The ultimate guide for additional images in Catalog Ads

Who said you could only have one product image in your Catalog Ads?

Well, it definitely wasn't us...

Not only is it possible to add multiple pictures into one creative, it's also a great way to provide more details and context to the viewers.

Here's how showing additional images on average influence Catalog Ads:

You almost certainly have multiple pictures of your products on the webshop, and it's no surprise that you can also add them into your feed and use them for advertising.

However, by default, without using any third-party software, Facebook only lets you show one image at a time.

But if you want to show multiple images in just one creative - you'll need the right tool for the job.

And in addition to the visual benefit, we also found in our dataset that Catalog Ads using additional images have a 10% higher Click-through rate on average!

Sure... you could just use Photoshop, but do you really want to spend days creating and downloading hundreds of individual designs?

Showing additional images in Catalog Ads

Including more than one product image in your designs allows you to show off the item from multiple angles, or in multiple contexts.

This is especially useful if it's important to include what the product looks like from multiple sides, for example if the shirt you're selling has a print on the back, or if you want to zoom in on a detail to show off the craftsmanship.

We also found the following when showing additional images:

• 1% lower ROAS
• 4% lower Cost per action
• 2% higher Cost per click
• 7% lower on-site Conversion rate

Different ways to use additional images

There's a couple reasons why you might want to use additional images, ranging from customer-focused reasoning to purely practical purposes.

So let's jump right into it.

Show product details

This first option is the most common use case for additional images.

As we already mentioned, you might want to show the item from different angles.

Additionally, seeing the item multiple times makes it seem more important through repetition. This makes it well-suited for mid-range to high-end brands that take great pride even in the smaller aspects of their products.

When you introduce your products for consumers for the first time, you should not reveal too much information about the product. Don’t overwhelm a curios consumer with too many details - you can always do this later.

Additional images of the product is adding more details, in a visual way - and what we see, is that the lower in your funnel the consumer is, the better additional images work.

• Top-funnel ads see a +7% improvement in Return on Ad Spend when showing additional images
• Bottom-funnel ads see a +33% improvement in Return on Ad Spend when showing additional images

A tiny tag on the back of a baseball cap might not seem important, but it shows the buyer that your brand pays attention to every detail - making your offerings seem more premium.

Combine packshots with lifestyle photos

Some buyers want to see the item by itself, some want to see it being used - why not do both?

Also adding a model photograph, or the product placed in a relevant environment, alongside your packshot (plain background product image) can help create more context and relevance around your products.

If you're for example selling clothes for surfers, adding an additional image of a model holding a surfboard on a beautiful beach can show off your brand image, and position you as the perfect fit for their lifestyle.

There's a saying in marketing: "People don't want a drill, they want a hole in their wall".

Similarly, people don't really want clothes... they want to look good in them - and adding images of the items being worn is a good way to show how your products really look.

But don't think it stops at fashion. Think of furniture in a cozy room, a collar on a cute puppy, or a speaker being used by a group of friends - all good examples of the product having more emotional appeal in the right context.

Avoid cropping on vertical images

Let's say your images have a vertical orientation. What are your options?

In Facebook, you have three of them: Fill the frame and slice off a part of the image, stretch the image, or fit the image into the frame and have ugly white space on the sides - not optimal, right?

But with additional images, you can place two of them side by side without affecting the picture's composition.

After all, you didn't hire the models just for Facebook to randomly trim the image mid-way through their face.

How to add additional images to your Catalog Ads

Here at Confect, it's our mission to make it as simple as possible to reach higher performance through improved designs for Catalog Ads.

Want to start using additional images in your creatives? It takes just a few easy steps.

1. Create a new design in Confect

2. Add shape

3. Change "Color type" to "Additional Image"

4. Position it in the design

5. Voila!

Read about how to create designs - or learn how to work with additional images here.

If you want all the data and insights we have about designing Catalog Ads, based on billions of impressions, you can see it right here.