TikTok Carousel Ads: Guide to the new TikTok advertising format

Popular for its short video format, a few months ago TikTok introduced a novelty to its platform: the image format. Previously more present on Facebook and Instagram, this format has flourished thanks to the use of a multi-image carousel on these social networks, particularly for advertising, where it has massively seduced their audience. By repurposing this attractive format, TikTok has enabled its user base to concoct captivating visuals to captivate their audience, with some publications even exceeding tens of millions of views.

Following its dazzling success, TikTok has introduced an effective new advertising tool: TikTok Carousel Ads . This tool offers companies the opportunity to design more impactful visual campaigns that effectively target their audience. What's more, it's an excellent way of reusing generated content on other platforms, while offering audiences an enhanced shopping experience.

If your brand is considering incorporating this advertising format into its upcoming campaign strategies, then it's important to know its specifics. 😎

Carousel Ads TikTok: what is it?

TikTok Carousel Ads are multi-image ads that integrate seamlessly with the platform's users' News Feed. In detail, this ad format allows advertisers to share between 2 and 10 images, while associating each image with a specific caption, all grouped together in a single ad.

Advertisers have the freedom to choose whether to display their Carousel Ads occupying a portion of the screen, or using its full height and width. In addition, a soundtrack or music can be added to the carousel to give the ad extra liveliness. The ad will also contain a brief description, where the insertion of a CTA (Call To Action) can prove effective.

Technical characteristics of carousel advertising :

Like every TikTok Ads format, your carousels must meet certain technical specifications. 

• Campaign objectives: Traffic, Conversion, Application download
• Number of images: from 2 to 35 ;
• Accepted formats: .jpg, .jpeg, .png ;
• Image resolutions: 1200x628px (horizontal image), 640x640px (square image), 720x1080px (vertical image) ; 
• Maximum image size: up to 100 MB ; 
• For optimum display of content, text should be between 12 and 40 characters long. Longer text may be displayed incorrectly or incompletely. 
• Emojis are not supported in Carousel Ads TikTok ;

Note: Access to the TikTok Carousel Ads format is not available to all brands; only a few agencies specializing in TikTok advertising, such as Sleeq, are able to use this new ad format on the platform.

What are the advantages of TikTok Carousel Ads?

The Carousel Ads format on TikTok offers multiple advantages that can boost your brand's performance. Not only does it minimize your advertising spend by reusing existing content, but also to present your products effectively, which can boost your sales via TikTok.

Improved product presentation

Visual storytelling is essential to effective branding. By choosing and arranging images and captions wisely, brands can build a story that resonates with their target audience, encouraging engagement and improving brand recognition. Using TikTok Carousel Ads can certainly help brands stand out in a stream of videos, while highlighting the unique aspects of their campaign.

A conversion lever to boost sales 

You can even use the carousel to display multiple products and turn it into an online catalog . In its latest TikTok campaign, for example, Sephora used the carousel to present all the shades of its new lipstick.

What's more, integrating interactive elements such as CTA buttons, links to your product pages or promotional banners can simplify the buying journey for consumers.

This makes it a particularly effective format for improving your conversion rate and and boost your sales. Carousel Ads can also be very effective for your retargeting campaigns. You can target users who have already viewed a product on your site, or who have abandoned their shopping cart. You can reach them again with personalized ads, highlighting the benefits of these items or presenting complementary products.

The carousel format also enables you to collect very precise data on consumer preferences. You can collect more user signals and understand which images and products appeal most to platform users.

Lower advertising production costs

Creating video ads on TikTok can be a costly process for brands, but the creative aspect has a considerable impact on the performance of your campaigns.

The introduction of Carousel Ads enables your company to reduce production costs by using images (rather than videos), which are generally less expensive to produce.

TikTok Carousel Ads also let you reuse existing content from other platforms (such as Instagram, Pinterest or Snapchat). You can easily adapt this content to the new format, ensuring greater visual consistency across all your communication channels.

How do I create a Carousel Ads TikTok ad?

Ready to launch your first Carousel Ads on TikTok? Here are the steps to follow:

1. Go to your TikTok Ads account and click on the "Campaigns" tab.
2. Choose from 3 objectives: traffic, conversion or application installation.
3. Select the "Ad groups" tab and create a new carousel. 
4. Add your creations, including any images or videos you'd like to include in your carousel.
5. Fill in the editable fields for each image: text, website URL and TikTok deeplink. 
6. Write your ad text, then choose your call to action. 
7. Define your ad's targeting options, including audience characteristics, location, budget, etc. 
8. Preview your ad to make sure it is displayed correctly;
9. Click on "Submit" to have your ad validated by the platform before publication. 

Our tips for launching successful TikTok Carousel Ads

To maximize the performance of your Carousel Ads TikTok campaigns, it's crucial to make the most of this format and its advantages. Here are a few tips for optimizing your ads:

• Take care with your visuals and make sure they highlight the unique features of your products.
• Create unique, striking captions that provide additional information about your products and encourage users to keep scrolling.
• Include a clear call-to-action (CTA) in your ad, whether it's to direct users to your online store, download your app, make a purchase, etc.
• Test and optimize your campaigns to determine which elements (image, caption, CTA) work best.

TikTok Carousel Ads is an innovative advertising format that enables your brand to present its products in a more engaging way and effectively increase its conversion rate on the platform. However, please note that this format is currently only available in beta, and your brand will only be able to experience the potential of Carousel Ads by teaming up with a TikTok partner agency.

Sleeq is here to help you produce your creations and optimize your TikTok Carousel Ads. To find out more, don't hesitate to contact our experts!