A Match Made in Heaven: Amplify Your ROAS with the Perfect Catalog Match Rate!

Hey there

Hi, and welcome back to The ADvantage Newsletter – your go-to resource for mastering e-commerce ad strategies that give you an unfair advantage over the competition.

We’ve seen countless product catalogs from various brands and services, and one of the most common issues is a Low Match Rate. This problem often leads to underperforming catalog ads and lower Return on Ad Spend (ROAS). If your ads aren’t delivering the results you expect, it’s likely that your Match Rate isn’t high enough to allow Meta to optimize ad delivery effectively.

In this newsletter, we’ll break down why Match Rate is critical for your Meta ads and how you can troubleshoot, view, and improve it to ensure your ads deliver the best possible performance.

What is Match Rate and Why Does It Matter?

Match Rate is the percentage of product content IDs received via Meta pixel events (on your website or app) that match the products in your connected catalog. A high Match Rate ensures Meta can effectively target your ads by matching customer interactions with the correct products.

If your Match Rate falls below 90%, Meta may struggle to link the interactions your customers are having with products to the items in your catalog. As a result, Meta may not be able to display the right ads, and you could experience lower ROAS​.

How Match Rate is Calculated

The formula to calculate your catalog Match Rate is:

Match Rate = (Number of content IDs matched in catalog) ÷ (Total number of content IDs received via events)

For example, if your pixel logs 100 content IDs and 90 of them match the items in your catalog, your Match Rate is 90%. However, if the same pixel is connected to multiple catalogs, the Match Rate may be split, lowering your overall percentage and potentially hurting your ad performance​.

Example:

• Pixel logs 100 content IDs.

• 50 IDs match items in Catalog 1, and 40 IDs match items in Catalog 2.

• The Match Rate for Catalog 1 is 50%, even though the overall Match Rate is 90% across both catalogs​.

That’s why Meta recommends using a single catalog (preferably a full-shop catalog) to prevent Match Rate from being split across multiple catalogs

How Match Rate is Used

Match Rate plays a crucial role in how well your Meta Advantage+ catalog ads perform. When the Match Rate is high, Meta can better match customer interactions with products in your catalog, making those items available for targeting. A low Match Rate, on the other hand, limits the products that can be targeted, reducing ad effectiveness and performance.

Common Reasons for Low Match Rate

Poor catalog health is often the root cause of a low Match Rate. Here are some of the most frequent reasons this happens:

1. Mismatched Content IDs: The content IDs logged via Meta pixel events must exactly match the corresponding Item Group IDs in your catalog. Mismatched IDs can prevent Meta from serving the right products to the right users.

2. Disconnected Pixel: If the pixel on your website is not connected to the same pixel within your catalog’s Events tab, Meta will not be able to track user interactions effectively​.

3. Incomplete Product Catalog: If some of your products aren’t included in your catalog, they won’t be eligible for ads targeting​.

How to View Your Catalog Match Rate?

Here’s how you can check your catalog Match Rate to assess whether your ads are set up for success:

1. Go to Commerce Manager and select your catalog.

2. Navigate to the Catalog Tab and select Events.

3. Choose your pixel or app SDK to view detailed insights about its Match Rate.

4. Go to Catalog match rate to see the overall match rate percentage for this catalog across all relevant events measured by this pixel or SDK. Below, you can also view the match rate for specific events, such as views, adds to cart or purchases.

5. If this pixel or SDK is connected to multiple catalogs, you may also see an additional match rate percentage on the right-hand side. This is the match rate calculated across all catalogs connected to the pixel or SDK. Having multiple catalogs connected to the same pixel or SDK may split the match rate, resulting in a lower match rate per individual catalog that may negatively impact your ad performance.

How to Troubleshoot Common Issues

When viewing your Match Rate in Commerce Manager, Meta provides insights into potential issues:

1. Critical Issues and Warnings: Meta lists any issues affecting your Match Rate in the Critical issues and Warnings section. By clicking on each issue, you can learn more about it and access troubleshooting tips​.

2. Download Issues Report: You can download an issue report from Commerce Manager, containing samples of each issue. Share this report with your developer or team to fix any problems.

Recommendations for Improving Match Rate

Here are some key recommendations to ensure your Match Rate stays above 90%:

1. Use One Catalog: Meta recommends using a single catalog (preferably a full-shop catalog) to prevent Match Rate from being split across multiple catalogs​.

2. Check Content IDs: Make sure that the Content IDs in your Meta pixel match the IDs in your product catalog exactly. Mismatched or incorrectly formatted IDs will lower your Match Rate​.

3. Verify Pixel Setup: Ensure that your pixel is correctly installed and connected to the same catalog in your Commerce Manager. Check that all standard events like ViewContent, AddToCart, and Purchase are being properly tracked​.

4. Fix Missing Products: Ensure that every item you want to advertise is present in your catalog. If items are missing, they won’t be included in targeting​.

Final words

A high Match Rate is crucial to optimizing your Meta ads for better performance. By keeping your product catalog in good health and following the steps outlined above, you can ensure that Meta targets the right products to the right audience, improving your ROAS. 

To learn more about how RetainIQ can improve your catalog ads, book a no-obligation 30-mins free demo!

Cheers to impactful Catalog Ads!