A product feed is a database that contains all the information about the different products in your online store, including data such as product description, inventory, stock or main features. The product feed file can be in various formats, such as XML, CSV or TXT.
Depending on the sector the company is in, the information included in the feed will be different. For example, size is very important in clothing e-commerce sites. At the same time, technology companies will have sections for screen size or the amount of memory on a device.
In this article, we tell you the advantages of using a product feed and how you can upload it to the different platforms on which you sell.
Advantages of using a product feed in your ecommerce
The primary function of a product feed is to be able to send product information from the catalogue to different websites, such as marketplaces, price comparison sites or online advertising tools. By centralising all the information and automating the sending process, we save a great deal of time and avoid possible errors, as we eliminate the need to upload product characteristics manually to each channel.
Ultimately, a product feed will help you promote your products on the different platforms where you can promote them, which is why it is important to have one and have it adapted to each environment.
How to create your campaigns with a product feed according to each platform
Now that you know what a product feed is and are aware of the benefits of using one in your company, it’s time to put it into practice. We want to show you how you can manually upload your product feed file to each platform to launch campaigns on different channels.
Search Engine Campaigns
Google Merchant Center
First of all, Google Merchant Center accepts different types of product feed formats, such as spreadsheets, CVS files, TSV, and XML.
To create a primary feed, which is the essential data source that the platform uses to access product data, you will need to go to the “Feeds” section of the “Products” page, and in the “Primary Feed” section, click the “+” button. Then, you will need to follow the instructions and provide the information requested.
After providing all this information, click “Continue.” You will then be able to view and start managing your main feed in the “Feeds” section of your account.
Once you’ve created your feed, it’s time to start uploading the data for the products or services included in it. There are five options for uploading a product feed to Google Merchant Center: direct upload, FTP upload, SFTP upload, scheduled feed collections (i.e. uploading the feed from a URL), and using Google Cloud Storage.
Remember that once you have created your product feed and uploaded all the data to Google Merchant Center, you will later need to link your account on this platform with Google Ads so you can start creating the advertising campaign to promote your products.
Google Local Inventory
To create a product feed for Google Local Inventory, we leave you with the following recommendations:
- Data preparation: Gather all the data you need for your products, including unique identifiers, titles, descriptions, pricing, availability, inventory locations, high-quality images, and any other relevant attributes.
- Feed format: Use a format accepted by Google, such as CSV or XML. Be sure to follow the formatting specifications detailed in Google’s instructions.
- Required Fields: Make sure to include all the necessary fields, such as product ID, title, price, availability, and inventory location.
- Geographic targeting: Define the geographic locations (physical stores) where your products are available. This is essential for Google Local Inventory.
- Store Links: Provide links to your product pages on your website and to specific pages in physical stores.
- Categorisation: Assign precise categories to your products to ensure they appear in relevant searches.
- Optimised images: Make sure you provide high-quality images that meet Google’s requirements. Images are essential to attracting buyers’ attention.
- UTM Tags: If you want to track traffic sources, add UTM tags to your links.
- Feed validation: Before submitting your feed, verify that all data is accurate and meets Google’s formatting specifications.
- Submitting your feed: Use Google Merchant Center to upload and submit your product feed. Follow the instructions provided in the platform to complete this step.
Once you have created your feed, it is essential to pay attention to how to register and upload it correctly to Google Merchant Center.
Bing Ads
In this case, these are the steps to upload the product feed to Bing Ads in order to advertise on this search engine:
- Create a Microsoft Merchant Center account: If you don’t already have one, visit the tool’s website and follow the steps to create one.
- Access your account: Sign in to your Microsoft Merchant Center account.
- Set up your account: Complete your account setup, providing details such as country, currency, and time zone.
- Create a product catalogue: In the navigation panel, select “Catalog” and then “Create a catalogue.” Enter the name of the catalogue and choose the currency you want to use.
- Add a data source: Within the catalogue, select “Data Sources” and then “Add Data Source.” Choose the “Products” data source type and provide a descriptive name for the source.
- Configure data source: Complete the data source settings, including country, language, and time zone. You can also set up automatic import options if you want the feed to be updated regularly from a URL.
- Download the product feed template: Within the data source, select “Download feed template” to get a blank spreadsheet in the format required by Bing Ads.
- Add your products to your feed: Fill out the spreadsheet with your product details, including product ID, title, description, price, image link, category, product condition, etc. Make sure to follow Bing Ads formatting guidelines.
- Save and upload your feed: Once you’ve completed your spreadsheet, save it in the format and location recommended by Bing Ads. Return to your data source in Bing Merchant Center and select “Upload File” to upload the product feed you created.
- Validate and process the feed: Once uploaded, Microsoft Merchant Center will validate the feed and process the data. It is important to ensure that the feed meets specifications and does not contain errors.
- Create product ad campaigns: After your feed has been successfully processed, you can create product ad campaigns in Bing Ads using the data in your feed. Set up ad groups and define bid strategies.
To upload a product feed to Microsoft Merchant Center and create effective product ads in Bing Ads, it’s important to adhere to the specific formatting specifications and requirements that Bing Ads sets.
