How to tag your eCom products in Facebook and Instagram

Joey

Update June 3 2020: updated instructions in regards to the variant feed

Update May 6 2020: 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.

Alternative: you can install the Channable app if the feed setup isn't providing the solution you require.

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.

The Lightspeed feed info can be found in the help center article Selling on Instagram or Facebook.

About the Variant feed

If you want to supply Facebook with all the different variants (colors and sizes) you need to use the "Facebook Catalog - Variant IDs" feed.

This feed is a bit more complicated and needs some variables in the URL, basically add the following at the end of your feed URL:

?include_variants=true?google=true

If you have more then 500 products you need to paginate the feeds, thus add one feed per 500 products:

?include_variants=true?google=true?page=1

and

?include_variants=true?google=true?page=2

etc.

Always test the feed in your browser first, to make sure product data is showing up.

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:

• Facebook Business page
• Facebook Business Manager
  

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!

TheBlingBoxBoutique

Has anyone successfully done this and love it?

Marga

Great article... works perfect.. Thanks Joey

basiel

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

Joey

@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.

Neil Harlaar

Joey

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.

Neil Harlaar

Hi @Joey ,

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

nmaheu

savvychic

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.

thomasldp

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 ?

Joey

@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!

savvychic

@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.

GeoffreyHawk

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

Joey

@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.

MichaelC

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!

Gjohnson

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.

Facebook website link.PNG

Joey

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!

namritakhurana

Hi

I have set up my instagram business page, facebook page, catalog manager etc. I have also been approved for instagram shopping, however i am unable to tag products. The image below shows the message i get. Any idea what could be wrong/ missing?

Sally Wurpts Loeffler

I recently inquired about the change to FB shop and why you can't check out from third party. This is the response from FB.

"I understand that you would like to tag products on Facebook and direct your customers to purchase on your website. I am happy to look into this.

Please take note that, we have updated our checkout experience in order to create more seamless and safe end-to-end shopping experience on Facebook.

Therefore, this new feature will no longer allow users to be redirected to a third-party website. The checkout method available has been established within the Facebook site, and it can be managed through your Commerce Manager.

Moreover, you can still create posts promoting your products and your website and redirect users to your website using a URL link.

Please refer to the following Help Center: https://www.facebook.com/business/help/2509359009104717?id=533228987210412 for more information about Checkout on Facebook and Instagram."

You can also request for FB to integrate directly with FB- the more requests they get, the more likely they are to pay attention.

I have also sent a message asking if and when they plan to integrate with Lightspeed. Awaiting response.

Hope this helps!

erica_pike

Hi all -

Thanks for these comments. When we linked our variant feeds (using the page suggestion by Joey) we got the error message that the inventory column did not transfer. Is this on the Lightspeed side? All of these products have stock.... How can we remedy so we can take advantage of the waived FB/Insta fees until 6/30/2020?

Please let me know!

Erica

erica_pike

@Joey

This article from facebook describes the fields that must be present and I have a feeling the language Lightspeed uses "quantity on hand" vs "inventory" is what is tripping this up. Though all of our inventory is connected to our retail side of LightSpeed. Perhaps that is also a factor???

https://business.facebook.com/business/help/120325381656392?id=725943027795860

Any suggestions on a solution?

Joey

The link posted above explains when Availability needs to be used and when Inventory needs to be used. For example, Instagram shopping needs the Availability but if you want to enable the Checkout within Instagram you need the Inventory level. Facebook shopping now also requires the Inventory level.

This change seems fairly recent to me as I didn't have this issue before.

Currently the variant feed is setup this way:

<g:stock_level>{{ variant.stock_level | cdata }}</g:stock_level>
{% if variant.stock_level > 0 %}
  <g:availability>in stock</g:availability>
{% else %}
  <g:availability>out of stock</g:availability>
{% endif %}

It looks like we added <g:stock_level> and Facebook is expecting <g:inventory>

I will look into the variant feed more tomorrow to see if the above is causing the issue.

Joey

A small change was made to the Facebook Catalog - Variant IDs feed and we added <g:inventory>

Make sure the variant feed has the correct variable at the end of the URL:

?include_variants=true?google=true

And if you have more then 500 products you need to paginate the feeds, thus add one feed per 500 products:

?include_variants=true?google=true?page=1

and

?include_variants=true?google=true?page=2

etc.

I would love to hear if this resolves the inventory warnings in Facebook.