How to tag your eCom products in Facebook and Instagram

JoeyJoey Administrator, Moderator, Lightspeed Staff Posts: 233 moderator
edited January 9 in Tips, Tricks & How-To's
Update: the instructions and screenshots in this article have been updated since Facebook made some changes.

This how-to article will explain how to create an automated feed that pushes your products with inventory and pricing to Facebook. These products can then be used for Tagging in posts and Facebook Ads. You can also link these products to your Instagram account.

Since the recent Facebook policy change it is harder to setup Facebook Commerce, basically you need at least 2000 likes on your page to get access to custom tabs. The custom tabs feature allows you to create your own menus on the left side on your Facebook page. However, there is another great way to promote your products on Facebook and Instagram!

You can tag products, just like tagging your friends or locations within your post. This creates a nice post to share Collections, Packages, Shop the Looks or just a single product.

Note: This how-to article is provided as is and Lightspeed does not offer support on its functionality or setup. We recommend contacting a Facebook marketer or SEO specialist for further help with this setup, or ask questions in the community.

The result will be a great looking post showing your tagged products:

And when you click on the image you can hover over the image to get product info:




Setup Lightspeed eCom

First we need to get a feed URL from Lightspeed eCom that will provide Facebook with your product info.
  1. Login to your eCom back office
  2. Navigate to Settings -> Feeds -> Go to Custom Feeds
  3. Copy the URL next to "Facebook for Business"
Facebook requires all products to have an image, description, UPC or Brand. A full list of product options can be found here.

Setup Facebook

The rest of the steps are done within your Facebook Business Manager account.

Requirements:

  1. After signing up for Facebook Business Manager you'll be able to create a catalog.

    Click on the shortcut Menu (Step 1) and click Catalog Manager (Step 2)



  2. Click Create New Catalog

  3. In the popup choose the following:

    1. Select Upload Product Info
    2. Select your Business page
    3. Enter the name of your catalog
    4. Click Create

  4. Click View Catalog

  5. Once the catalog is created, we want to add products to it

    1. Click on Product Data Sources
    2. Select Use Data Feeds
    3. Click Next
    4. On the next page select "Set Automatic File Upload Schedule"

  6. This will open your feed settings:

    1. Optionally enter a feed name
    2. Make sure the correct currency is selected
    3. Confirm that "Set Automatic File Upload Schedule" is selected
    4. Enter the feed URL (the one you got from Lightspeed eCom earlier)
    5. Start Upload


  7. Once done click Use Cases
  8. Under Facebook Page Shop select Connect Page



Tagging Products

Now its time for the fun stuff, go ahead and start creating your first post.
  1. Upload an image and add a description

  2. When hovering over the thumbnail you will see the option to Tag Products


  3. A popup will open and you can click spots on the image and tag the products in the image
  4. Repeat these steps and save when done

  5. Publish the post

That's it! You now have a great post that promotes your shops products!

Tagging with Instagram

Requirements

  • Mobile Device
  • Shop Instagram account
  • Logged in on a mobile device and into shops Instagram account
Setup
  1. You will need to convert your Instagram account into a business page.
    To convert your page navigate to Profile -> Settings -> Switch to Business Profile and fill out the necessary information.

  2. Instagram needs to approve your shop; only then can you continue to the next step. Approval from Instagram can take several days or even weeks.

    You will know your shop has been approved when a Shopping tab appears within your settings. Instagram will also send you a notification.

    If you have any questions or concerns, please refer to the Instagram FAQ

  3. Once approved, you can read this article on how to tag products in Instagram.

Fixing Errors

You might notice that not all products are available for tagging. Facebook will show the products that have issues like missing Descriptions, UPC codes, Brand, etc.

Click the Diagnostics tab and basically scroll through the page. The errors are very self explanatory.


I hope this helps you promote your shop better on Facebook and Instagram. Please let me know if you have any questions, additions, tips or tricks in the comments below!





Post edited by Joey on
eCom Support Team
Lightspeed HQ
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17 comments

  • TheBlingBoxBoutiqueTheBlingBoxBoutique Member Posts: 2

    Has anyone successfully done this and love it?

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  • MargaMarga Member Posts: 3

    Great article... works perfect.. Thanks Joey

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  • basielbasiel Member Posts: 21

    Hi,

    I have done the steps above, and can see correctly in my facebook catalog a list of products.

    But when I try to tag something, nothing appears.

    Would you know what else I could check or try ?

    Best regards,

    Basiel

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  • JoeyJoey Administrator, Moderator, Lightspeed Staff Posts: 233 moderator

    @basiel the steps have changed a little since the writing of the article, I have updated the steps and screenshots. Please have another look, especially the "Use Cases" section in the Catalog Manager, that is where you can link the catalog with your Facebook Page.

    eCom Support Team
    Lightspeed HQ
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  • Neil HarlaarNeil Harlaar Member Posts: 2
    edited January 4


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  • JoeyJoey Administrator, Moderator, Lightspeed Staff Posts: 233 moderator

    Hi @Neil Harlaar

    Do you have a link to the feed that you are using? The steps are in the article above in the Setup Lightspeed eCom section.

    eCom Support Team
    Lightspeed HQ
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  • Neil HarlaarNeil Harlaar Member Posts: 2

    Hi @Joey ,


    I just figured it out. It is working now. Great article!

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  • nmaheunmaheu Member Posts: 1
    edited January 11


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  • savvychicsavvychic Member Posts: 13

    When I follow these steps, it only uploads 15 products and says 224 were rejected. I've reviewed all the products to ensure everything is filled in correctly but it won't upload all the products.

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  • thomasldpthomasldp Member Posts: 1

    Hi,

    I only have the feed for Facebook Catalog - Main Product IDs and Facebook Catalog - Variant IDs

    But the first one only works with products that only have 1 variant and the second feed link doesn't work.

    Can you help ?


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  • JoeyJoey Administrator, Moderator, Lightspeed Staff Posts: 233 moderator

    @savvychic what are the errors you are seeing, and have you confirmed that the products actually contains this (missing) information?

    @thomasldp in regards to the feed with variants make sure you have added ?include_variants=true&?google=true to the end of the URL so it will look like  https://www.example.com/en/feed/custom/18864/?include_variants=true&?google=true

    Also be aware that a variant feed can only hold 500 products due to server limitations. If you have more products make sure to paginate the feed, eg add multiple Data Feed Files to your Facebook catalog, one for every 500 products.

    https://www.example.com/en/feed/custom/18864/?include_variants=true&?google=true&page=1

    The second feed would be:

    https://www.example.com/en/feed/custom/18864/?include_variants=true&?google=true&page=2

    etc.

    Hope this helps!

    eCom Support Team
    Lightspeed HQ
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  • savvychicsavvychic Member Posts: 13
    edited January 27

    @thomasldp That is the same issue I am having!!


    @Joey Can you help us with this problem?? I did ensure I added the last part to my feed but still not working.

    Post edited by savvychic on
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  • GeoffreyHawkGeoffreyHawk Member Posts: 12

    To be clear, does our facebook business page have to have 2,000+ likes in order to do this?

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  • JoeyJoey Administrator, Moderator, Lightspeed Staff Posts: 233 moderator

    @savvychic my recommendation would be to contact support, they can check the URL and feed you are using.

    @GeoffreyHawk You do not need 2000+ likes, this will work regardless of your likes.

    eCom Support Team
    Lightspeed HQ
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  • MichaelCMichaelC Member Posts: 1

    I made it to step 8 of "Setup Facebook". Its asking to setup shipping and banking information. Is this needed? Can we not just tag the items and then sell via Lightspeed E Com? I figured the tag would just link to our ecom webstore. Thanks!

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  • GjohnsonGjohnson Member Posts: 1

    I'm looking for the same thing that MichaelC mentioned above on March 26th. Anyone have any answers on it? I know another platform allows that, and have attached a screenshot of what we had thought it would do.


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  • JoeyJoey Administrator, Moderator, Lightspeed Staff Posts: 233 moderator

    Unfortunately Facebook has the habit of changing their interface and the way this functionality works. The shipping and banking information wasn't necessary previously so I am not sure what changed. The tag does link to your website as shown in the screenshot by @Gjohnson

    Unfortunately we are currently very busy within support but we will update the steps when we have time.

    If someone else has valuable information or tips please share!

    eCom Support Team
    Lightspeed HQ
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