Carousel Ads on Facebook

Carousel ads can be a great resource to showcase multiple images (speakers, products, upcoming events, etc.) with detailed information under each image, including headlines, link descriptions, and image specific URLs. For the sake of advertising with LabRoots, there are two types of carousel posts for Facebook: the permanent organic carousel post, on an affiliated LabRoots Facebook page, and the carousel ad, run through Facebook Business Manager.

Organic Carousel Posts

Organic carousel posts are permanent on a given LabRoots Facebook page, containing general post text and 3-10 images, with respective descriptions and URLs. LabRoots has found that engagement for carousel posts (Figure 1) in comparison to a single-image and/or video posts (Figure 2) can be as much as triple the engagement and link clicks. This is likely due to the increased amount of information and the increased time a user spends scrolling through the post images and content.

For LabRoots third-party social media posts, although the reach and engagement were comparable to single-image posts for category LabRoots Facebook pages, link clicks organically increased by close to double (Figure 3). 

Third-party carousel posts on the main LabRoots Facebook page saw an increase in organic reach by one and a half, and much like the category Facebook pages, an increase in link clicks by more than double (Figure 4). 

What’s unique about the carousel post, is that the content can be tailored very specifically for each image within the post, allowing Facebook users to explore products, webinars, and offerings in a more detailed way. 

Sponsored Carousel Ad

Carousel Facebook Ads are run through the Facebook Business Manager, where 3-10 images can be uploaded with general post text, and URLs, headlines, and link descriptions specific to each image. With each third-party social media post with LabRoots, both a permanent post on a LabRoots affiliated Facebook page and a Facebook ad are included. Although the engagement, or likes, comments, and shares, was comparable to single-image Facebook ads, the data collected for the Facebook carousel ads showed an increase in reach and links clicks by a little more than double (Figure 5).

The sponsored carousel Facebook ads also followed the general trend, found with most category Facebook page posts compared to the broad-base LabRoots Facebook page posts, of increased reach, engagement, and link clicks. Figure 6 shows data from a third-party social media post on the LabRoots Facebook page compared to the data in Figure 5, which was posted on the Immunology Facebook page.

Over the past few months, LabRoots has been testing the use of carousel posts and ads for speakers, panels, and virtual event content and each post has shown improved reach, engagement, and link clicks compared to the single-image posts. The carousel posts can be a great option to showcase multiple blog posts, products with descriptions, webinars, speaker lists, and more, with the added benefit of an increase in lead generation.

LabRoots would like to say thank you to Sony and LICOR for allowing us to utilize their post data for this blog post.