Carousel Ads on Facebook are like merry-go-rounds at amusement parks. Visitors have fun while the owner gets their profit. Everyone’s satisfied. Naturally, managing in an amusement park is a far cry from Facebook marketing.

What Are Facebook Carousel Ads?

In June 2014, Facebook transformed an existing slideshow format into Multi-Product Ads, which they later renamed Carousel Ads. The trick with this format is that you can show up to ten videos and images plus text, links, and call-to-action buttons in one ad.

That’s right. Ten separate ads for the cost of one.

Why use Facebook Carousel Ads? There are a few reasons. With Carousel Ads, you can:

• Demonstrate different products. Drive leads to separate product pages using separate carousel cards.
• Highlight the features of one product. Showcase a product from every angle.
• Engage users with a story. Add images and videos in a row to come up with an interesting narration.
• Give a step-by-step tour. Guide users through any process concerning your product or service.
• Exhibit a large canvas. Divide one wide image (like a panoramic photo) into several scenes.
• Display the advantages. Show why it’s worth it to become your customer.

It’s not hard to find a use for Carousel Ads. Just think why your business, project, or company is unique and stress this uniqueness using a Carousel.

Note: Carousel Ads support the following ad objectives: Brand Awareness, Reach, Traffic, App Installs, Lead Generation, Messages, Conversions, Catalog Sales, and Store Visits.

Facebook Carousel Ad Sizing and Specs

We’ve created a chart of design specifications and sizing that compares the main differences between Facebook photo Carousel and video Carousel Ads.

	Video	Image
File types	3G2, 3GP, 3GPP, ASF, AVI DAT, DIVX, DV, F4V, FLV, GIF M2TS, M4V, MKV, MOD, MOV, MP4 MPE, MPEG, MPEG4, MPG, MTS NSV, OGM, OGV, QT, TOD, TS, VOB, WMV	JPG or PNG
Minimum file size	4GB	30MB
Text	125 characters Up to 2200 characters for Instagram Up to 30 hashtags for Instagram	125 characters Up to 2200 characters for Instagram Up to 30 hashtags for Instagram
Headline	40 characters	25 characters
Link description	25 characters	25 characters
Recommended resolution	At least 1080x1080 pixels 1080x1920 pixels for Stories	At least 1080x1080 pixels 1080x1920 pixels for Stories
Recommended aspect ratio	1:1 9:16 for Stories	1:1 9:16 for Stories
Aspect ratio tolerance	3% for Facebook 1% for Instagram	3% for Facebook 1% for Instagram
Length	Up to 240 minutes Up to 60 seconds for Instagram Feed Up to 15 seconds for Stories	—

Note: The Carousel format supports the following ad placements: Facebook Feed, Facebook Right Column, Facebook Instant Articles, Facebook Marketplace, Instagram Stories, Instagram Feed, Audience Network Native, Banner and Interstitial, and Messenger Box.

Guide to Creating Carousel Ads on Facebook

If you’ve never created a Facebook Carousel Ad template, we recommend you do this via Creative Hub. This user-friendly platform has already helped thousands of Facebook advertisers with no professional design experience to create professional ads using multiple creative tools and apps.

Why Creative Hub? Because you can save your mockup, see how it looks on a smartphone, and only then publish it online once you’re sure it looks good.

Already have the knack for creating Carousel Ads? There are two ways you can launch them.

From Your Page

Follow these twelve steps to create Carousel Ads from your Facebook Page:

1. Click Promote on your Page.
2. Select Get More Website Visitors.
3. Click Edit in the top right corner of Ad Creative.
4. Type in your ad URL.
5. Enter your ad text.
6. Click the + button to add carousel cards.
7. Choose how many cards you want to add.
8. If you want to add images from your computer, click Upload. If you want to choose from uploaded images, click Select Image.
9. Enter headlines for your cards.
10. Click Save.
11. Enter information about your audience, budget and duration, and payment to complete the ad.
12. Click Promote.

From Your Ads Manager

Here’s the same process but through Ads Manager:

1. Open Ads Manager.
2. Click + Create.
3. Choose your ad objective. (We’ve already mentioned the objectives that Carousel Ads support.)
4. Select Carousel at the ad level.
5. Click on a card number to upload it and enter all details for your card.
6. Repeat the previous step to add as many cards as you need.

Facebook Carousel Ads Best Practices

Here are some tips and tricks that will help you to convert leads into customers and increase your ROI using Carousel Ads on Facebook.

Take Advantage of All Ad Elements

Aside from visual content, keep in mind that you can write an appealing headline, add a catchy text description, and pick a call-to-action button that converts to make your ad more engaging.

Think Like a Designer

Place your cards so they fit each other visually. For example, add images with a similar color palette, photos taken on the same photo shoot, or videos from the same series.

Display The Best Slides First

Experiment with the cards in your ad, find out which are most effective, and place the best-performing cards first.

Test The Performance of Your Carousels

To find out the effectiveness of your Carousel Ads, compare two ad sets in one campaign. The first ad set should contain up to five ads with different content in the same ad format. The second ad set should contain these same five ads but in the Carousel format. Make sure both ad sets have identical parameters, including targeting and bidding. After the campaign's end, create a report and analyze the results.

Consider Where to Drive Your Leads

Each Facebook Carousel Ad has its own link. You can choose between linking a card to a single product (for example, if you work for a big company) or connecting a card to a page with a lot of products (for example, if you run a small or medium-sized business).

Best Facebook Carousel Ad Examples

Now it’s time for inspiration. Below are some of the best Facebook Carousel Ads launched both by world-famous companies and small projects. Enjoy!

Criminal Case

Criminal Case is a detective game originally developed for Facebook and later adapted for iOS and Android. The goal of the game is to find objects. In this example, you’re asked to find a hairdryer.

Of course, it takes less than two minutes to find it, but this ad from Criminal Case is really stunning. Not because of the complete mess in the bathroom but because of how the ad was produced.

The ad contains three cards that tell a single story and lead to the download link on the App Store. The ad received over 2,000 impressions and over 200 shares.

Carte Noire France

This ad, made by one of the world’s most famous coffee brands, is one of the best examples of video Carousel Ads on Facebook. The video novel consists of three parts, each less than ten seconds long. By means of a short story, Carte Noire demonstrates its new product collection.

Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola has launched hundreds of diverse marketing campaigns over the years. In 2015, one of them was devoted to promoting a GIF creation service called GIFthefeeling.com. Unfortunately, the website isn’t available today, but we’ll remember it thanks to the Facebook ad you see below.

To promote their GIF service, Coca-Cola resorted to a trick. Since Facebook Carousel Ads don’t support GIFs, the company published them in the form of videos. The ad includes five cheerful cards to inspire creators who like one of the most consumed beverages in the world.

Spotify

Spotify created one of its ads in an even more creative way than Coca-Cola. They took the five most popular Beatles albums, animated them, and then launched them as one of the most unusual Facebook video Carousel Ads. Why not directly upload images?

Because the result turned out to be amazing. We bet the fans who waited for a long time for the entire Beatles discography to appear on Spotify were pleased with this Facebook post.

Mad Max

Mad Max is probably the world’s most popular post-apocalyptic movie ever. Released in 2015, Mad Max: Fury Road became the fourth film in the franchise and collected over $370 million around the world.

If you take a look at the movie’s official Facebook Page, you’ll see many posts that promote it. One of them is a Carousel Ad with four image cards dedicated to the release of four editions — Blu-ray, 3D Blu-ray, a four-disc anthology, and DVD.

Verizon

Today, every internet user has their own needs. Some play video games, some work online, some spend their time on social media. In every case, the number of gigabytes used is different. That’s why Verizon compared its plans with dog breeds to help their customers find the ideal size.

Have Fun With Your Carousels

That’s it. We hope you now know how to make the most attractive and effective Carousel Ads. We’ve told you everything about Facebook Carousel Ad specs, shared best practices, and shown examples of a few great ads.

If you plan to create Carousel video ads, you can test our artificial intelligence for your Facebook Carousel right now.