This article covers pixel and catalog requirements to use Dynamic Ads for Real Estate (also known as DARE).
1. Changes required to Facebook Pixel and App SDK
If you want to use Dynamic Ads for Real Estate, the following standard events are required:
| Pixel event | App SDK event | Description |
|---|---|---|
Search |
fb_mobile_search |
when someone has searched your platform for home listings |
ViewContent |
fb_mobile_content_view |
when someone has viewed a specific listing |
InitiateCheckout |
fb_mobile_initiated_checkout |
when someone saved, liked or showed special interest in a listing |
Purchase |
fb_mobile_purchase |
when someone has contacted an agent about a listing |
It is furthermore recommended to send real estate-specific event parameters. The up-to-date list of required and recommended parameters for home listings can be found from Facebook’s documentation. The more parameters are provided, the better the Facebook’s recommendations in ads will be.
1.1. Migration from DPA & DAT to DARE
If you’re currently running DPA or DAT and wish to migrate to DARE, it’s recommended to modify your existing pixel to include both DPA/DAT and DARE parameters. This allows you to run DPA/DAT and DARE simultaneously.
DPA and DAT events have an overlapping parameter, content_type where
- DPA uses
productorproduct_group - DAT uses
hotel,flightordestination - DARE uses
home_listings
Instead of passing just one value, an array of both, e.g. content_type= ["product", "home_listings"], should be used.
2. Event source groups
In Dynamic Ads for Real Estate Facebook uses Event Source Groups to capture intentions and to create a dynamic audience. Event Source Groups are created in Facebook Business Manager or in Smartly.io Business settings. You need to connect one or more pixels and/or mobile app to an Event Source Group to start capturing the travel signals.
You need to be a Business Manager Admin to create Event Source Groups. If you have created Event source groups or used Dynamic Ads for Real Estate before starting with Smartly.io you can use your existing Groups and have your dynamic audiences ready. You need to also select which ad accounts can use a given Group.
3. Catalog requirements
Smartly.io’s feed format support is wider than Facebook’s. You can use various different XML, CSV, TSV and JSON feeds. If you have an existing feed, it’s likely that Smartly.io can automatically convert it to the format required by Facebook.
The up-to-date list of required and recommended fields for a real estate listing feed can be found from Facebook’s documentation. You can ignore the feed format and the field names – the only thing that matters is that your feed has all the information required by Facebook.
Please note: Certain values for attributes (=product fields) are case senstitive. E.g.: The values of property_type have to be written in lower cases and exactly as mentioned in the Facebook documentation. Otherwise, it will not be accepted by Facebook and produce errors.