With the Meta product feed, you can display your online store's products on Facebook and Instagram.

The Meta product feed is part of the Product Feeds extension. The extension also includes conversion tracking, which provides comprehensive information about the effectiveness of your advertising (e.g., how many people have clicked on your ad and then placed an order in your online store).

Ordering product feeds

Only an admin account can order product feeds.

Here's how to order a new Meta product feed for an online store version.

  1. In the admin panel, go to Account > Apps > Product feeds.
  2. Press Order new product feed and select the store version to which the product feed is associated.

    The product feed contains information about all products that are visible in the store version.

  3. Select the target countries for the feed.
    • You can target the feed to any country you choose, regardless of the store version and language.
    • To add or remove target countries afterwards, press the three-point icon on the product feed row and select Edit.
  4. Define the presentation style of products that have variations in the Use the main product name as the variation product name section.

    If you choose to display the main product name, the variation name is included in a separate additional_variant_attribute field in the feed.

  5. Accept the terms of service and save the feed.
  6. Optional: If necessary, enter the Meta conversion settings (Meta dataset ID and Meta Conversion API access token) which can be accessed via the three-point icon on the product feed row.

    Read more about setting up Meta conversion tracking.

The identifier and address of the feed you ordered will now appear at the bottom of the extension page. You can inspect the contents of the feed by copying its address and pasting it into the address bar of your browser.

After you have saved the feed, its costs will be included in the next invoice you receive from MyCashflow.

Availability

This section explores how the Meta feed supports different countries, languages and currencies. After setting these correctly you can, for example, create Facebook ads optimized for a certain target area.

Feed destination countries

From the list below, see where you can advertise your products with the Meta product feed. You can target the feed to any country you choose, regardless of the store version and language. Learn more about using product feeds in different languages and currencies.

  • Netherlands*
  • Australia
  • Belgium*
  • Spain
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Austria*
  • Greece
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Luxemburg
  • Portugali
  • France
  • Sweden**
  • Germany
  • Slovakia
  • Finland**
  • Denmark
  • Estonia

* you must offer home delivery for the products on offer.

** you must offer home delivery or pickup from a pickup point for the products on offer.

If the language of your store version allows a product feed to more than one country, you can use a single feed to advertise your products in all of them. For example, if you have a store version in German, you can target its campaign to both Germany and Austria.

If a country you are interested in is missing from the table, please contact the MyCashflow customer support via the admin panel's chat feature, for example. We can investigate whether it is possible to broaden the support for countries.

Currencies supported by the feed

You can create product feeds for versions which have one of the following currencies set as the default:
  • the euro
  • the Swedish krona
  • the Danish krona

Updating the product feed

Product feeds are updated automatically once a day in the early morning. Changes made to products in the online store or additions or deletions of products are therefore not immediately visible in the feeds.

You can also update the product feed manually on the admin panel page Account > Apps > Product feeds by pressing the button next to the feed to be updated. You can update the feed once every 30 minutes.

Specifying the language and currency of a product feed

You can specify the language and currency of your product feed according to the target country, which will make your ads more efficient in this country.

Here's how to specify the language and currency according to the target country:

  1. Enable the Currency Converter extension, and select the target country's currency in its settings.

    If you sell to Sweden, you may want to enable Klarna Payments in your Swedish version in order to be able to accept payments directly in the Swedish krona.

  2. Create a store version in the language of the target country.
    • Select the target country's currency as the version's default currency.
    • Select the target country as the version's default country.

When you specify store version settings according to the instructions above, your customers will see the same information and prices both in the ads that appear in the Facebook networks and in your online store.

Using product features to modify the contents of the product feed

Almost all of the product data supported by Google can be specified as product features, including details for which there is no built-in support in MyCashflow (e.g., condition or energy efficiency class).

This is how you can add new product information:

  1. Create a new product feature for the product data you want to add:

    As the product feature identifier, enter the Google product data identifier (e.g., condition).

  2. Create the necessary values for the product feature.
  3. Add the product feature to products that should contain the product data in the Google product feed.

    New product information will be included in the product feed when the feed is next updated .

Enabling the Meta conversion tracking and product catalog

To enable the Meta product catalog and conversion tracking, you need

  • a Meta Business Manager account

  • a Meta ad account

  • a Meta dataset, to which conversion tracking events are sent from the online store

  • a Meta product catalog, to which the online store's product feed is connected through the Meta data feed.

This guide will go through how to

  1. create and connect the Meta dataset with the ad account
  2. set up the Meta pixel and conversions API for the dataset
  3. connect the Meta dataset to the product feed in the online store
  4. create and connect the Meta product catalog to the product feed in the online store.

If necessary, see Meta's instructions on creating Business Manager accounts and ad accounts.

When you enable Meta conversion settings through the Product Feeds extension, they replace the conversion tracking of the old Facebook extension.

Once you have ordered the Meta feeds you need for the online store, you can connect a Meta product feed to the product catalog in Meta Business Manager and enable the Meta conversion tracking in the online store.

1/5 Obtaining a product feed URL

In order to connect a product feed to the Meta product catalog, you need the Meta feed's URL from the online store's admin panel:

  1. In your online store's admin panel, go to Account > Apps > Product feeds.
  2. Copy the desired Meta feed's URL from the Meta feeds section.

    Save the address, for example, in a separate text file. It will be used later in the Meta Business Manager.

    The feed addresses are in the form https://example.mycashflow.fi/feeds/b5ecd6be-6fb6-4e8b-9f01-138d2d887aea

Next, you can create a new product catalog in Meta and attach the product feed address to its settings.

Creating and connecting a dataset to an ad account

To set up conversion tracking, you will need the Meta dataset ID and the Meta conversions API access token. You get these identifiers by creating a new dataset in Meta Business Manager. The completed credentials must be entered into your desired Meta product feed's conversion settings in the store's admin panel.

  1. Go to the Meta Business Manager business settings and through the sidebar to the page Events Manager.
  2. From the menu in the upper right corner, select the ad account to which the dataset will be connected.
  3. Add a new dataset by pressing the Connect Data Sources button in the sidebar and then go through the settings as follows:
    1. In the Connect a new data source step, select Web and press the Next button.
    2. If your account already has active datasets, in the Connect your data step select the desired dataset from the list and press the Next button.

      If you do not yet have a dataset or want to create a new dataset, select Create a new dataset, give the dataset a name, and press the Create button.

    3. In the Choose how to connect your website -step, select Set up manually > Meta pixel and Conversions API and press the Next button.
    4. In the Instructions step, select Ready.

      You can ignore the instructions provided by Meta for connecting the site.

      The dataset details open. Don't leave this page yet.

The dataset has now been created and connected to your ad account. Now you should see the details of the dataset you created.

3/5 Setting up the Meta pixel and Conversions API for the dataset

  1. In the details of the dataset you created, go to the Settings tab through the top bar.
  2. Copy the dataset ID from the page to a separate text file.
  3. Find the section Conversions API > Set up direct integration on the page and press the Create access token link.

    A new access token will appear on the page. Copy and save it, for example, to a separate text file.

    The identifier is only displayed on the page once.

4/5: Connecting the dataset to a product feed in the online store

  1. Back in the MyCashflow admin panel, go to Account > Apps > Product feeds.
  2. Open the desired Meta feed's conversion settings and attach the dataset ID and access token you copied into the settings.

5/5 Creating and connecting a Meta product catalog to a product feed

  1. Go to the Meta Business Manager settings at https://business.facebook.com/settings
  2. Go through the side bar to the page Commerce Manager.
  3. Press the Add catalog button and go through the settings configuration as follows:
    1. In the Add basic info about your catalog step, select Online products, specify to which business portfolio the product catalog will be added, and name the catalog.
    2. In the Connect to tracking step, activate the connection to the Meta pixel that you connected to the ad account in section 2/5, and press Next.
    3. In the Set permissions step add permissions for other users and partners if necessary, and press Next.
    4. In the Upload products step, select Connect to a data feed > Commerce Manager as the data feed format and paste the URL you copied from the MyCashflow admin panel in section 1/5 to the product feed details.

      Leave the login details empty and press Next.

    5. In the Confirm settings step, name the data feed, select the default currency, set the timing for the data upload, and press the Upload button.

Once you have saved your settings, the first synchronization starts. Now you have set the products of the specified version to be synchronized with Facebook.

If you wish, you can enable automatic website matching search, which allows you to automatically match your customers' details to Meta users based on the information they provide (such as email address or phone number).

You can enable the feature in the dataset settings in Meta Business Manager.

The Meta product feed's conversion events

The Meta product feed’s conversion tracking transmits data to Meta's system through both the conversion API and the Meta pixel. Below we will go through the data conveyed through each source and their parameters:

Event name (event_name)ExplanationData sourcesEvent-specific parameters (custom_data)
PageViewViewing any page in the online storeBrowser (Meta pixel)-
ViewContentViewing the product page in the online store

Browser (Meta pixel)

Server (conversion API)

content_category

content_ids

content_name

content_type (product or product_group)

currency

value

AddToCartAdding a product to the shopping cart

Browser (Meta pixel)

Server (conversion API)

content_category

content_ids

content_name

content_type

currency

value

InitiateCheckoutProceeding to the online store checkout

Browser (Meta pixel)

Server (conversion API)

content_ids

content_type

currency

num_items (number of different products, not the total amount if the order includes multiple pieces of the same product)

value

AddPaymentInfoAdding payment details at the online store checkoutServer (conversion API)

currency

value

PurchaseSending an online store order

Browser (Meta pixel)

Server (conversion API)

content_ids

content_type

currency

event_id (the ID number of the order)

num_items

order_id

value (total amount, including delivery and payment costs)

LeadSubscribing to the newsletterServer (conversion API)content_name (always

Newsletter subscribe)

CompleteRegistrationCustomer registrationServer (conversion API)-

All user data will also be transmitted in connection with all conversion API events, if available:

  • browser identifier (fbp)

  • click identifier (fbc)

  • IP-address

  • user agent

  • customer number

  • email address (distributed)

  • phone number (distributed)

  • first name (distributed)

  • surname (distributed)

  • city (distributed)

  • postal code (distributed)

  • country (distributed)

Deleting a product feed

Here's how to delete a product feed from a version and terminate the associated advertising:

  1. In the admin panel, go to Account > Apps > Product feeds.

    The ordered product feeds are listed in the bottom section on the extension page.

  2. Press the Delete button for the product feed to be deleted.

    A dialog window opens, asking for confirmation that you want to delete the feed permanently.

  3. Press the Delete button in the dialog window.

    The product feed is deleted from the list of feeds.

The advertising associated with the deleted product feed will cease once the ad service's bot next time checks the updates for your product feeds.

Product feed content

The product information is included in the feed entries, some of which are automatically determined by system-generated information and some by the product information you define yourself. Additionally, you can define optional input fields with MyCashflow's product featuresproduct features.

The type of input field below is indicated by the entry's font according to the following format:

The input is in XML format.

Required

At least the following information must be specified for Meta to accept the product into its system:

  • Name <g:title>: the product name must be specified in the product form's Name field. If the product has variations, the same input field will also include the variation name from the Stock tab of the product card.
  • Visibility (the product must be visible in the product feed's store version and belong to a product category that is visible in some version).
  • Package size (which must be supported by at least one shipping method available for shipments to the target country).
  • Description <g:description>: write a short description in the product form field Description.
  • Price <g:price>: the normal price and currency of the product or product variation.
  • Product type <g:product_type>: the entire category path of the product in the online store.
  • Image link <g:image_link>: the URL address for the main image of the product or product variation.
  • Google product category <g:google_product_category>: Product category according to Google's classification system (which can also be used in other service providers' systems).

    If the Google product category is Apparel & Accessories, also specify the following attributes of the target audience and the product:

    • gender
    • age group
    • product color
    • product size.

    The gender and age group can be set by using CSV import. To set the color and size, use product features.

Manufacturer's product identifiers

The manufacturer's product identifiers identify the product on the international market and improve its findability. However, not all products have an identifier. If you're not sure what the correct product identifier is, leave the information unspecified, as incorrect information may result in product disapproval.

  • GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) <g:gtin>: a primary product identifier, typically an EAN identified by a barcode on the product or its packaging. (Enter the ID in the Barcode field on the product card's Stock tab. Learn more about barcodes.)
  • Brand <g:brand>: a brand that is clearly visible on the product or its packaging. (If the brand has already been added to your store, it will be included in the Brand drop-down menu in the product form's Visibility settings section. Learn more about adding and editing brands.)
  • MPN (Manufacturer Part Number) <g:mpn>: manufacturer's product number. (Enter the product number in the Product code field in the product form's Purchasing price, product numbers & suppliers information section.)
  • Identifier exists <g:identifier_exists>: the value is true if GTIN or both brand and MPN have been specified. The value is false, if no product identifier has been specified, or if only brand or MPN has been specified.

Read more about the manufacturer's product identifiers on Google's website.

Additional product management information

  • ID <g:id>: the store's own identifier to identify a product or product variation.
  • Link <g:link>: the URL address for the product or product variation page.
  • Additional image link <additional_image_link>: the URL address for an additional product image (max. 20 additional images).

Detailed product description

  • Text description with formatting <rich_text_description>: An optional input field supporting HTML markup, including data from the product form's Description and Product information fields.
  • Item group ID <g:item_group_id>: a unique identifier for the main product of a product variation.
  • Condition <g:condition>
  • Material <g:material>
  • Pattern or graphic printing <g:pattern>
  • Color <g:color>
  • Size <g:size>
  • Gender <g:gender>
  • Age group <g:age_group>
  • Adult entertainment <g:adult>: the product is related to sex, is erotic in nature or contains nudity.
  • Details of the variation <additional_variant_attribute>: other feature of the variation using the following sub-definitions:
    • Attribute name <label>
    • Product feature value <value>

Availability and complementary pricing information

  • Availability <g:availability>: information regarding the availability of the product or product variation. Possible values:
    • in stock [in stock]
    • product out of stock [out of stock]
    • preorder [preorder], if the product form's Limited availability section includes a defined start date
    • available for order [available for order], if the product is out of stock and an alternative delivery time has been set for it in the stock settings.
  • Sale price <g:sale_price>: based on a discount campaign that applies to the product or product variation.
    The sale price has to meet the following requirements:
    • The product has been available at its regular price for at least 90 days.
    • The discount is greater than 5% and less than 90%.
    • The campaign duration is limited.
  • Sale price effective date <g:sale_price_effective_date>: the time the sale price for the product or product variation is effective.

Shipping

  • Shipping <g:shipping>: the following shipping information is fetched by the system:
    • Shipping country <g:country>: an allowed target country for the product.
    • Shipping price <g:price>: the price for shipping the product.
  • Shipment weight <g:shipping_weight>: a value based on the weight of the products contained in the shipment, used to calculate shipping costs.

Other settings

  • Own identifier 0–2 <g:custom_label_n>: your own identifier to .

Frequently Asked Questions

Solutions to problems related to the Meta product feed and conversion tracking.

Only PageView events are recorded in Facebook

If no conversion events other than PageView are recorded into Facebook, the Meta Conversions API access token is probably incorrect or missing from the product feed's conversion settings in the MyCashflow admin panel.

Recording PageView events works with the dataset ID, so if only PageView events go through, the dataset ID is probably correct, but the API access token is wrong.

No conversion events are recorded on Facebook

If Facebook does not record any conversion events from the online store, check that the credentials are correct in the Meta feed conversion settings.

Make sure that you use the dataset ID in the settings (the owner ID is not used anywhere in Meta feed conversion settings).