Use Meta Variant Testing to A/B test ads in Meta

Create and test product image variants for Meta ads, then push selected variants to Meta.

What is Meta variant testing?

With Meta Variant Testing in Channable you create and test different versions of your product images for Facebook and Instagram ads.

We push these different image variants directly to Meta, allowing you to test them against each other, analyze performance, and automatically serve the winning, highest-converting image design to your audience.

Create image templates

Since you’ll be testing different images, you need to create multiple image templates so that Meta has different designs to compare.

1

To create image templates, go to [your project] > Creatives.

2

Click + Create template.

3

Set up and customize your multiple templates for Meta.

Tip: Use one of our premade templates.

Apply the templates using image rules

Since you’ve created multiple image templates, you need to apply each one using image rules.

Tip: Learn more about image rules.

You can try the Dynamic Image Editor in the image rules of an inactive feed.

1

To apply your template, click Apply in the Image Editor. You'll be redirected to Rules > Image rules where you can set up which products the template should be applied to. The next step may already be done for you:

2

Click + Create rule.

1. Fill in a Rule name and Description. You can also create a label for your new rule.
2. Click Create.

3

In the IF part of the rule, set up which products you’d like to select/target with this image rule. E.g. IF brand equals Nike.

4

In the THEN part of the rule, select a template to apply (all of the templates you have created will show in a dropdown list).

5

Once you have selected a template, select which image field to store the new image URL that this rule will create. We recommend that you add a new project field for the new URL.

6

Click Save and Run.

Send multiple images to Meta

To send multiple image variants to Meta, map each image field directly to g:additional_image_link.

Tip: Learn more about mapping in Channable and the Mapping step.

1

In [your Meta channel] > Mapping, map your main image link to g:image_link.

2

In the g:additional_image_link mapping, add each variant image field.

3

Add up to 20 additional image fields.

1. If you select a list field, Meta uses the first 20 image links.

4

After mapping your fields, save the feed and click Run feed (this may take some time).

5

Go to Meta Commerce Manager > Select a Catalog > Data sources. Click Update at your feed (this will update automatically every hour). You may need to wait up to two hours for Meta to send the images from Meta Commerce Manager to Meta Ads Manager.

Set up your ad campaigns and A/B tests in Meta (*Optional set up style)

1

Create and set up your ads in Meta.

2

Create A/B tests in Meta to test your image variants.

Create an Meta ad API connection in Channable

1

Go to Creatives > Meta Variant Testing.

2

Click + Connect Meta account.

1. Add a Label for the connection and fill in your Meta Account ID.
2. Click Save.

3

You’ll be redirected to Meta to log in. Once you've logged in, select your Ad account and we’ll start fetching your ads and they’ll load into Channable.

View your Meta ads in Channable

Once you have connected your Meta ad API, we will display all of your published Meta ads on ad level.

Note: The only action you can take is changing which image variant the ad uses. You can not change any other ad settings via Channable.

Select your image variants and push them to Meta

1

To view the image variants of a specific ad, click the ad in the table or ⋮ (the more actions menu).

2

In the pop up, browse your image variants. The variants that will show are the ones that you created templates for and saved the results in additional image fields.

3

Select a variant and click Push to Meta.

4

Click Push to Meta to confirm.

If you do not see a variant in this list:

• Meta Commerce Manager is still sending your additional images to Meta Ads Manager.
• You have not correctly applied the image templates.
• You have not added the image link fields to the g:additional_image_link mapping.

Preview your ads with the new images in Meta

You can preview a specific ad in Meta by clicking Go to Meta.

Important: When you update your catalog or change variants, changes appear instantly in Channable, but Meta can take a few hours to update your ad previews. This means you may see your new images in Channable but old catalog images in Meta’s previews. The changes are active, and Meta's preview will refresh automatically.

You are now testing your variants! Head over to Meta to monitor the performance of your variant testing ads.