Monica Axinte
Facebook Dynamic Product Ads track individual users’ behavior to create custom ad experiences. It is literally automating efforts to handle the difficult parts of setup and optimization.
Advertisers may use Dynamic Facebook Ads for non-eCommerce campaigns as well. As long as they have a properly prepared “product” feed they can use these dynamic campaigns for any kind of strategy. Facebook Dynamic Product Ads may yield really fantastic results at a low cost.
Although advertising with Facebook is often easy, things might get tricky. It can be frustrating to discover how much trial, errors and learning are involved.
e-Retailers all know the irritation that comes with having feed rejected by Facebook. It slows down your sales efforts and creates problems with your workflow.
The good news is we know about the most common feed errors. We decided to give you a sneak peek into how to avoid and troubleshoot those issues.
Give yourself a minute and check our round-up of the most often feed mistakes in Facebook Dynamic Product Ads. Acknowledge how to fix them and bring excellent results into your campaigns.
6 Common Facebook Product Catalog Feed Errors
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Image size too small
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Missing required fields: Property missing
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Wrong GTIN codes: Property GTIN is incorrectly formated
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Invalid values
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Missing currency
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Missing Google categories
Image size too small
One of the last things you want is for your product ad to appear pixelated or sloppy. While having a smaller image might not completely disqualify your items, it will affect your feed’s performance and it won’t look good in the ads.
Each channel has its own strict product image sizes and requirements. That makes easy for errors to occur.
It’s important to note that Facebook’s recommended resolution for all images is 600x600 pixels. Any smaller than that and your image starts to look bad.
How to overcome this issue:
- first, double-check both the channel requirements and recommendations
- In your mapping section make sure you have selected the biggest image from the source possible.
PRO TIP for Shopify users
- Sometimes, even though you may choose image_large_1 from your Shopify source, this warning might still occur (!)
To prevent this make sure to use your biggest image possible and apply this hack:
Read up more on optimizing your Shopify feed in our other article.
Return to top of page or Check out Facebook Product Ads INs & Outs
Missing required fields: Property missing
Facebook has both - required and optional data fields. Make sure they are all mapped correctly. And before starting mapping remember to prepare data accordingly.
How to overcome this issue:
Follow the rules listed below and you will surely map all the columns in a proper and valid way.
Image Link
- remember to add the correct image links in the image_link column.
- Make sure links begin with http:// or https://.
- Make sure that links are correct and aren't broken.
ID
Most catalog types require product IDs, but the column name varies depending on the kind of inventory you have. You determine your item IDs, and they won't show up in your ads.
- enter item IDs in the correct column on your feed
- don't use capital letters to differentiate between product IDs.
- use SKUs as your product IDs if you can.
- use a different product ID for each item.
Prices
- Include prices in the price column.
- Format prices correctly. Use a 3-digit ISO currency code such as USD or EUR
- Make sure the prices are accurate and match the prices on your website.
- Don't include shipping or other additional fees in the price.
- Don't use auction prices or fluctuating prices.
URL links
Every item in the catalog must include a link to a website landing page that people can click on to learn more about the product.
- Add the correct links in the link column.
- Make sure that links begin with http:// or https://.
- Make sure that links are correct and aren't broken
- Link to pages that are optimized for mobile.
Descriptions
- Descriptions must be under 5,000 characters.
- Provide accurate information in the description column.
- Don't enter links in the description column.
- Descriptions can't be in all capital letters.
Titles
- Limit names and titles to 150 characters.
- Provide a name or title that's relevant and specific to each item.
- Include keywords such as brand names, product areas or attributes.
- Avoid all capital letters.
- Include the condition in product titles whenever you can.
- Proofread names and titles for spelling and grammar.
Availability
- Keep track of stock levels
- Regularly update the availability column
- Filter out the unavailable products
Return to top of page or Check out 3 Tips to Optimize Your Facebook Feed
Wrong GTIN codes: Property GTIN is incorrectly formated
A GTIN code (Global Trade Item Number) is a unique bar code that identifies your product.
The code will vary in the following countries:
- In North America it’s commonly known as a UPC number and has 12-digits
- In Europe it’s commonly known as an EAN number and has 13 digits
- In Japan it’s commonly known as a JAN number and has either 8 or 13 digits
- An ISBN code is reserved for books and has 13 digits
It’s very important to have the correct codes mapped in your feed so spend a little extra time when setting up your feed and make sure you have the correct codes matched to all your products.
The only time you won’t be required to add a GTIN code is if your feed includes custom-made products.
How to avoid the error?
- If your products are missing GTIN codes, your feed will also be rejected.
- The quickest way to check this is to download your feed in a csv file and do a quick
run-through. - If you can't find the GTIN, you can always contact the product's manufacturer to ask for it.
- If you’d like more information on GTIN codes, read our blog post: Finding GTIN’s for your products
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Invalid values
Sometimes it may seem challenging when utilizing values to optimize your feeds. But if you apply incorrect values, your feed won’t make any sense and it will get rejected.
A common mistake many e-retailers make when mapping their feeds is to list custom labels individually as opposed to having them grouped together.
For example, all price variations should be grouped in 1 custom label, while promotional items should all be grouped in another.
How to fix the issue?
You may have several different price ranges, but you will group them all into 1 custom label by creating rules that separate them from one another
DataFeedWatch offers 11 ways (besides regular expressions) that you can use to edit and optimize your data feeds, as shown in the image below:
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Missing currency
An error that we have picked up time and time again in Facebook feeds is the missing currency.
While Google accepts feeds with or without the price currency, Facebook insists on it so you need to remember to include this.
For example, instead of 15.00, you need to specify 15.00 USD. With our nifty DataFeedWatch tool, you can add your currency as your suffix in your field mapping area’
Facebook also offers a valuable Product Feed Debug Tool that allows you to paste your feed up and get it validated for errors and warnings.
Return to top of page or Get your Facebook Product Ads ebook here.
Missing Google categories
Google_product_category on Facebook Explained
Surprised to see Google_product_category error on Facebook? Well, Facebook uses Google's taxonomy to categorize items in your Facebook Product Catalog. If you're placing ads on both channels the good news is that you only need to get the categories straight once. Although this field is optional in DataFeedWatch, if not mapped it will give you warnings in your Business Facebook account.
Related: All you should know about Google's Taxonomy (Product Category)
How to avoid this error?
It’s always good to categorize your items properly to increase their visibility. If your own feed is already mapped to Google’s categories, simply connect your input field google_product_category to the optional output feed google_product_category that you will create.
However, if you have already mapped all your Google sub-categories in your Google feed, you can save yourself a lot of time by utilizing the “Copy From” functionality in DataFeedWatch to copy it across to your Facebook feed.
If you still have to map all categories from scratch and your input field doesn’t contain this, then you can simply connect easily with our Google pre-mapped sub-sub-categories, as follows:
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Final Thoughts
Facebook’s Dynamic Product Ads are full of potential. By troubleshooting all the most common errors, we hope you'll no longer struggle when running DPA .
All our tips are based on our own experience. So we assure that by paying attention to these common errors and applying the solutions, your feeds will not be rejected again. This will allow you to save time while trying to figure out what the problem is with your feed and why Facebook is rejecting it.
Recommended further reads
Found this article useful? You may also enjoy our other articles about common errors across top eCommerce channels:
- 35 Most Common Merchant Center Errors + How to Fix Them
- Top 9 Bing Merchant Center Errors and the Best Solutions
- How to Identify and Fix Common Amazon Errors
- Three Major Product Data Errors to Avoid
- Common Facebook Pixel Product ID Errors in Shopify and How to Fix Them
- 10 Expensive Google Shopping Mistakes to Avoid
- Master Instagram Product Catalog
