Meta product data versions: a second look for your catalog ads, and how to run one today

Every catalog ad you run shows the same product data. One title, one price, one image, for every campaign, every audience and every season. Want a Black Friday look? Until now that meant a second catalog, a second feed and a pixel that no longer adds up.

Meta is changing that with product data versions. Here is what the feature does, what it is good for, how to feed a version from the setup you already have, and how to get the same result in one catalog while you wait for access.

What a product data version is

A version is an alternate set of product data that lives inside your existing catalog. Meta’s help center calls it “an advanced feature that gives you more creative control over how products appear in your ads.” You can keep up to ten versions in one catalog, and each one can change these fields per product: title, description, price, sale price, link, image, additional images, video, availability, condition and status.

Nothing else changes. Same catalog, same product IDs, same product sets, same pixel events. A version is a layer on top of the product, not a copy of it.

Meta says the feature is “currently limited to a small number of eligible businesses.” If you don’t see it in Commerce Manager yet, the last section is for you.

What it gives you

• A seasonal look without a second catalog. Summer backgrounds in June, a sale look in November. Add the version, point the campaign at it, and switch back when the season ends.
• Different data for different audiences or placements. A shorter title for Stories, a version with the loyalty price for existing customers, a version whose link lands on a campaign page.
• A real comparison. Two ad sets, two versions, one catalog. Meta lists comparing “campaign results to determine the highest-performing versions of your product data” as one of the intended uses.
• One set of events. Purchases, views and add-to-carts stay on the product, whichever version the shopper saw.

How you set one up in Commerce Manager

1. Open your catalog, go to Data sources, click + Add and choose Product data versions.
2. Name it after what it is for. You will pick it by name in Ads Manager later.
3. Give it data. Either select data sources already in the catalog, or click Add feed and enter the URL of a feed that exists only for this version.
4. Click Create. Meta also creates a product set named Products with [version name] version, holding every product the version has data for.
5. In Ads Manager, build a Sales campaign with Advantage+ catalog ads. At the ad level, tick Product data version in the Ad creative section and pick the version.

Products with no data in the version show their default data. So an ad set can show a mix of versioned and default products unless you use the product set Meta created for that version.

Feed a version from the setup you already have

The feed a version wants is a short one: the product ID plus only the fields you are changing. That is exactly what a supplementary feed is, and a Renable channel can be one.

1. Add a second channel on the same catalog. On its Settings tab, under Used for, set it to Meta and mark it as a Supplementary feed. Only the product ID is required now.
2. Give it the fields the version should change. For a seasonal look, that is an image field bound to the seasonal template. Renable renders that image for every product and renders it again when a price or a product changes.
3. Want a different title or description too? Point the field in this channel at different content, an AI-written headline for instance. Your main feed keeps the everyday copy.
4. Publish, copy the channel’s feed URL, and paste it into Commerce Manager as the version’s feed. Meta fetches it on its own schedule from then on.

One catalog in Renable, one catalog in Meta, and a version that stays current by itself. Or ask Aimée, the AI agent inside Renable, to draft the channel for you.

Not eligible yet? Do it in one catalog today

The two most common reasons to want a version are a seasonal look and a test between two looks. Both are possible today, in one catalog, with adaptive designs and Renable Options.

Adaptive designs is a Meta feed capability that gives your designs names. A design is one look in every shape: square, portrait and story, image and video. Renable sends all your designs in the one feed you already have, each under its own name, like evergreen or black-friday. The Renable Options panel inside Meta Ads Manager then shows which design an ad runs and lets you switch it to another with one click.

• Seasonal look. Build the Black Friday design weeks early. Adding it changes no running ad. On the day, pin the ads you want to it. When the season ends, pin them back.
• A test between two looks. Duplicate the ad set, pin one copy to each design, and let Meta’s A/B test split the audience. The steps are in How to customize Meta Advantage+ catalog ad creative with templates.
• The right shape everywhere. An ad pinned to a design by name still lets Meta pick the square, portrait or story version for each placement.

The difference from versions: designs change what the ad looks like, image and video. A version can also change the title, the price or the link. If your seasonal idea is a picture, you don’t have to wait. If it is a different price or landing page, that is what versions are for, and the channel above is ready for the day you get them.

Either way, a product the design or version can’t cover shows its default data. The Renable Options panel shows the coverage of the design an ad runs, so you know before you spend.

What it takes

A product feed that Renable imports and sends on to your Meta catalog, and a Meta channel with adaptive designs turned on for the design route. Renable Options is a Chrome extension in early access. Aimée drafts channels and templates, and you publish them. Meta decides which ad shows where, in every case. The Meta side of versions is Meta’s feature, on Meta’s timeline.

More on the panel: Renable Options, the panel inside Meta Ads Manager

How designs get their names: Adaptive designs

Meta’s own steps: Create product data versions in your catalog