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Your products deserve better than just basic feed templates and plain white backgrounds.
We live in a scroll-happy world with the average attention span between just 1.3 and 8 seconds. So what makes someone stop mid-scroll, pay attention, and actually shop often comes down to one key factor: standout catalog ad design and creative.
Strategic catalog ad design can turn what looks like just another product feed into a branded experience that drives real conversions. If your competitors are relying on platform-generated layouts, this is your opportunity.
And the numbers don’t lie: well-designed catalog ads can generate up to 3x more ROAS than generic ones. This isn’t about being pretty for the sake of it, it’s about creating templates that actively convert and drive your brand’s growth.
Let’s start with the basics. A catalog ad is a dynamic ad format that pulls its imagery and information directly from your product feed. Catalog Ads showcase products to the right person at the right time across platforms like Meta, Google, TikTok, Snapchat, and Pinterest.
The format is automated, but the results depend heavily on the creative framework you build around that automation. Great catalog ads don’t just display basic product information, they make each item appear shoppable, and on-brand.
Catalog ads and Dynamic Product Ads (DPAs) are closely related, and the terms are often used interchangeably — especially in Meta’s ad ecosystem. But there’s a meaningful distinction worth understanding.
A catalog ad refers to any ad format that pulls product data from your product catalog. It’s a structured feed that includes your images, prices, descriptions, and more. These ads can be manually curated or automated, depending on your campaign setup. They’re the framework that lets you promote multiple products at scale without manually building individual creatives for each SKU.
A Dynamic Product Ad (DPA), on the other hand, is a specific type of catalog ad. It uses machine learning and real-time behavior to automatically show each user the most relevant products from your catalog. DPAs are personalized by design, often used for retargeting people who browsed your site, abandoned a cart, or interacted with your brand across platforms.
In short: All DPAs are catalog ads, but not all catalog ads are dynamic. In 2025, “catalog ads” has become the more common catch-all term, even when referring to dynamic formats like Meta’s Advantage+ Catalog Ads.
So when we talk about catalog ad design, we’re referring to the visual templates and creative systems that power both static and dynamic versions, ensuring your products look great, perform better, and stay on-brand across every platform.
Automated doesn’t mean hands-off. In fact, the more automated your delivery becomes, the more intentional your design needs to be. By investing in strong catalog ad design, brands create a framework where product information and visual presentation work together to drive conversions, rather than simply presenting inventory.
Using consistent brand elements — like your colors, fonts, and logo — makes your products instantly recognizable, whether they’re in a Facebook carousel or a TikTok vertical.
Well-designed catalog ads are more visually compelling. That means more shoppers stop, click, and convert.
Strong design helps shoppers understand the product. Backgrounds, text overlays, and layout all work together to provide context and eliminate hesitation.
Visuals aren’t just functional, they’re emotional. Shoppers buy off of emotion. Color psychology, image style, and layout hierarchy help spark desire, trust, and urgency.
Each advertising platform has unique specifications and best practices for catalog ads that smart designers must account for. To create scroll-stopping catalog ads, let’s start by dialing in these key design pillars.
Your product should be the star. How do you achieve this? By making sure it’s well-lit, high-resolution, and clearly centered in the frame. Whether it’s shot on white or in context depends on the product, but quality is non-negotiable.
Simple, neutral backgrounds work well for clarity. Gradients or lifestyle scenes add depth and help shoppers imagine the product in use. For seasonal campaigns, rotate backgrounds accordingly: spring vs. holiday, for example.
Logos, brand colors, watermarks, and even patterns or iconography can help reinforce brand identity without overwhelming the product.
Keep it concise. Think: price, short headline, and a clear call-to-action. The key is to make sure it’s readable on any device, especially mobile.
Good layouts use spacing and alignment to guide the eye. Grid systems, whitespace, and visual hierarchy make your ads feel cohesive and intentional.
Designing a single ad and hoping it works across all platforms? That’s a rookie move. Each platform has unique specs, audience behaviors, and ad formats. Let’s make sure your templates are adapted accordingly.
Meta requires designs that work in both feed and Stories formats, with considerations for how images appear in carousel displays. Successful Meta catalog ads often incorporate lifestyle imagery and clear CTAs. Learn more about Meta Advantage Catalog Ads and their specific requirements.
Catalog ads appear across Shopping, Display Network, and YouTube, requiring versatile designs that maintain effectiveness across varied placements and screen sizes.
As a video-first platform, TikTok demands attention-grabbing vertical catalog ad designs that feel native to the platform's energetic, authentic content style. We recommend motion elements and bold visual choices, as they tend to perform better here. Check out our guide to TikTok Catalog Ads provides platform-specific insights.
Catalog ads on Snapchat benefit from playful, interactive design elements that align with the platform's younger audience and immersive format.
Catalog ads perform best with aspirational, visually rich catalog ad designs that blend seamlessly with the platform's discovery-focused browsing experience.
Here at Marpipe, we simplify this complex multi-platform landscape by offering templates optimized for each platform's specifications while maintaining your brand integrity. Our Design Control platform automatically adapts your catalog ad templates to fit each ad platform's requirements without sacrificing quality or consistency.
We’ve talked about some core design elements to give you the lay of the land. And, we’ve talked about platform-specific considerations. Now let’s talk about how to actually bring this all to life. Creating catalog ads that drive results requires attention to several critical design elements:
Before you even think about design, your product feed needs to be solid. You want to ensure your product feed contains high-quality assets:
Bad input = bad output. Marpipe’s feed optimization tools can help you catch issues before they tank your campaign.
Instead of reinventing the wheel every time, create a flexible design framework that can accommodate your entire product range.
This creates consistency while allowing for variation.
Adapt your core design system for each advertising platform:
With Marpipe's template builder, you can create platform-optimized designs in minutes rather than hours, maintaining brand consistency while respecting each platform's unique environment.
Make your designs responsive to product attributes and campaign goals:
Take your catalog ads to the next level with these professional design strategies:
Use your layout and background choices to direct attention to your products.
Rotate design accents like background colors, promo overlays, and text styles each quarter.
Tailor designs for different geographic markets while maintaining brand integrity.
Even the strongest creative can be sharpened. With Marpipe, you can build a rule-based design system that not only looks good, but actually performs because it’s grounded in what truly drives results.
Instead of random creative swaps, Marpipe helps you make intentional design decisions:
This kind of design testing creates a feedback loop where every tweak is purposeful and backed by performance.
Marpipe Optimizations helps you double down on your best-performing products. You don’t have to waste ad spend on items with low AOV or poor conversion rates. Instead:
It’s not just about testing creative. It’s about pairing great design with smart distribution, so the right look is matched to the right product, every time.
Look beyond overall campaign metrics to understand design impact:
By connecting design decisions to performance metrics, you build a data-driven design system that continuously improves.
Use testing insights to evolve your catalog ad designs:
After looking at thousands of catalog ads and fine tuning our own product offerings. We’ve noticed some common themes when it comes to design mistakes. Here’s what we recommend you avoid when designing and creating your catalog ads:
Effective catalog ad design combines art and science—blending visual appeal with strategic product presentation to drive engagement and conversions. While connecting your product feed to advertising platforms is the first step, creating thoughtfully designed templates that showcase your products in their best light is what separates high-performing campaigns from the rest.
With Marpipe's catalog ad design tools, you can create professional, platform-optimized templates in minutes rather than hours or days. Our platform enables you to:
💡 Ready to transform your catalog ads from basic product feeds to conversion-driving brand assets? Sign up for Marpipe today and start creating catalog ads that don't just display products, they sell them.
