Instagram is a social networking platform that prefers visual content over textual, thus distinguishing it from other social platforms. This makes it the best way to promote your business/ account in 2023. Sometimes you may feel that one post is not sufficient for you as you have more stuff to share. This is where Instagram carousel comes for your rescue.
Instagram has released a lot of new features throughout the years. These include stories, reels, live sessions as well as carousels which allows you to personalize your feed and enhance interactions. Instagram carousels seems to be one of the simplest things to employ to boost engagement. Carousels definitely have the best engagement rate to any other post category. According to recent reports, photos and videos carousels have an engagement rate of 2.3% as compared to image posts with 1.74%. Not to forget video posts with 1.45%.
In this blog, we will discover how to use the Instagram carousel for creating more engaging content on Instagram.
What is an Instagram Carousel?
An Instagram carousel is a collection of images and videos that are displayed in a single post. This is an excellent method for conveying stories that may necessitate the usage of more than one picture. In addition you may also include Long panoramic photographs that can be broken down and added to an Instagram carousel.
For instance, you can use an Instagram carousel to display before and after photos. this can be a DIY project, an outfit, or a place as well as step-by-step photos providing a recipe. Furthermore, you can also emphasize on various parts of a recent vacation you have been to.
Users can cycle between the several photos that make up the carousel by swiping left and right. The same feature is available as an ad format on Facebook.
How Can Instagram Carousels Boost Up Your Business’s Social Media Strategy?
People in the social media sphere frequently inquire, “Do carousels outperform other posts?” In a nutshell, the answer is yes. The interactive nature of carousels encourages your audience to spend more time on one post. Allowing them to explore other slides where they can like, comment and share posts, amplifying the reach of your post
According to studies, advising customers to keep swiping left to read the carousel post can improve interaction by 1.83 percent to 2 percent. Carousel posts on Instagram have 1.4x the reach of a typical post. By including many slides, visitors can access more content on a single post.
For example, think that you own a cosmetics firm and intend to showcase your new lipstick range. Without a doubt using the instagram carousel feature will work wonders where you can create multiple posts in one carousel. Here each slide will have a new lipstick shade. This is where your customer will be attracted more towards the post, sliding through all the slides. Eventually, tempted to comment on their choice as well as share these beautiful shades with friends leading to more engagement.
Dimensions for Instagram Carousel Posts
Before creating your post, you need to know about the optimum sizes and formats for your images and videos. Instagram carousels, like any other post, have standard dimensions. Here are the various sizes for pictures and videos in a carousel post.
Instagram Carousel Sizes for Images
- Landscape carousel size: 1080 x 566 pixels; 1.91:1 aspect ratio
- Portrait carousel size: 1080 x 1350 pixels; 4:5 aspect ratio
- Square carousel size: 1080 x 1080 pixels; 1:1 aspect ratio
Instagram Carousel Sizes for Videos
- Length of video: 3 seconds to 60 seconds (overall 10 minutes as you can post 10 slides, each slide with 60 seconds)
- Video formats: .MP4 and .MOV
- Aspect ratios: Landscape Carousel – 1.91:1; Square Carousel – 1:1; Portrait Carousel – 4:5
- Maximum Video Size: 4GB
Creating An Amazing Instagram Carousel
Creating an amazing Instagram carousel involves more than just selecting a few photos or videos. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to do it:
Choose your theme:
Before making a carousel first thing you need to do is select a proper theme for your carousel. This will work like a core idea or a storyline that will ultimately tie all your carousel posts together. You also need to decide what your carousel post will feature. A showcase of your product, a step-by-step tutorial or a story that you intend to present for viewers.
For instance, imagine you are a fashion brand where you want to showcase your winter collection. You decide your theme to be ”Fall-Winter collection”. Eventually, you will feature scarves, winter coats, gloves, hats as well as ear muffs in each carousel post.
However, don’t worry if you plan to share the success story of your business through your carousel posts. Here you can share different milestones, the challenges you have faced as well as the success achieved by your business. Such a carousel will resonate with inspiring entrepreneurs where your brand will be considered as a source of inspiration.
Select high quality images or videos:
The quality of your content significantly affects how your audience perceives your brand. As you know that Instagram is flooded with amazing feeds, you need to make an outstanding impression with your carousel. In fact prioritize to create eye-catching content. This will prevent your feed from passing on in a sea of similar things.
Never forget “First impression is the last impression” while selecting photos and videos for your carousel. In today’s visually driven world what matters the most is the clarity, sharpness and overall aesthetics of your content. This will lead to an impactful impression on the first sight. You cannot afford your photos or videos to be grainy, pixelated or lacklustre. Or else this can heavily affect the professionalism and appeal of your brand.
Arrange your content:
While making a carousel you should take into consideration that your photos and videos are arranged in a proper order. Here are some arrangement orders from which you may want to choose one relevant to your posting strategy:
Chronological order: If you intend to show growth, transformation or a step by step process, try to follow a chronological order. This is basically like a picture of evolution from beginning to end.
Importance sequence: Your first post to follow an importance sequence should be most impactful to grab your audience’s attention. Furthermore, provide details in the next slide that deepens their interest.
Story Arc: If your content is narrative try using the story arc order where you can begin with an impactful introduction. Then it can be followed by key moments and finally leading to a climax.
Problem solution: if your content is based on providing a solution to the problem, start by addressing the issue. Then eventually you can provide steps or visuals to the solution.
Gradual complexity: if the content of your carousel progressively becomes more complex, start with basics and gradually move towards the advanced concepts. This process will allow your audience to grasp complicated ideas.
Emotional journey: What if you are planning to evoke emotions through your concept? start with visuals arousing curiosity and then moving towards excitement, empathy finally providing a satisfying resolution.
Add captions and hashtags:
Using captions and hashtags for your carousel post will help you to provide more information about the topic you post. Moreover, adding a caption allows you to deliver proper circumstances and insights surrounding your post. For instance imagine you are showcasing a rainbow. Your caption can describe the location, colours of the sky and the feelings it conjures. Thus building an emotional connection with the audience and providing depth to your content.
When you tag someone in your post it creates a wonderful engagement opportunity as the concerned person will view the post. This will create amazing possibilities of likes, shares and comments. You may also resonate tagging as extending handshake in the digital world. This may help you land with a collaboration from a business when you tag their product.
Never leave hashtags. In fact, hashtags act like a map through which relevant users may reach your post, eventually making it repertible. For example, if your account is related to fashion industry you may use hashtags such as #outfitoftheday #summercollection and #wintercollection.
Preview and post:
Once you are ready with your carousel make sure you preview it to avoid any mistakes or corrections. Without a doubt Previewing the content gives you an overall idea of how your carousel will look with everything. Once you are satisfied with the overall looks you can go ahead and post it.
Steps To Create Engaging Instagram Carousel Post in 2023.
When it comes to making a compelling Instagram carousel, the last thing you want to do is just select a collection of photographs. Consider the story you want to convey, how the images will work together and your caption for the best results. Here are the essential steps for creating an eye-catching Instagram carousel.
Step 1: Think of a Basic Idea That You Want To Convey
Your Instagram carousel, like any other piece of content, should begin with a basic concept. Remember that this fundamental concept must be helpful or amusing to your intended audience (bonus points if it is both valuable and entertaining).
Before you come up with your primary idea for carousels, consider the following:
- Is your idea actually helpful or interesting for my audience?
- Will I be able to explain this idea in a few slides?
- Should I make an Instagram carousel post or create a single image post to convey this idea?
You should reconsider your Instagram carousel idea if you answered ‘NO’ to any of these questions.
Divide it into subsections if your concept is too explanatory for a single carousel post. Each part can be used to create a unique Instagram carousel post.
Step 2: Create An Outline Around Your Idea
If you’ve already answered the preceding point’s questions and chosen a topic, develop a script for your Instagram carousel post. We generally divide the outline into three different sections:
- Title
- Content
- CTA (Call To Action)
Choose any Instagram carousel, and you’ll see these three sections.
1. Choose A Strong Title For Your Instagram Carousel To Hook Your Audience
It is the first and most significant slide in your post. We also have always been advised, “Never judge a book by its cover.”
However, it is impossible not to judge a book by its cover or a person by his or her clothing. You cannot undo billions of years of human evolution in a split second.
Your followers will judge your Instagram carousel based on the first slide. Nobody will mind checking out the rest of the carousel if the initial slide does not attract them.
A good headline must pique the interest of someone browsing through their feed. It should entice readers to continue reading through the remaining of your Instagram carousel by sliding left.
2. Create A Story Around Your Content
After you’ve hooked your audience’s interest with the first slide, your next aim is to get them to swipe left. Each successive slide’s purpose is to lead them to the next slide.
- The first slide’s purpose is to direct your viewers to the second slide.
- The second slide’s purpose is to direct your viewers to the third slide.
- The third slide’s purpose is to direct your viewers to the fourth slide.
- The last slide’s purpose is to direct your readers to the CTA slide.
A story based on your primary idea is an excellent technique to drive your viewers from one slide to the next.
3. An Engaging CTA
The correct call to action will affect how your visitors interact with your content. Rather than simply hoping that your audience would do anything, you should tell them what to do.
After scrolling through your Instagram carousel, your audience will arrive at your CTA (the last slide). Like the hook (on the first slide), the CTA slide is critical to your engagement.
You might invite your audience to perform the following on the final slide.
- Hit like on this Instagram Carousel post
- Comment something specific in the comment section below
- Ask a question related to the content and ask your audience to answer in the comment section.
- Bookmark this Carousel post
- Follow your Instagram profile
- Check out your profile
- Share this Carousel post with their friends
- Tag a friend or an acquaintance to the post
- And many more…
Although the CTA may not appear to be crucial, optimizing it is one of the most critical growth hacks in Instagram marketing.
Step 3: Choose Specific Colors and Fonts For Your Instagram Carousel That Defines Your Brand
If you already have a defined brand guideline, your half work is done. The names of your typefaces, brand colors, and design rules should all be included in your brand guideline. If you don’t already have a brand guideline, you must create one from the start.
Being irregular and arbitrary with your brand colors isn’t always negative, but it’s also not very nice!
Make sure you have a brand guideline in place before you design your Instagram carousel. If it sounds too complicated, here are a few things you should know:
- 2 standard fonts for your brand
- 2-3 standard colors for all Instagram carousels
- PNG copy of your brand logo
- Voice and tone of your brand
Step 4: Once You Create Your Primary Slide, Use It As A Reference For Next Ones
After you’ve decided on your brand’s colors, fonts, and logos, you should start creating your Carousel. To develop an outline for your Instagram carousel post, you can utilize specific online/offline design software.
Here are some things to think about while creating your reference slide.
- Brand logo
- Brand name
- Like, comment, share and save symbols
- The page number on every page
- ‘Swipe left’ instruction or a simple arrow
Step 5: Once You’re Done Proofread Your Content
After you’ve finished creating your Instagram carousel, double-check it for errors and alignment mistakes. Proofread your content to ensure that there are no spelling or grammatical issues. Check that the visuals and text on your posts are consistently aligned.
Step 6: Download Your Instagram Carousel and Post It On Instagram
Once you’ve completed your last proofread, save your post and share it on Instagram. But hold on!
Isn’t there anything you’re missing?
You overlooked the other two critical components of an Instagram carousel. Actually, you missed the two most vital components of each Instagram post: captions and hashtags.
Step 7: Write Intuitive Captions For Your Instagram Carousel
Captions help you explain your concept even more clearly. But that isn’t the only reason you should add captions in your posts. Here are some other ways to use captions in an Instagram carousel post:
- Add details of products/services you’re offering
- Describe the main idea of your carousel post
- Narrate the content of your post in short
Step 8: Add Relevant Hashtags
The hashtag is the final component of the ideal Instagram carousel post. According to the same engagement analysis, the typical post on Instagram featured 6.93 hashtags. This was a significant decline from the average amount of hashtags/posts the previous year. This analysis also discovered that half of all posts featured one or no hashtags.
This provides you with a fantastic opportunity to utilize hashtags fully. Hashtags allow you to reach new audiences and expand the reach of your Instagram carousel post.
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With the free Instagram hashtag generator tool by Predis.ai, you can easily extract the most popular and trendy Instagram hashtags that will boost your engagement.
Tips for effective Instagram carousels
Creating an Instagram carousel is only half the battle. To make sure your carousel stands out and engages your audience, consider these tips:
- The first slide of your carousel should start with a strong image or video which can grab your audience’s attention within the very first look.
- Make sure all of your content is related and relevant to one another and tells a cohesive story.
- Use high quality photos and videos for professionalism so that your content looks polished and help you build a sense of trust.
- Experiment with different types of content, like photos, videos, and graphics to keep your audience intrigued and provide them with different choices.
- Make proper use of captions to provide additional context or information for your audience which will help them to get a better understanding of your content.
- Engage with your audience by asking relevant questions related to your carousel theme to spark a conversation as well as encourage them to comment by asking their opinion on the subject.
How To Use Instagram Carousels For Better Engagement?
Unleash the potential of Instagram carousels so that you can display your unique expressions. Instead of posting 10 images in a single post you can use carousels which will help you share your story prominently. You should use a blend of videos and photos in your carousels as they help to boost the engagement rate of your post.
Use Carousels As Your Engagement Boosters
Make it worthwhile for users to scroll through your Instagram Carousel posts. While you’re at it, utilize your caption to tell users to swipe left. Studies show that posts containing the phrase “swipe left” receive more interaction than those without.
Prompts like “swipe to find out more” or “swipe for a surprise” may seem overly apparent, yet they work. Some Instagram accounts exploit the promise of a revelation to get users to connect with their posts.
Upload Before and After Of Your Projects
Display your makeovers instead of incorporating 2 images in one. You can share your high-quality before and after images using Instagram Carousels. Before-and-after posts are helpful in a range of businesses, from beauty salons to home improvement projects. Instagram Carousels are a terrific method to demonstrate how your product or service improves something.
Consider changing the order of before and after photographs when posting this type of content, i.e., end result photos first, then prior images. It’s always great to get people to follow you on Instagram with visually appealing content.
Provide Educational and Helpful Content To Your Audience
Instagram captions are helpful for long-form text and explanations, but they lack the visual impact. So when you have intriguing information to present, create textual pictures and publish them in an Instagram Carousel post.
No matter how attractive the statistics or data points are, you’ll have difficulty convincing folks to read through your caption. So the best method is to Try using basic visual pictures to highlight a few crucial topics.
Since Instagram is a visual medium, photos and videos are the most excellent methods to keep users from scrolling past your post. Thus high quality photos will eventually lead your user to read the caption and scroll your profile for further information.
Share Step By Step Tutorials
Instagram Carousels are your buddy if your how-to material is too long for a Reel and too hard for a description.
Tutorials are an excellent approach to demonstrate the things you sell. Provide step-by-step instructions on utilizing a specific function using still photos, short videos, or a combination of the two. Tutorials aren’t simply valuable for time; they’re also worth saving. And you want users to press the small banner button beneath your post to save it for later because saves count toward your Instagram engagement statistics.
Of course, tutorials do not have to be product-focused. Many business accounts utilize Instagram Carousels to give instructions on topics ranging from beauty to technological hacks.
Unveil Your Behind-the-scenes
Everyone enjoys a quick peek behind the curtain right? However, behind-the-scenes photographs aren’t always Instagram-worthy. You can share the polished end result alongside pictures and videos of the process using Instagram Carousel posts.
Instagram Carousel posts are frequently used for “Instagram versus reality” content. However, Real-life does not resemble the neatly edited finished result. Therefore, show your audience the modified photo alongside the original version to provide them with the relatable content they seek.
Since bloopers are always popular among viewers, there are also other methods to showcase your process. With the help of Carousel posts, you can share behind the scenes of product manufacturing or show your shooting setup. Eventually these posts will work wonders to boost your engagement.
Explore The Power of Reused Content
Why work so hard to create outstanding content if you’re just going to utilize it once? Instagram Carousels are an excellent method to reuse content like blog articles, webinars, and events.
As you know it’s a real challenge to promote textual content on Instagram. However, you can utilize Instagram Carousels to generate textual picture teasers for content. These can include blog posts, and then send readers to your link in your bio to read more.
This is also an excellent method to reuse long-form information like white papers or novels – textual pictures that offer highlights and perform well as stand-alone content. Consider how much information you can repurpose by putting together a multi-image series.
Boost Your Engagement By Giving Shout Outs To Your Followers
Social media should never be used as a one-way street. Including user-generated content on your account is one of the finest methods to engage with your audience. People love shout-out from their favorite brands and influencers, and Instagram Carousels are an excellent way to do this.
Brands can shout their own praises all they want, but nothing beats a client testimonial. Use those positive ratings to your advantage by including roundups in Instagram Carousel posts. Also, photos of people utilizing your products have a more significant effect.
Consider this: aren’t you more interested in how an ordinary person utilizes a product than someone paid to market it?
However, not all user-generated content must be promotional. It’s not always necessary to hype up your followers, give them shout-outs, and congratulate them for being your fans.
Wrapping It Up
Creating a carousel for your company’s Instagram accounts aids in creation of compelling adverts and provides a different appearance than normal post. Carousel posts entice viewers to swipe and see additional material about your company’s products and services.
Instagram allows you to share content in a variety of ways. Although it is tempting to limit your content types to single-image posts and Instagram Story, this will also limit your reach. Make your content more interesting by including some Instagram Carousel posts.
–This post was originally published in 2021, has been updated for accuracy and relevance.
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