Solved: Manual vs Catalog Creatives & Carousel vs Single Image

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out!

Happy to give you some initial thoughts on your questions about Facebook ads for your jewelry business. Your question is a common one - manual vs catalog, carousel vs single image. But to be brutally honest with you, it's also the wrong question to be asking right now. It's like asking a builder whether they should use a hammer or a screwdriver before you've even got the blueprints for the house.

Fixating on these small creative details is a classic mistake. It's what people do when the fundamentals aren't working. In my experience, when campaigns fail, it's almost never because someone picked a carousel when they should've used a single image. It's because the offer was weak, the audience was wrong, or the message was generic. Get those things right, and almost any ad format will work. Get them wrong, and no amount of creative testing will save you.

So, before we even touch on ad formats, we need to strip this right back and look at the things that actually move the needle.

We'll need to look at your offer first, not your ad format...

The single biggest reason I see advertising fail, especially for businesses like yours, is a weak offer. And I don't just mean a discount. I mean the entire package: what you sell, who you sell it to, and the problem you solve for them. A great ad campaign is just a great offer aimed at the right people.

Most founders, particulary in creative fields like jewelry, are in love with their product. That's great, you should be. But your customers don't buy the product; they buy what the product does for them. They buy a feeling, a solution to a problem, a transformation. You're not selling pieces of metal and stone; you're selling confidence, uniqueness, the perfect gift, a memory.

Forget the sterile demographic profile. Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) isn't "women aged 25-45 who like jewelry". That tells you nothing. You need to understand their nightmare. What's the deep, urgent frustration they have that your jewelry solves?

Maybe it's the nightmare of blending in. Your customer is terrified of showing up to an important event and looking generic. She needs a statement piece that says "I have a personality". Your offer isn't "a unique necklace"; it's the antidote to being forgettable.

Maybe it's the nightmare of thoughtless gift-giving. Your customer needs to buy a present for his partner's 30th birthday. He's paralysed by the fear of getting it wrong, of buying something mass-produced and impersonal from a high street chain. Your offer isn't "handcrafted earrings"; it's the relief of finding a meaningful, personal gift that shows he actually put thought into it.

You have to identify that specific, urgent problem and build your entire message around solving it. I remember one of our eCommerce clients, a women's apparel brand. We helped them refine their ad strategy, which resulted in a 691% return on their ad spend.

Your offer needs to be cristal clear. Don't just sell "jewelry". Sell a specific solution. This focus makes your message incredibly powerful and relevant to the right person.

I'd say you need to define your customer before you spend a penny...

Once you know the 'nightmare' you're solving, you can find the people who are having it. This is where most people get Meta ad targeting wrong. They chuck in a few broad interests like "Jewelry", "Fashion Accessories", and "Engaged Shoppers" and hope for the best. That's a surefire way to burn through your budget reaching millions of people who couldn't care less about your specific style of jewelry.

If you sell edgy, modern, minimalist pieces, why would you want your ad shown to someone whose interests suggest they love vintage, ornate designs? You have to get much, much more specific.

Think about the ecosystem your ideal customer lives in. What do they *really* like and follow?

• -> Magazines & Blogs: Do they read Vogue, or are they more likely to follow independent fashion bloggers on Instagram?
• -> Other Brands: What other brands do they buy from? Not just jewelry, but clothing, homeware, cosmetics. If they shop at COS and & Other Stories, that tells you something about their aesthetic.
• -> Designers & Artists: Are there specific jewelers, artists, or designers they admire?
• -> Events & Places: Do they go to craft markets, art gallery openings, music festivals?

Your job is to map out this ecosystem and then find those interests in the Meta ads manager. Layering interests can help too. For instance, people who like "Handmade Jewelry" AND "Etsy" are probably a better bet than just one of those on its own. It takes some digging, but finding these niche audiences is how you find pockets of customers your lazy competitors are ignoring.

Here’s a rough idea of how you could structure your audience testing, depending on what kind of jewelry you sell. You need to test these themes in seperate ad sets to see what works.

This is just a starting point. The goal is to create distinct 'themes' and test them against each other. Once you have enough data (at least 100 purchases, ideally more), you can then start building high-value Lookalike audiences from your pixel data, like Lookalikes of purchasers or people who add to cart. These almost always outperform interest-based targeting in the long run.

You probably should look at your store before blaming the ads...

Let's be blunt. You could have the best ad in the world, targeting the perfect audience, but if they click through to a website that looks untrustworthy or is a nightmare to use, you've wasted your money. I've audited hundreds of ad accounts where the ads were fine, but the website was killing the conversion rate.

For jewelry, this is doubly true. It's a visual, emotional purchase. Your store needs to be more than just a functional shop; it needs to be a digital showroom that builds desire and trust.

Based on what I see with most eCommerce stores starting out, here are the likely culprits:

• -> Product Photography: This is non-negotiable for jewelry. Are your photos just flat, lifeless product shots on a white background? That's not good enough. You need high-resolution, professional images. Show the detail. Show the scale. Most importantly, show it on a model. People need to see how it looks when worn, how it hangs, how it catches the light. A video of someone wearing the piece is even better. This is the #1 thing that will sell your product.
• -> Product Descriptions: Do you have them? Are they just a list of materials and dimensions? Or do they tell a story? Use the description to evoke the feeling you want the customer to have. Instead of "Sterling silver necklace with a moonstone", try "Capture the magic of midnight. This handcrafted sterling silver necklace features a luminous moonstone, designed to rest perfectly on your collarbone and catch every eye in the room."
• -> Trust Signals: Would you give your credit card details to a stranger? That's what you're asking customers to do. Your site needs to scream "I am a legitimate, trustworthy business". This means: clear and easy-to-find contact information, a professional "About Us" page that tells your story, customer reviews and testimonials (with photos if possible!), links to your social media profiles, clear shipping and returns policies, and trust badges like secure payment logos.
• -> Website Performance: Is your site slow to load? Is it clunky on mobile? People have zero patience. A slow site will kill your sales before they even see a product.

You can track this in your analytics. Look at the funnel. Are you getting lots of clicks on your ads but very few people are viewing a product page? The problem is likely your homepage or your targeting. Are people viewing products but not adding them to the cart? The problem is your product page – likely the photos, description, or price. Are they adding to cart but not buying? The problem is your checkout process or unexpected shipping costs.

You'll need a proper campaign structure, not just one ad...

Okay, so you've nailed your offer, your audience, and your website. Now, and only now, can we talk about running ads. And you dont just run one ad. You need a proper funnel structure. The way you speak to a complete stranger should be different from how you speak to someone who has already visited your site and looked at a specific pair of earrings. We typically structure this in three stages:

1. Top of Funnel (ToFu) - Prospecting:

This is where you target your cold audiences (the interest and Lookalike audiences we discussed). The goal here is introduction and discovery. You need to stop them scrolling with something beautiful and intriguing. This is where your absolute best, most aspirational content goes. This is where you would test a stunning single image of your signature piece against a carousel showing off a new collection, or against a short video telling the story of your brand or showing the craftsmanship. All of these would be manual uploads, as you need full creative control to make that perfect first impression.

2. Middle of Funnel (MoFu) - Engagement Retargeting:

This is for people who've shown some interest but haven't visited your website yet. Think people who have watched a percentage of your video ads or engaged with your Facebook/Instagram page. You can show them ads with a different angle. Maybe a carousel of customer photos (user-generated content is gold), or an ad that talks about the quality of your materials.

3. Bottom of Funnel (BoFu) - Website Retargeting:

This is your money-maker. This is for people who have visited your website, viewed products, or even added to the cart but didn't buy. They are warm leads. Your only job is to remind them what they were looking at and give them a gentle nudge to complete the purchase.

This is where Catalog Ads (also called Dynamic Product Ads) are king. You connect your product catalog to Facebook, and the algorithm will automatically show people the *exact* products they were looking at on your site. A carousel format is often brilliant here, as it can show the product they viewed, plus other similar or complementary items from your collection. It's highly personalised and incredibly effective. We've run campaigns for subscription box companies that achieved a 1000% ROAS, as mentioned.

Here’s a simplified view of what that campaign structure might look like:

So, what should you actually *do*?

So, to finally answer your original question directly, after all that context:

Manual upload vs. catalog? You use manual uploads for your ToFu (prospecting) campaigns where you need to tell a story and make a strong first impression. You use catalog ads for your BoFu (retargeting) campaigns to automatically show people products they've already expressed interest in.

Carousel vs. single image? You test them against each other in your ToFu campaigns. A single image is great for showcasing one iconic piece. A carousel is great for showing a collection or multiple angles. There is no universal "better" format; you have to test and see what resonates with your specific audience and your specific creatives. For BoFu, a dynamic carousel from your catalog is usually the most effective.

The question was never "which one is better?", but "which one should I use, for which audience, at which stage of their journey?".

I've detailed my main recommendations for you in a table below to make it easier to digest. This is the process we'd follow.

As you can probably tell, doing this properly is a significant amount of work. It requires a clear strategy, constant testing, and a deep understanding of how these platforms actually work. It's a process of systematic optimisation, not just throwing an ad up and hoping for the best.

This is, of course, what we specialise in. We've worked with numerous eCommerce clients, from women's apparel to cleaning products to luxury brands, and helped them navigate this exact process to achieve significant returns on their ad spend. Getting this framework right is the difference between an ad account that bleeds money and one that becomes a predictable engine for growth.

If you're feeling a bit overwhelmed by all this and would like to have an expert pair of eyes look over your specific situation, we offer a free, no-obligation initial consultation. We can review your store and what you've tried so far and give you some concrete advice on the best path forward.

Feel free to get in touch if that sounds helpful.

Regards,

Team @ Lukas Holschuh