Key Insights Into Getting Positive Results From Facebook Collection Ads
By: Robert Molina
Tags: Facebook Ads, Facebook Marketing, Advertising, Facebook

Facebook is full of options for your advertising needs, and Facebook Collection Ads are among the top pick for those looking to advertise multiple products, tell a story, or create engagement. In the mobile age, Facebook Collection ads are ideal for those looking to advertise on mobile only, and they are available to use on both Facebook mobile and Instagram.

Facebook Collection Ads allow promoters to choose one primary video or image and then four smaller accompanying images below. Once clicked, the ad seamlessly opens to a full page experience that allows readers to learn more, and scroll through the 50 or so product catalog pictures that you’ve uploaded on the backend of the ad. By the time they click through to your site, you’ve already built the trust needed to land the sale.

This highly attractive feature engages users by drawing them into a story through moving images, which peaks their curiosity and often leads them to click to learn more. Amazingly, the primary video/image feature in Collection Ad’s has been shown to increase engagement by up to 20%.

Let’s dive into some of the best practices for reaching your goals with Facebook Collection Ads.

Facebook Ad Format Is Important

There are four formats to choose from for how to display Facebook Collection Ads: Instant Storefront, Instant Lookbook, Instant Customer Acquisition and Instant Storytelling.

Each format is designed to help you achieve a different result. Instant Storefront is designed to dynamically organize your products into relevant groupings. Instant Lookbook is for when you want to allow users to see your products in action. Instant Customer Acquisition gives you the best chance to drive conversions. Instant Storytelling works when you want to offer an engaging way to explore your business.

Regardless of the format you choose, here are a few best practices to keep in mind when creating your Collection Ad:

Capture users’ attention by choosing a primary focal point for your main video/image. This will draw a user in and make them want to see more.

Show your products in action. This is a great chance to create a digital print catalog where users can truly imagine themselves wearing or interacting with your product.

Showcase a product from many different angles to promote how diverse your product is and all of its use cases.

The type of creatives you use and how you choose to display them plays a big role in its performance outcomes.

Intuition Sometimes Trumps Purchase Insights

Sometimes, showcasing your best products front and center doesn’t actually improve CTR rates. Through extensive testing, we’ve found that it’s best to use contrasting images for the 3–4 accompanying spaces below the hero video/image. According to a test we ran, this method also yielded better relevance scores by 1–2 points, and resulted in lower cost per ATC and higher ROAS.

Why did we see these results? Because creating contrast in an ad draws the eye to the hero video or image, which is where you want the user to spend most of their time. The other 3–4 images are simply supporting roles to the main event. By putting four main events in one ad, you take away from the value of each individual image by producing a collective masterpiece; but, by putting one star in a show with supporting actors all around, your eye is drawn to the star every time. Don’t overwhelm users with too much of a good thing, especially on a social media platform where skimming and scrolling rules above all.

Ad Fatigue Is Real

A/B testing is key to figuring out which media productes the best results. With all Facebook Ad types, like Carousel Ads, Collection Ads and Canvas Ads, you can A/B test headlines, funnel conversions, and imagery. Once you’ve found an ad that works, you’ll need to keep the art of remarketing at the forefront of your mind.

Once an ad reaches fatigue, keeping it in the rotation will do more harm than good and drain your pockets, fast. It’s better to reuse ad’s that work by rotating your creatives as frequently as every 2–3 weeks. As soon as you notice a performance dip, switch out your creatives and continue running the same ad. Doing this vastly expands your ads’ lifespan, and saves you money in the process.

Social Proof and Engagement Is King

One of the few downsides of running a Collection Ad is that it’s not possible to share the POSTID between ad sets for a specific ad.

However, we’ve found a workaround to this that we’re pretty sure nobody else knows about! We’ll be releasing a video soon that explains how our little hack works.