What are Dynamic Ads on Facebook? A guide to DABA & DPA campaigns.

Banner showing a dynamic ad on Facebook with the text

On average, a person sees up to 10,000 ads daily.

It sounds crazy but it’s true.

The world of social media and online advertising is the biggest and the most competitive it’s ever been.

As a result of this ever-growing competition for ad space, ads have become more expensive, and it has become even more difficult to stand out from the rest of the crowd.

Enter dynamic ads, one of the most profitable and cost-effective ways to advertise online.

What are Dynamic ads?

Let’s understand with the help of a simple example.

Consider Jamie who is in the market for winter boots. She checks out a pair of yellow boots on a website but then leaves to run some errands.

Jamie then heads to Instagram to see what her friends are up to, and she sees the same yellow boots as an ad in her news feed.

This ad that Jamie just saw, is a dynamic ad.

Dynamic ads are personalized to the viewer based on what they do online. What I see will be different from what you see, but it’s from the same ad!

This is the beauty of a dynamic ad, making them more relevant and engaging than static ads like videos or posters.

Dynamic ads are also:

  • Cost-effective
    Since the ads are only shown to people who are interested in your brand, you don’t pay for irrelevant traffic.
  • Efficient
    Once your product feed or catalog is set up (explained below), it is very quick and easy to set your ads live.
  • Targeted
    The right people are seeing the right products, which is the best way to boost your chances of a sale.

Dynamic ads are a powerful tool for finding new customers (prospecting) or reminding existing visitors about the products they are interested in (retargeting).

How can I use Dynamic ads in my online advertising strategy?

Besides running poster ads or videos for your ads, we recommend running at least one type of dynamic ad, especially for retargeting.

Bottom of the funnel or BOF (Retargeting):

Let’s recall Jamie’s journey to get some winter boots.

She checked out some yellow boots on a website, left the website, and then saw an ad with the same yellow boots on Instagram.

This is a dynamic ad for retargeting, a.k.a, Dynamic Product Ad (DPA).

Product visitors, cart abandoners, checkout abandoners – these customers are the most aware of your brand, and so DPAs are the fastest (and most profitable) way to bring back lost revenue.
Learn more about DPAs here.

DPAs were also the most popular type of dynamic ad… until recently!

Top of the funnel or TOF (Prospecting):

Let’s take a new example.

David’s looking for a new harness for his dog. He searches on Google for the best harnesses in the market and visits a few top brands.

When he later browses Facebook, he will likely see a carousel of dog harnesses or other dog accessories from other brands.

These are dynamic ads for prospecting a.k.a Dynamic Ads for Broad Audiences (DABA).

DABA is a great way to attract new customers, unaware of your brands, using interests, lookalike audiences, or just broad targeting.

With the iOS14 changes regarding tracking & privacy, DABA is becoming increasingly relevant. Read more about how Socioh can be your ultimate Post-iOS14 toolkit.

TIPDABA works best when you already have data in your Pixel and your ad account. The more data you have, the better DABA campaigns can perform.

How do dynamic ads work?

Dynamic ads are also called catalog ads, or feed-based ads.

Think of this catalog or feed as a list of all your products in your store. This list will also include product information like the product title, product image, description, price, inventory, etc.

Meta or Google then uses relevant information from this list to deliver your dynamic ads.

The best way to make a catalog or a product feed is to use a third-party application that automates this process.

Socioh’s Branded Catalogs are the fastest way to create & beautify your dynamic ads for Facebook & Instagram.

Learn more about Branded Catalogs here.

How do I get started with dynamic ads on Meta?

You’re in the right place!

Socioh takes your DPAs to the next level with complete creative control.

Add your logo, promotions, or lifestyle images directly onto your dynamic ad creatives.

A gif showing how Socioh can add design and automation to a dynamic ad powered by Shopify's native product feed
Watch full video.

Create a customized journey for each audience segment with Socioh’s game-changing Branded Catalogs.

Gif showing different dynamic ads being shown to shoppers in different stages of the purchase journey

Learn more about Branded Catalogs or check out examples from real brands running Branded Catalogs!

is a digital advertising platform for eCommerce brands. Our Branded Catalog is the industry leader in dynamic catalog advertising and product feeds.