How to Set Up Meta Catalog Carousel Ads for Your Online Store

Catalog ads on Facebook and Instagram show your store's products in a carousel: each card has the product photo, name and price, plus a Shop now button that opens the product page on your store. Prices and stock update automatically from the store.

The Alfaqih Group Technologies (AGT) team prepares the technical side of the store: the product feed and the Meta Pixel. You do the steps below in your own Meta accounts, so the accounts and ads stay yours.

Before you start

• A Facebook Page for the store and a professional Instagram account linked to it.
• A payment card to fund the ads.
• The product feed link provided by the AGT team.

1. Meta business account

1. Go to business.facebook.com with the Facebook account that manages the store's Page.
2. If you don't have one, create a Business portfolio in the store's name.
3. In Settings → Accounts, add the store's Facebook Page and Instagram account.

2. Product catalog and data feed

1. Open Commerce Manager.
2. For your first catalog click Add products; if you already have catalogs, create a new one from Assets.
3. Keep Online products selected, choose your business portfolio, name the catalog and click Next.
4. If asked to connect a pixel, click Skip for now; we connect it in step 3.
5. Choose Connect to a data feed, upload from a URL, and paste the product feed link from the AGT team. Example: https://your-store.ly/feeds/meta-catalog.xml
6. Set a Daily schedule and keep the default Replace setting, so products you delete from the store are removed from the catalog.
7. Finish the upload. After the first fetch your products appear in the catalog.

3. Meta Pixel

1. Open Events Manager.
2. Click Connect data sources, choose Web and create a new dataset in the store's name. The Dataset ID is the same as the Pixel ID.
3. You don't need to copy or install any code; you can close the install window.
4. In the dataset's Settings tab, copy the ID and send it to the AGT team, or enter it in your store settings if there is a field for it. We switch it on in the store and confirm that view, add-to-cart and purchase events arrive.
5. Back in Commerce Manager, connect the same pixel to your catalog from its tracking settings.
6. If Meta asks you to verify your domain: Settings → Brand safety and suitability → Domains, add the store domain without https or www, choose the meta-tag or DNS TXT method, send the code to the AGT team to add, then click Verify domain. Verification can take up to 72 hours.

4. Campaign in Ads Manager

1. Open Ads Manager and click + Create.
2. Choose the Sales objective, then Continue.
3. At campaign level, make sure Product data is on and select the store's catalog. (These ads used to be called Advantage+ catalog ads; you may still see that name.)
4. In the ad set, under Promoted products, pick a product set: all products, or a set for one category such as skin care. Choose the website as the conversion location, your pixel and the Purchase event.
5. Audience: location Libya; keep age and interests broad at first. Set a daily budget and start date.
6. In the ad, choose the Carousel format and Product media as the creative source. Write a short text and choose the Shop now button.
7. Check the Facebook and Instagram previews, then click Publish.

5. Tips

• Photos: clear square photos (at least 1080×1080) on a clean background; they are what the cards show.
• Stock and prices: update them only in your store admin. The feed is fetched daily, and out-of-stock products stop showing in ads.
• Currency: the feed lists prices in Libyan dinar (LYD). If Meta rejects it or prices don't show in the catalog, tell the AGT team and we'll switch the feed to USD. Your ad account itself will most likely bill in USD.
• Budget: start small for a week, then spend more on what sells.
• Don't remove or change the product feed link in the catalog.

Need help with any step? Email the Alfaqih Group Technologies (AGT) team at sales@alfaqih.ly.