Automotive Ads - Ads Management

This guide assumes you have a catalog and product set ready, and have set up the required vehicle events on your website or in your mobile app. If not, see catalog setup and event setup.

To create automotive ads, you need a Facebook Page and an ad account.

Step 1. Create Campaign

  1. Choose PRODUCT_CATALOG_SALES as the campaign objective.
  2. Specify a vehicle catalog in promoted_object at the campaign level.
use FacebookAds\Object\Campaign;
use FacebookAds\Object\Fields\CampaignFields;
use FacebookAds\Object\Values\CampaignObjectiveValues;

$campaign = new Campaign(null, 'act_<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>');
$campaign->setData(array(
  CampaignFields::NAME => 'Product Catalog Sales Campaign',
  CampaignFields::OBJECTIVE => CampaignObjectiveValues::PRODUCT_CATALOG_SALES,
  CampaignFields::PROMOTED_OBJECT => array(
    'product_catalog_id' => <PRODUCT_CATALOG_ID>,
  ),
));

$campaign->create(array(
  Campaign::STATUS_PARAM_NAME => Campaign::STATUS_PAUSED,
));
from facebookads.adobjects.campaign import Campaign

campaign = Campaign(parent_id='act_<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>')
campaign[Campaign.Field.name] = 'Product Catalog Sales Campaign'
objective = Campaign.Objective.product_catalog_sales
campaign[Campaign.Field.objective] = objective
campaign[Campaign.Field.promoted_object] = {
    'product_catalog_id': <PRODUCT_CATALOG_ID>,
}

campaign.remote_create(params={
    'status': Campaign.Status.paused,
})
Campaign campaign = new AdAccount(act_<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>, context).createCampaign()
  .setName("Product Catalog Sales Campaign Group")
  .setObjective(Campaign.EnumObjective.VALUE_PRODUCT_CATALOG_SALES)
  .setPromotedObject("{\"product_catalog_id\":\"" + <PRODUCT_CATALOG_ID> + "\"}")
  .setStatus(Campaign.EnumStatus.VALUE_PAUSED)
  .execute();
String campaign_id = campaign.getId();
curl \
  -F 'name=Product Catalog Sales Campaign' \
  -F 'objective=PRODUCT_CATALOG_SALES' \
  -F 'promoted_object={"product_catalog_id":"<PRODUCT_CATALOG_ID>"}' \
  -F 'status=PAUSED' \
  -F 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
  https://graph.facebook.com/v2.11/act_<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>/campaigns

Step 2. Create Ad Set

Once you have the campaign and the campaign_id, you can create the ad set. The ad set defines the bidding and targeting options for your ads.

If you don’t specify destination_type at the ad set level, your ads' default destination is the website URL specified in your catalog.

On-Facebook Destination

To create an ad set that drives Automotive Inventory Ads to an on-Facebook traffic destination, specify destination_type FACEBOOK in your ad set data. See Advantage+ Catalog Ads with an On-Facebook Destination.

Retargeting

Retarget website visitors who have viewed vehicles in your defined product set.

use FacebookAds\Object\AdSet;
use FacebookAds\Object\Fields\AdSetFields;
use FacebookAds\Object\Fields\TargetingFields;
use FacebookAds\Object\Values\AdSetBillingEventValues;
use FacebookAds\Object\Values\AdSetOptimizationGoalValues;

$adset = new AdSet(null, 'act_<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>');

$adset->setData(array(
  AdSetFields::NAME => 'Product Catalog Sales Adset',
  AdSetFields::BID_AMOUNT => 3000,
  AdSetFields::BILLING_EVENT => AdSetBillingEventValues::IMPRESSIONS,
  AdSetFields::OPTIMIZATION_GOAL =>
    AdSetOptimizationGoalValues::OFFSITE_CONVERSIONS,
  AdSetFields::DAILY_BUDGET => 15000,
  AdSetFields::CAMPAIGN_ID => <CAMPAIGN_ID>,
  AdSetFields::TARGETING => array(
    TargetingFields::GEO_LOCATIONS => array(
      'countries' => array('US'),
    ),
    TargetingFields::DYNAMIC_AUDIENCE_IDS => array(<DYNAMIC_AUDIENCE_ID>),
  ),
  AdSetFields::PROMOTED_OBJECT => array(
    'product_set_id' => <PRODUCT_SET_ID>,
  ),
));

$adset->create(array(
  AdSet::STATUS_PARAM_NAME => AdSet::STATUS_PAUSED,
));
from facebookads.adobjects.adset import AdSet
from facebookads.adobjects.targeting import Targeting

adset = AdSet(parent_id=ad_account_id)
adset[AdSet.Field.name] = 'Product Catalog Sales Adset'
adset[AdSet.Field.bid_amount] = 3000
adset[AdSet.Field.billing_event] = AdSet.BillingEvent.impressions
adset[AdSet.Field.optimization_goal] = \
    AdSet.OptimizationGoal.offsite_conversions
adset[AdSet.Field.daily_budget] = 15000
adset[AdSet.Field.campaign_id] = campaign_id
adset[AdSet.Field.targeting] = {
    Targeting.Field.geo_locations: {
        Targeting.Field.countries: ['US'],
    },
    Targeting.Field.dynamic_audience_ids: [
        dynamic_audience_id,
    ],
}
adset[AdSet.Field.promoted_object] = {
    'product_set_id': product_set_id,
}

adset.remote_create()
AdSet adSet = new AdAccount(act_<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>, context).createAdSet()
  .setName("Product Catalog Sales Adset")
  .setBidAmount(3000L)
  .setBillingEvent(AdSet.EnumBillingEvent.VALUE_IMPRESSIONS)
  .setOptimizationGoal(AdSet.EnumOptimizationGoal.VALUE_OFFSITE_CONVERSIONS)
  .setDailyBudget(15000L)
  .setCampaignId(<CAMPAIGN_ID>)
  .setTargeting(
    new Targeting()
      .setFieldDynamicAudienceIds(Arrays.asList(<DYNAMIC_AUDIENCE_ID>))
      .setFieldGeoLocations(
        new TargetingGeoLocation()
          .setFieldCountries(Arrays.asList("US"))
      )
  )
  .setPromotedObject("{\"product_set_id\":\"" + <PRODUCT_SET_ID> + "\"}")
  .setStatus(AdSet.EnumStatus.VALUE_PAUSED)
  .execute();
String ad_set_id = adSet.getId();
curl \
  -F 'name=Product Catalog Sales Adset' \
  -F 'bid_amount=3000' \
  -F 'billing_event=IMPRESSIONS' \
  -F 'optimization_goal=OFFSITE_CONVERSIONS' \
  -F 'daily_budget=15000' \
  -F 'campaign_id=<CAMPAIGN_ID>' \
  -F 'targeting={ 
    "geo_locations": {"countries":["US"]}, 
    "dynamic_audience_ids": ["<DYNAMIC_AUDIENCE_ID>"] 
  }' \
  -F 'promoted_object={"product_set_id":"<PRODUCT_SET_ID>"}' \
  -F 'status=PAUSED' \
  -F 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
  https://graph.facebook.com/v2.11/act_<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>/adsets

Automotive ads do not support inline dynamic audience targeting specs in the Ad Set. You must first separately create an audience.

Step 3. Create Ad Creative

You can use template tags in your ad creatives for automotive ads. When Facebook displays your ad, we replace template tags with actual vehicle choices. You can use template tags in the ad and in the URL. The template tags are visible when someone clicks the ad.

Template Tags for Vehicle

TypeName

BODY_STYLE

vehicle.body_style

CUSTOM_LABEL_0

vehicle.custom_label_0

CUSTOM_LABEL_1

vehicle.custom_label_1

CUSTOM_LABEL_2

vehicle.custom_label_2

CITY

vehicle.city

DEALER_ID

vehicle.dealer_id

DEALER_NAME

vehicle.dealer_name

DESCRIPTION

vehicle.description

DRIVETRAIN

vehicle.drivetrain

EXTERIOR_COLOR

vehicle.exterior_color

MAKE

vehicle.make

MILEAGE

vehicle.mileage

MODEL

vehicle.model

PRICE

vehicle.price

REGION

vehicle.region

SALE_PRICE

vehicle.sale_price

STOCK_NUMBER

vehicle.stock_number

TITLE

vehicle.title

TRIM

vehicle.trim

URL

vehicle.url

VEHICLE_ID

vehicle.vehicle_id

VIN

vehicle.vin

YEAR

vehicle.year

Template Tag Guidelines

  • Use these fields in the template tag: vehicle.city, vehicle.dealer_name, vehicle.description, vehicle.make, vehicle.mileage, vehicle.model, vehicle.price, vehicle.region, vehicle.sale_price, vehicle.title, vehicle.url, vehicle.year, etc.
  • Use double curly brackets {{....}} with the template tags.
  • Before using template tags, make sure you provide all required details through your vehicle events. For example, the title of your ad could be: Checkout great deals from {{dealer_name}}.
  • Use the template_url_spec field to specify the URL that appears after someone clicks the ad. If you don't provide it, or we can't derive it when we render an ad, we display the URL from the catalog.
  • You can show a single product or a carousel with multiple products. For single-product ads, you can show multiple images of the same product in the carousel, assuming your catalog contains multiple images for each product. You can also display static cards in combination with dynamic cards.

For more information about creative options, see Building a Creative Template.

Example - Create a carousel creative for automotive ads

use FacebookAds\Object\AdCreative;
use FacebookAds\Object\Fields\AdCreativeFields;
use FacebookAds\Object\Fields\AdCreativeLinkDataFields;
use FacebookAds\Object\Fields\AdCreativeObjectStorySpecFields;
use FacebookAds\Object\Values\AdCreativeCallToActionTypeValues;
use FacebookAds\Object\AdCreativeObjectStorySpec;
use FacebookAds\Object\AdCreativeLinkData;

$object_story_spec = new AdCreativeObjectStorySpec();
$object_story_spec->setData(array(
  AdCreativeObjectStorySpecFields::PAGE_ID => <PAGE_ID>,
  AdCreativeObjectStorySpecFields::TEMPLATE_DATA =>
    (new AdCreativeLinkData())->setData(array(
      AdCreativeLinkDataFields::MESSAGE =>
        'Check out these vehicles from {{dealer_name}}',
      AdCreativeLinkDataFields::NAME => '{{vehicle.year}} {{vehicle.make}} {{vehicle.model}}',
      AdCreativeLinkDataFields::LINK => '{{vehicle.url}}',
      AdCreativeLinkDataFields::DESCRIPTION =>
        '{{vehicle.description}}',
      AdCreativeLinkDataFields::ADDITIONAL_IMAGE_INDEX => 0,
      AdCreativeLinkDataFields::CALL_TO_ACTION => array(
        'type' => AdCreativeCallToActionTypeValues::LEARN_MORE,
      ),
    )),
));

$creative = new AdCreative(null, 'act_<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>');
$creative->setData(array(
  AdCreativeFields::NAME => 'Advantage+ Catalog Ad Template Creative Sample',
  AdCreativeFields::OBJECT_STORY_SPEC => $object_story_spec,
  AdCreativeFields::TEMPLATE_URL_SPEC =>
    array(
      'web' => array(
        'url' => 'http://www.example.com/vehicle'.
          '?id={{vehicle_id | urlencode}}',
      )
    ),
  AdCreativeFields::PRODUCT_SET_ID => <PRODUCT_SET_ID>,
));

$creative->create();

Step 4. Create Ad

Use the ad_set_id and the creative_id to create the ad.

curl -X POST \ -F 'name="My Ad"' \ -F 'adset_id="<AD_SET_ID>"' \ -F 'creative={ "creative_id": "<CREATIVE_ID>" }' \ -F 'status="PAUSED"' \ -F 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \ https://graph.facebook.com/v21.0/act_<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>/ads
'use strict'; const bizSdk = require('facebook-nodejs-business-sdk'); const AdAccount = bizSdk.AdAccount; const Ad = bizSdk.Ad; const access_token = '<ACCESS_TOKEN>'; const app_secret = '<APP_SECRET>'; const app_id = '<APP_ID>'; const id = '<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>'; const api = bizSdk.FacebookAdsApi.init(access_token); const showDebugingInfo = true; // Setting this to true shows more debugging info. if (showDebugingInfo) { api.setDebug(true); } const logApiCallResult = (apiCallName, data) => { console.log(apiCallName); if (showDebugingInfo) { console.log('Data:' + JSON.stringify(data)); } }; let fields, params; fields = [ ]; params = { 'name' : 'My Ad', 'adset_id' : '<adSetID>', 'creative' : {'creative_id':'<adCreativeID>'}, 'status' : 'PAUSED', }; const ads = (new AdAccount(id)).createAd( fields, params ); logApiCallResult('ads api call complete.', ads);
require __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php'; use FacebookAds\Object\AdAccount; use FacebookAds\Object\Ad; use FacebookAds\Api; use FacebookAds\Logger\CurlLogger; $access_token = '<ACCESS_TOKEN>'; $app_secret = '<APP_SECRET>'; $app_id = '<APP_ID>'; $id = '<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>'; $api = Api::init($app_id, $app_secret, $access_token); $api->setLogger(new CurlLogger()); $fields = array( ); $params = array( 'name' => 'My Ad', 'adset_id' => '<adSetID>', 'creative' => array('creative_id' => '<adCreativeID>'), 'status' => 'PAUSED', ); echo json_encode((new AdAccount($id))->createAd( $fields, $params )->exportAllData(), JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);
from facebook_business.adobjects.adaccount import AdAccount from facebook_business.adobjects.ad import Ad from facebook_business.api import FacebookAdsApi access_token = '<ACCESS_TOKEN>' app_secret = '<APP_SECRET>' app_id = '<APP_ID>' id = '<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>' FacebookAdsApi.init(access_token=access_token) fields = [ ] params = { 'name': 'My Ad', 'adset_id': '<adSetID>', 'creative': {'creative_id':'<adCreativeID>'}, 'status': 'PAUSED', } print AdAccount(id).create_ad( fields=fields, params=params, )
import com.facebook.ads.sdk.*; import java.io.File; import java.util.Arrays; public class SAMPLE_CODE_EXAMPLE { public static void main (String args[]) throws APIException { String access_token = \"<ACCESS_TOKEN>\"; String app_secret = \"<APP_SECRET>\"; String app_id = \"<APP_ID>\"; String id = \"<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>\"; APIContext context = new APIContext(access_token).enableDebug(true); new AdAccount(id, context).createAd() .setName(\"My Ad\") .setAdsetId(<adSetID>L) .setCreative( new AdCreative() .setFieldId(\"<adCreativeID>\") ) .setStatus(Ad.EnumStatus.VALUE_PAUSED) .execute(); } }
require 'facebook_ads' access_token = '<ACCESS_TOKEN>' app_secret = '<APP_SECRET>' app_id = '<APP_ID>' id = '<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>' FacebookAds.configure do |config| config.access_token = access_token config.app_secret = app_secret end ad_account = FacebookAds::AdAccount.get(id) ads = ad_account.ads.create({ name: 'My Ad', adset_id: '<adSetID>', creative: {'creative_id':'<adCreativeID>'}, status: 'PAUSED', })

Next Steps

Preview the Ad

You can generate a preview of your Advantage+ creative for catalog with the Ad Previews API. Include the product_item_ids parameter to specify which catalog items will display in the preview.

Generate a preview of your ad with the Ad Previews API. Include the product_item_ids to specify which catalog items displays in the preview, and start_date and end_date to specify specific dates.

use FacebookAds\Object\AdCreative;
use FacebookAds\Object\Fields\AdPreviewFields;
use FacebookAds\Object\Values\AdPreviewAdFormatValues;

$creative = new AdCreative(<CREATIVE_ID>);
$preview = $creative->getPreviews(array(), array(
  AdPreviewFields::AD_FORMAT => AdPreviewAdFormatValues::DESKTOP_FEED_STANDARD,
  AdPreviewFields::PRODUCT_ITEM_IDS => array(
    '<VEHICLE_FBID>',
  ),
));