Have you ever heard the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words?”
No matter what your opinion is on the actual validity of that phrase, there’s no denying that various complex ideas can be (and are) conveyed with just a single still image.
Well, a carousel is worth 10 times of that!
So, what is a Facebook Carousel Ad?
The carousel format allows you to show 2-10 images and/or videos with headlines, links and call to action (CTA) buttons in a single ad. That too, at no extra cost!
That’s pretty impressive, right?
The carousel format provides us with spaces as blank canvases, upon which you can craft your creativity. The key is to create innovative advertising masterpieces that your audience will love. A carousel ad gets 10 times higher click-through rate than other ad formats on Facebook.
You may have spotted these ads in your newsfeed.
Here’s how they look on a desktop:
And on a mobile:
Anyone who views the ad can then scroll through the carousel cards by clicking the arrows on a desktop and by swiping on mobile phones or tablets.
Carousel ads are extremely engaging! They are a high-performing feature for your marketing strategy. They can make your product/service stand out from others if you use them well.
Why Carousel Ads?
Carousel ads don’t cost more than single-image ads having the same objective but are highly dynamic, engaging and result oriented. In fact, as per reports, campaigns with carousel ads can result in 20-30% lower cost-per-click compared to single-image ads.
The biggest advantage of a carousel ad is that Facebook provides us with multiple photos that link back to our website. If your goal is to get clicks, these photos can give users multiple opportunities to do so.
However, after reading the below-mentioned factors about carousel ads, you might want to give them a try!
Cost Effective –
Carousel ads are ideal for businesses with a small marketing budget. They are great at attracting customers and, at the same time, cheaper than the usual marketing strategies. Apart from being cheap and effective, carousel ads are easy to monitor, manage and optimize as well. With Facebook’s insight reports, you can track which link in the ad works best and you can optimize it to achieve even higher engagement.
Pro Tip: Facebook also gives you the opportunity to automatically optimize the images in your carousel ads. You can upload a bunch of images/videos and based on performance, Facebook will automatically choose the best one to feature in the ad. Easy, right?
Highly Engaging –
The analysis shows that carousel ads outperform regular ads on Facebook. Through these ads, it’s easier to meet the objective of capturing audience’s interest and attention. There are endless ways to craft carousel ads apart from turning them into catalogs or virtual tours. The best way to use carousel ads, in my opinion, is to showcase your brand’s uniqueness. As per reports, these ads can drive up to 10 times more traffic to your website compared to the static image ads on Facebook.
Versatile –
Carousel ads are extremely versatile and can be used in a number of ways. While many businesses use this type of ad as a way to promote their products, it can also be used to tell stories about your business in a creative way. The beautiful thing is that the ability to create and promote content is limited only by your own imagination. Carousel ads have been used to showcase real estate, service offerings, events and more. Businesses of all domains can use these ads and build brand awareness.
How can you use Carousel Ads?
Here, I’m going to highlight 5 ways businesses can utilize Facebook Carousel Ads –
- Showcase multiple products that link to various pages. Give customers more options to increase engagement and raise your click-through rate.
- Highlight multiple features of a product. Emphasize on product details from different angles to better inform your customers.
- Try storytelling. You can use images and/or videos in succession to illustrate a compelling narrative.
- Explain a process. Give your audience an idea of how your business works step-by-step.
- Present one large image that stretches across the carousel canvas for a unique ad experience.
Pro Tip: Sell the benefits. Use images and/or videos that show the benefits of becoming a customer. Say, your customers’ feedback about your products/services.
Well, the bottom line is: Don’t shy away from carousel ads. It’s inexpensive, efficient, and easy to use!
Conclusion –
Facebook is the most widely used social network, so learning to use all of its most valuable features is always a great idea. Given the advantages of Facebook carousel ads, are you still thinking twice about trying it out for your business?
However, irrespective of the category of your business or industry, you cannot afford to be missing out on Facebook carousel ads!
Got a query about your Facebook ad campaigns? Reach out in the comments below, we’re always happy to help!
Urja Agrawal
