Big news for Shopify merchants!

Online merchants on the eCommerce platform recently received some welcome news regarding advertising with the inclusion of two new ad formats natively available: dynamic ads on Facebook and Story Ads on Snapchat.

But what do these new DTC advertising features on Shopify mean for merchants using them? Quite a lot, actually! Before we dive into what they mean for online merchants, let’s take a closer look at these new advertising features on Shopify!

Dynamic Ads on Facebook

For the dynamic Facebook ads, merchants just need to set their campaign goals for the right products to be targeted to the right customers while synchronizing with Shopify for updated product availability and pricing.

This allows for simple, efficient targeting of customers in a way that's largely automated, letting marketers focus on the big picture more.

To set up a dynamic ad campaign on Shopify, simply do the following:

  1. Go to Marketing from your Shopify Admin page
  2. Click on Create activity
  3. Click on Facebook dynamic product ad
  4. Enter a name and ad text
  5. Set your budget
  6. Set a start time and date, and end time and date if you choose
  7. Click on Publish activity

To pause a dynamic Facebook ad on Shopify, perform the following steps:

  1. Go to Marketing from your Shopify Admin page
  2. Click on a campaign name
  3. Click the campaign activity for the Facebook dynamic product ad you wish to pause
  4. Click on Pause activity

To view a marketing activity report for a dynamic Facebook ad, simply:

  1. Go to Marketing from your Shopify Admin page
  2. Click on the campaign name you'd like to see data on
  3. Hover over a campaign activity and click View report
Dynamic Facebook ads let merchants create templates that automatically use product details and images for specific products and services they want to advertise

Story Ads on Snapchat

Merchants can also install the Snapchat Ads App to create branded Tiles in the app’s Discover section. In doing so, a collection of three to 20 Snaps can be unlocked by users featuring specific products from the merchants, who can, in turn, track sales resulting from their Story Ads.

This new features ultimately allows for online merchants to curate the specific branded content they want to show customers, giving them more control of their marketing campaign while also receiving valuable data for what works and what doesn't by tracking sales that result from the ads.

To create a Story Ad on Snapchat, just do the following:

  1. Make sure all your Product Catalogs are synced with Ads Manager by clicking Set up Catalog on Shopify and login to Snapchat with your account credentials
  2. Select your organization and click Sync
  3. Select your organization, ad account and target country and click on Save Settings
  4. Go to the Marketing section and then Create Activity
  5. Select Create Campaign and then Create Activity
  6. In Activities, select Snapchat Story Ad
  7. Enter the campaign's details, duration, budget and creative and click on Publish Activity
Story Ad on Snapchat
Story Ads let merchants curate branded content for Snapchat users

Shopify as an Ad Platform for DTC Products: What You Need to Know

Now for some insights!

Shopify’s new DTC advertising features certainly have big implications for online merchants using the popular eCommerce platform, but just what exactly are they?

The additions will give brands much more flexibility when it comes to their DTC marketing campaigns. On Facebook, marketers can create ads that dynamically pull information and pictures from data feeds to reach consumers who’ve previously shown interest in their products and services, tailoring the marketing campaign to individual social media users.

Similarly, on Snapchat, brands can now reach audiences in the app’s Discover section with branded, curated content, giving them more flexibility and control of what potential consumers are exposed to.

Taken together, these changes mean that companies will now have an easier time reaching consumers on social media, whether through ads that dynamically display products and automatically target users who’ve expressed interest in the brand in the past on Facebook or with the opportunity to produce more branded, curated content on Snapchat.

DTC advertising on social media isn’t a passing craze or marketing buzzword of the moment - far from it! According to two surveys from the financial firm Cowen, TV viewership has dropped 36 percent among people aged 18 to 34 while social media usage has climbed sharply while another survey of ad buyers found that social media channels, particularly Instagram, YouTube/Google Video and Snapchat, are overwhelmingly the best way to reach audiences between the ages of 13 to 34.

Separately, another study from Marketing Dive and MediaRadar found that DTC advertising that produced eCommerce transactions grew 7 percent to 20 percent over a five-year stretch.

In short, DTC marketing, especially to younger audiences, is here to stay!

What It All Means for Shopify Merchants

So, what does this all mean for DTC brands on Shopify?

The eCommerce platform’s new features are a prime opportunity for online merchants to expand their advertising opportunities to younger, social-media savvy audiences. From dynamically targeting audiences on Facebook to curating more branded content on Snapchat, marketers for DTC brands on Shopify are now well-positioned to reach their target audiences much easier - so take advantage of it!