You upload a product catalog to Meta — through Commerce Manager, a data feed, or an integration like Shopify — and create a template. Meta then generates personalized ads that show each person the products they're most likely to want: items they viewed or added to cart (retargeting), or products matched to their interests (broad prospecting).
Catalog ads scale personalization across thousands of products without building individual ads. They require a healthy Pixel and Conversions API setup sending product IDs that match the catalog, plus clean product data with strong images. Catalogs also work outside retail, for real estate listings, travel, and vehicle inventory.
Example
A shopper views three pairs of running shoes on a retailer's site; later, an Instagram carousel shows exactly those shoes along with a similar style.
How Sloss Digital uses it
We set up catalogs with matched product IDs and polished product data, then run catalog ads for both retargeting and broad prospecting.