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WhatsApp carousel ads and video ads are Click-to-WhatsApp ads on Facebook and Instagram that show several swipeable cards, or a video, instead of a single picture. Every card and every video ends the same way: a button that opens a WhatsApp chat with your business. This guide gives Meta’s sizes and limits for each format, explains how to fill a carousel from your product catalog, says what is not possible, and shows how to make them in Fliok.
What are WhatsApp ads?
When people say WhatsApp ads, they usually mean Click-to-WhatsApp ads: ads that appear on Facebook and Instagram, whose button opens a chat with your business on WhatsApp. That is what this guide covers. WhatsApp also has carousel template messages, which a business sends inside a chat; those are templates, not ads, and they follow WhatsApp’s template rules rather than Meta’s ad rules.
A Click-to-WhatsApp ad can be one of three formats:
- A single image, the simplest.
- A video, which shows the product in use, the shop, or someone explaining the offer.
- A carousel of cards people swipe through, each with its own picture or video and headline.
WhatsApp carousel ads size and limits
Meta checks every picture and video against its media requirements, and refuses an ad whose files do not meet them (Meta: Instagram ads media requirements). Because these ads can show on Instagram, Instagram’s rules are the ones to meet:
| Carousel | Limit |
|---|---|
| Cards | 2 to 10 |
| Image card | Square, at least 600 × 600 pixels |
| Video card | Square, at least 600 pixels on each side, up to 60 seconds |
| Headline shown | About 35 characters before it is cut off |
| Description shown | About 30 characters before it is cut off |
A square image of 1080 × 1080 pixels clears the minimum comfortably. Put the words that matter at the start of a headline, since anything after the first 35 or so characters may not be seen.
WhatsApp video ads: length, shape and file
| Video | Limit |
|---|---|
| Length | 3 to 60 seconds |
| Width | At least 600 pixels |
| Shape | Square (1:1), portrait (4:5), or landscape up to 1.91:1 |
| File size | Up to 100 MB in Fliok (Meta’s own ceiling is 2.3 GB) |
| File type in Fliok | MP4 or MOV |
Videos are not cropped to fit, so a tall 9:16 phone video is outside the shapes these ads accept. Export it as 4:5 or square. Image ads made in Fliok take files up to 8 MB.
Ideas that suit each format
None of these is a rule; they are simply what each format is good at.
- Carousel: one product per card (sizes, colours, packages), a before-and-after sequence, or steps of a service. Make the first card make sense on its own, because many people never swipe.
- Video: show the product in someone’s hands, the inside of your shop, or a short answer to the question customers ask most. Many people watch with the sound off, so put the key words on screen.
- For both: write the first message the customer sends so it tells you which card or offer they saw, for example “Hi, I’d like the price of the 2 kg cake”.
Carousel ads examples with your catalog
If you keep a product catalog, a carousel can be built from it: each card is a product with its picture and name, and each card’s button opens the chat. It is a quick way to show a range without designing every card.
What is not possible is a catalog ad, where Meta picks products from a product set for each person. Meta runs catalog ads only to websites, not to chats. To show your products, make a carousel and add them from your catalog.
What do carousel and video ads cost?
The format does not change how you pay. You set a daily budget, and Meta bills the spend to your own ad account; Fliok never handles it. What the chats cost is a separate question: when someone messages you from a Click-to-WhatsApp ad and you reply within 24 hours, Meta opens a free entry point window for that person (Meta: free entry point windows). The free window for ad leads explains how long Fliok counts on it and what happens after.
A carousel or a video may bring more questions per ad than a single image, or fewer. The only way to know for your business is to run them side by side for a week with the same audience and budget, and compare the cost per conversation on the Ads page.
How to make carousel and video ads in Fliok
Click-to-WhatsApp ads are made on the Ads page, on Basic and above. The same formats are offered for Instagram Direct ads and for the one ad that opens WhatsApp or Instagram.
- 1Connect your Facebook ad account and choose the ad account and Page on the Ads page.
- 2Create an ad and pick the format: image, video or carousel.
- 3Add your files. Fliok checks the limits above as you add each file, so a file Meta would refuse is caught before the ad is made. For a carousel, add 2 to 10 cards, each a square picture, a square video or a product from your catalog, with its own headline.
- 4Write the greeting and the message the customer sends, then set the audience and a daily budget.
- 5It is saved paused. Nothing is spent until an admin publishes it and confirms the budget; Meta then reviews the ad, usually within 24 hours.
Note: Ads in Fliok are opened workspace by workspace while Meta reviews Fliok’s access to its ads tools. If you do not see Ads in your menu, write to hello@fliok.com and we will switch it on for your workspace.
Honest limits
- Fliok’s video cap is lower than Meta’s. Meta takes video files up to 2.3 GB (Meta: Instagram ads media requirements); Fliok takes up to 100 MB. Compress longer videos before uploading.
- No catalog ads for chats, as above; a carousel of catalog products is the way to show products.
- No slideshows. Fliok makes single-image, video and carousel ads.
- Meta decides delivery. A format does not guarantee results; Meta’s delivery decides who sees the ad and how often.
More: Click-to-WhatsApp ads in Fliok, creating them, your product catalog, how to run Click-to-WhatsApp ads and click-to-message ads for WhatsApp and Instagram.
Frequently asked questions
What size should WhatsApp carousel ads be?
Each card is square: an image of at least 600 by 600 pixels, or a square video of up to 60 seconds. A carousel has 2 to 10 cards. A 1080 by 1080 pixel image is a safe choice.
How long can a WhatsApp video ad be?
Between 3 and 60 seconds, at least 600 pixels wide, and square, 4:5 portrait or landscape up to 1.91:1. Fliok takes video files up to 100 MB.
Can I use a 9:16 Reels video in a Click-to-WhatsApp ad?
Not as it is. Videos are not cropped, and the shapes these ads accept run from 4:5 portrait to 1.91:1 landscape. Export the video as 4:5 or square first.
Can I run catalog ads that open WhatsApp?
No. Meta runs catalog ads only to websites, not to chats. To show products in an ad that opens WhatsApp, make a carousel and fill its cards from your catalog.
Are WhatsApp carousel ads the same as carousel template messages?
No. Carousel ads appear on Facebook and Instagram and open a chat. Carousel templates are messages a business sends inside a WhatsApp chat, and follow WhatsApp’s template rules.
Written by the Fliok team
The team that builds the product. Plain explanations of Meta's rules and of what Fliok does with them.
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