How overlays update themselves

What overlays can do#

Overlays render price, strikethrough, badge, rating and delivery treatments over catalogue images at serve time, updating as feed values change. Sale flags, bestseller marks and free delivery notes arrive without re-exporting creative. Meta own catalogue ads guide lists the current overlay options per format.

Use overlays for facts that change: prices, ratings, stock badges. Keep brand marks and lifestyle polish in the base image where designers control them. Start at the Meta Ads hub, then see catalogue ads for where overlays meet the auction.

Preview overlays on real product images, not on blank templates. Busy photography swallows badges that looked crisp in the builder. Product sets decide which items earn which badge.

Design base images for overlays#

Leave clear space where overlays land: quiet corners, soft backgrounds, no critical detail under price or badge zones. Shoot pack shots with overlay-safe margins and keep faces, logos and claims clear of the stamp area. Consistency across the range matters more than any single hero.

Keep base image contrast steady so automatic text stays legible on light and dark photography alike. Test the palest and darkest items in the set before approving a template. Feed creative covers the photography base.

Export base images at full catalogue resolution; overlays cannot rescue soft or noisy sources. Ratios guide maps the crops overlays must survive.

Prices and sale badges#

Show current price with prior price only where the feed holds both values honestly. False was-prices destroy trust faster than any discount builds it. Schedule badge removal for the morning after the sale ends, with an owner and an alarm, not a memory. Stale badges teach shoppers to distrust every later flag.

Localise price formatting, currency and delivery wording per country feed rather than translating at the end. Multi-country feeds carry the localisation logic, and feed health catches the mismatches.

Confirm sale prices match landing pages exactly, including tax and delivery logic. Meta carousel and placement specs show how prices render per surface.

Ratings and social proof#

Rating overlays pull review scores and counts where the feed supplies them, so invest in review collection before expecting the badge to carry weight. Thin or dated reviews undercut the products they decorate. Show counts alongside scores where shoppers compare, since a lone five star rating persuades nobody.

Keep review sources consistent across shop, feed and ads. Split sources produce split scores and curious shoppers notice. Collections UX answers objections the overlay starts.

Retire proof overlays on reformulated or replaced products; inherited stars mislead and invite refunds. Honest resets beat borrowed glory.

Localise per market#

Build one overlay template per language and market, with native speakers writing badge copy rather than translators reviewing it. Idioms die in transit and politeness norms differ. Word length changes break layouts, so preview the longest translations before launch. Multi-country catalogues show the structure.

Separate festive and trading calendars per market: sale seasons rarely align across borders. Seasonal planning keeps badges believed in every market.

Check regulatory wording for price claims per market before scaling. Was-price rules differ and fines exceed any campaign gain.

Calendar discipline#

Tie every overlay to the trading calendar: launch, sale, clearance and full price each get dated templates with owners. Review overlays in the same meeting that sets prices, never as an afterthought. Archive expired templates so nobody resurrects last season by accident.

Read overlay impact on click through by product set before judging revenue; overlays earn the tap, offers earn the order. Test rules keep reads clean, and catalogue creative goes beyond the stamp.

Ask for a pre-peak overlay review when the season pays salaries. Our team checks templates against trading dates.

Frequently asked questions#