In digital marketing, a carousel ad is a type of presentation for scrolling through multiple images and/or videos. This presentation is often launched when the user hovers over the mouse.
Carousel ads are one of the components of human-machine interaction (HMI), with the aim of presenting elements in scrolling form.
It’s possible to find carousel ads that scroll when the user hovers over them with the mouse: this action is called rollover.
A carousel ad can also be set up to automatically scroll through various products and visuals. This type of presentation is widely used in ecommerce and all aspects of online business.
Very often, this type of digital presentation is used in advertising campaigns based on retargeting.
With retargeting, the advertising campaign follows web users through their visits and purchase history to target potential buyers with pre-configured profiles. The aim is then to target an audience of consumers interested in specific products but who have not yet placed an order.
The carousel will then display the image of the products consulted or similar products, taken from web pages visited by the targeted internet user, or even products added to an unfinalized shopping cart. The goal of these product carousel ads is to convert internet users into customers by encouraging them to buy through attractive image or video slides, also referred to as cards.
Product carousels are a kind of translation of store windows and other store shelves: thanks to a fun action performed by the user on the websites by sliding through the various visuals virtually, the potential customer will display the ads one after the other in a fluid fashion.
Carousel ads are as much a marketing tool as they are an issue of user experience. The key for retailers is to create and set up ads on their website so that each card displaying products or other visuals shown in the carousels is presented in the best possible way, encouraging the viewer to click.
This format is also frequently found on social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram, whether as part of an ad or in an organic post.
