Carousel

A carousel shows several cards side by side, and the customer swipes through them. Each card has its own image or video, its own text and its own buttons, so each can point to a different product.

Use it when you want the customer to choose: a new collection, a category's best-sellers, gift ideas.

How a carousel is built

flowchart TD
    M["Main message text"] --> C1["Card 1<br/>image + text + buttons"]
    M --> C2["Card 2<br/>image + text + buttons"]
    M --> C3["Card 3<br/>image + text + buttons"]
    M --> CN["Up to 10 cards"]

The main text sits above the cards and introduces them, such as "Our summer collection is here. Swipe to see the new styles." Each card then carries one product.

Create one

1. Go to Manage → Template Message and click +New.
2. Choose Marketing as the Template Category.
3. Under Template Type, choose CAROUSEL.
4. Pick the Template Language.
5. Enter a Template Name, such as summer_collection_carousel_v1.
6. Pick the card media type: Image or Video.

7. Write the main message under Template Format.
8. Write the text for each card. Card text is required.

9. Add the buttons under Interactive Actions.

10. Click Submit, then use Sync with WhatsApp to check its status. Approval takes from a minute to a day, like any template.

Card buttons

Every card needs at least one button, and can have two. The combinations allowed:

Call to Action buttons follow the usual rules: at most one URL and one phone number, and phone numbers with the country code and no +. Quick replies on a card can be up to 25 characters, with no emojis. See Template fields.

Use a URL button that ends in a variable, such as your product link followed by the product's handle, so each card links to its own product page. A card that links to your homepage throws away the choice the customer just made.

Send it

When you broadcast a carousel, you attach an image or video to each card. Each card needs its own. See Send a broadcast.

Because the images are attached at send time, one approved carousel template can show a different set of products every time, as long as the text on the cards still fits.

How it is measured

Like any broadcast: delivered, read, replied and failed. See Broadcast performance.

When to use it

Use a carousel for choice. It shines when customers have different tastes and you do not know which product each will want. Let them pick.

Three to five cards is usually enough. Ten is the limit, not the target. Every extra card is one more swipe, so cards further along are seen by fewer people. Put your strongest product first.

Use one kind of product per carousel. "New summer shirts" works. A shirt, a candle and a gift card in one carousel reads like a random page from your store.

Pick a single image for a single product. A carousel with one card does nothing an IMAGE template does not, and takes more setting up. See Media.