catalog Manager
• Select the Catalog you just created, then click Products > Create Ad
• Fill in the required fields, your budget and schedule
• Click Continue
• Select your ad name, select your page, choose an ad format and enter your store’s URL. Then click Confirm.

And voila! Now you can keep track of reach, impressions, cost per result and conversions for your Facebook Dynamic Ads in the Ad Manager.