Working with Feed

In this article, we'll walk you through using the Feed to create hundreds of ad variations in Ad Studio.

Before diving in, we'd like to encourage you to try out our provided feed samples to kick-start your journey, which you can find when accessing the Feed from the left sidebar. The feed samples are a practical demonstration, allowing you to understand the ideal content structure better.

If you're working with Google Sheets to create your feeds, you can use this article as a guide on obtaining a CSV file that can be used in Creatopy.

Add your Feed Content in Creatopy

1. Head over to the left sidebar and click on Feed.
2. Select Create feed.
3. Click Import content.
4. A pop-up window opens where you can select how you'd like to load your feed source into Creatopy.
   • Upload file. Upload a CSV file from your local storage¹.
   • Sync from URL. Input the URL of your CSV¹.
5. Adjust Feed settings.
   • Sync Feed content. Set the frequency for updating your feed content.
   • List separator type. Set the separator type for your file.
   • Target ID. If you set up target IDs in your file, select the appropriate column from the dropdown menu. Otherwise, use the Row index option².
6. Click Import content.
7. You will have a preview of the feed content where you can:
   • Rename your feed.
   • View the contents of your feed.
   • Adjust feed Settings.
8. Clicking Apply feed will open a Quick connect window, from where you can:
   
   • Bind your feed content with your design.
   • Choose to do it manually from the Properties bar, which is covered in the next step.

Bind the Layer Property to the Feed Variable

How to Bind a Property with a Variable

1. Select the layer from your design.
2. Head over to the Properties bar.
3. Click the  Diamond icon to connect a layer property to your feed's variables.

Connectable Properties

The connectable properties vary depending on the selected layer. Below, we've compiled a list that outlines the available properties for each layer type, including the main default property and secondary ones. 

Important: When working with text layers, you can bind up to three tags to its content property. Each tag can be selected and formatted individually, allowing for more dynamic variations.

The text height formatting includes Auto height and Fixed height options. The Fixed height option allows you to customize the overflow behavior, choosing between Ellipsis or Shrink text.

Additionally, crop settings are unavailable when working with image layers linked to your feed.

Make Changes to Your Feed

Double-clicking on a bounded layer will open a panel from which you can adjust the feed's contents. The same result can be achieved by selecting Open feed panel from Feed settings.

Preview your Ad Variations

Once you've connected your feed content with the design, you can preview the ad variations from the top right side of the stage.

Export your Ad Variations

When you're done setting up, you can export your ad variations. Just be aware that exporting ad variations uses the export credits allocated to your subscription plan.

1. Head over to the top right of the screen and click Download.
2. Select your preferred format.
3. No matter what format⁵ you select, you will find a dropdown menu under the Feed Rows section where you can select to export:
   • All rows.
   • Current Row.
   • Specific Rows. (e.g., if your feed has 6 rows, you can select to export all rows, except the 2nd one)
4. Click Download.

Important: You can't delete a feed linked to a design(s).

Note¹: The upload limit for a local CSV file is 2 MB, and for a URL file, the limit is 5MB.

Note²: You can use IDs of less than 100 characters once the feed content is set up.

Note³: The position and size properties are only available when working with a single size or in focus mode.

Note⁴: As a best practice, we recommend using images with a file size of less than 5MB for faster loading. When using Ad Serving to deliver your ad variations, the recommended file size is under 500KB, so your ads can load as fast as possible.

Note⁵: Using the ClickTag option on your HTML5 exports allows you to bind the URL from your feed.