Leverage Your Product Catalogs in Social Media
Written by Matt Berringer
February 7, 2022
E-commerce and social media are merging to become overlapping industries. The story of Mark Zuckerberg in the critically acclaimed “The Social Network” biopic was about building an empire around human connection. Now, social media is evolving into an e-commerce opportunity. Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest feature catalog options to showcase your products and product collections.
The nxtbook and PageRaft platforms can help you create dynamic and interactive catalogs for social media without the hassle of extensive training. This step-by-step guide will show you how social media uses product catalogs and review the best tips and tricks for leveraging these tools.
How Does Social Media Use a Product Catalog?
Social media platforms have created unique approaches to integrating product catalogs into their sites.
These three platforms host catalogs for marketing:
- Facebook: Facebook Dynamic Ads transform snippets of your product catalog into ads targeted directly at users who took a specific action on the site or seem like they would have an interest in the product. Facebook also uses manually uploaded product catalogs or dynamic targeting to sell to users directly in the app through the Facebook Shop feature.
- Instagram: Meta owns Facebook and Instagram. Just like they do on Facebook, product catalogs can integrate into both platforms for ad targeting and selling.
- Pinterest: Pinterest Catalogs allows businesses to upload their entire product collection and promote these items through shoppable ads. These listings appear in users’ feeds with other content.
Best Practices For Using Your Catalog on Social
Social media marketing is a complex mix of technical requirements and best practices. We’ve compiled five techniques that can help your next catalog shine on social media:
- Provide in-depth product descriptions: Create thorough descriptions with relevant keywords to help users find your content. Include a clear call to action so that social media platforms can direct people to your products.
- Keep your inventory up to date: Always provide accurate inventory information, product names, descriptions, sizing and pricing on social media. Platforms like Facebook will note when users immediately bounce after seeing an outdated ad and lower your search ranking.
- Provide product variations: Include product variations because they make it easier for searchers to find items based on specific criteria. Variations may include colors, sizes or other specs.
- Use product tags: Facebook and Instagram use product tags to help customers click on your brand name when viewing an individual product. This label can improve your click-through rate and direct sales.
- Prepare cross-channel images: Pinterest, Facebook and Instagram have different image dimension and quality requirements. It’s crucial that you meet each platform’s standards so that your hard work looks professional rather than distorted or improperly sized.
Learn More About Creating Interactive Catalogs with Nxtbook Today
The nxtbook and PageRaft platforms can help you create interactive product catalogs you can edit to update and revitalize your catalog regularly. The nxtbook CMS allows you to upload your current catalog and mirror its design with advanced features like animation, video, and audio. These features make it a great solution for developing engaging social media catalogs.
Want to try nxtbook first-hand? Reach out to the team for a free demo today and experience the next evolution in interactive digital publishing.
