![How to Use Instagram Carousels to 10x Engagement [Guide] | Hootsuite](https://blog.hootsuite.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Instagram-carousel.png.webp)
Instagram carousels get way more reach and engagement than regular posts. Here's how to make carousel posts part of your Instagram strategy.
Instagram carousel posts are one of the most engaging formats brands can use on the platform. Hootsuite’s own social media team finds that, on average, their carousel posts get 1.4x more reach and 3.1x more engagement than regular posts on Instagram.
The temptation to swipe left, it seems, is hard to resist — especially when there’s a persuasive cover slide. Give your followers the chance to stop doomscrolling and start swoonscrolling with thumb-stopping carousel posts.
Bonus: Get 5 free, customizable Instagram carousel templates and start creating beautifully designed content for your feed now.
An Instagram carousel is a post with up to 10 photos or videos. Mobile Instagram users can view carousel posts by swiping left, while desktop users can click through using the arrow button on the right-hand side of a post.
Like any other Instagram post, you can include a caption, image alt-text, a geotag, and account and product tags on each image in your carousel. People can like, comment, and share your carousel post.
When an IG carousel is published, a small square icon appears in the post’s upper right corner. As someone flips to the second image, the icon is replaced with a counter that indicates the number of frames. Small dots also appear at the bottom of a post to mark progress through the carousel.
When creating an Instagram carousel, start with a concept. Figure out why multiple photos or videos make sense for your content instead of a standard image post, collage post, video, or Instagram story.
Once you know what type of content you plan to use, sketch out a storyboard to get an idea of how many frames you’ll need. Then, you can decide if your carousel will jump from one image to the next or have a continuous, panoramic effect.
Here’s how to make a carousel post on Instagram:
1. Add all relevant photos to your photo library.
2. Open the Instagram app and click the + icon from the navigation bar.
3. Tap the layered square icon right below the post preview.
4. Select up to 10 photos and/or videos from your photo library. The order in which you select the media files is the order that they will follow in your carousel.
5. Tap Next in the top right corner of the screen.
6. Apply filters to all of your images/videos or edit each of them individually by tapping the icon with two overlaying circles. When you’re done with your edits, tap Next.
7. Add your caption, geotag, account tags and hashtags.
8. Tap Advanced Settings to add alt text and adjust preferences for likes, view counts, and commenting.
9. Tap Share.
Tip: Double-check that all your frames are in the correct order before you publish. You can’t reorder the slides after you share. (However, you can delete individual slides after posting your carousel)
You can schedule Instagram posts (including carousels) using Creator Studio, Facebook Business Suite, or the web version of the Instagram app. (We’ve got detailed instructions for scheduling Instagram carousels using Meta’s native tools here.)
But if your brand is active on other social media platforms, a social media management tool like Hootsuite can help. You can schedule all of your content in advance using one simple dashboard.
With Hootsuite, you can create and easily publish carousel posts directly to Instagram. Here’s how.
1. Go to Planner and tap New post to launch Compose.
2. Select the Instagram account you want to publish to.
3. Include your caption in the Text box.
4. Go to Media and tap Select files to upload. Select all the images you want to include in your carousel. All selected images should appear under Media.
5. Use the yellow Post now button to publish your carousel to Instagram immediately or click Schedule for later to pick a date and time to publish your post. Then, tap Schedule. The post will show up in your Planner at the time you have scheduled it for.
That’s it! Your post will go live on the date and time you selected.
These days, everyone’s posting photo dumps, but it’s not just a trend — carousels should be part of your overall Instagram marketing strategy.
Sure, including more images or videos in a single post increases your chances of generating a high engagement rate. But posting engaging carousels can also help you get on the Instagram algorithm’s good side.
Because carousels are interactive, users spend more time looking at them than at traditional Instagram feed posts. This tells the algorithm that your target audience finds your content interesting and valuable and can lead to more people seeing your posts in their feeds.
Carousels are also great for easily sharing:
For more specific use cases and examples, scroll down to the bottom of this post.
Like regular posts, Instagram carousels can be published in square, landscape, and portrait formats.
Just keep in mind that all post sizes must be uniform. The shape you choose for the first slide will also apply to the rest of the carousel.
Don’t be afraid to post a mix of videos and images, either.
Find up-to-date social media image size requirements here.
Want to take your carousels beyond “ten pictures from the same vacation”? Start by customizing one of our five free, professionally designed Instagram carousel templates in Canva.
Bonus: Get 5 free, customizable Instagram carousel templates and start creating beautifully designed content for your feed now.
Looking for Instagram carousel inspiration? Here’s how brands use photo carousels to promote products or services on the platform.
The children’s publishing arm of Random House knows a thing or two about spinning a story. Here’s how they do it with an Instagram carousel post.
Which product is Rare Beauty promoting in this carousel? You’ll have to swipe through to find out.
If you like the first band featured in Coachella’s Instagram carousel, chances are high you’ll want to see the musicians featured.
Clothing brand Free Label shares fit information on one of their most popular products using an Instagram carousel. The Canadian brand uses the format to highlight its apparel and build anticipation for upcoming sales.
Data journalist and illustrator Mona Chalabi uses the multi-image Instagram carousel to brilliant effect. In this example, the swipe effect conveys both scale and disproportion better than any single image could.
Illustrator Kamwei Fong shows you the final product and her process, bringing viewers closer to her art one slide at a time.
Bonus: Get 5 free, customizable Instagram carousel templates and start creating beautifully designed content for your feed now.
Get the templates now!
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Kitty No.39. New #limitededition prints on my Etsy. Link in bio. Cheers 🍷😃⚡️
Nothing but the facts here. Welfact uses simple and understandable slides in this and several other Instagram carousels. To maximize shareability, treat each post as a self-contained unit. That increases the odds (by up to 10!) that someone will share your post in an Instagram story.
Who needs a recipe book when you can follow Cleanfoodcrush’s Instagram carousel as instructions for her Greek chickpea salad?
Chipotle turned a common complaint (“Cilantro tastes like soap!”) into a novelty product — then used an Instagram carousel to tease its launch.
Canadian brand Kotn uses Instagram carousels to share tips on how to care for its products.
Wendy’s secret menu carousels dare you not to click through and discover “secret” food hacks.
This post from Nike was timed with Ben Simmons’ NBA Rookie of the Year award win. It shows how to use the Instagram carousel to make and punctuate a statement. As one commenter notes: “I love how it uses the slide to change perception.”
Take a quick look at the McDonald’s India feed and it’s clear that the Instagram carousel has been a winning format for the account. This post, among others, is a good reminder that a “swipe left” call to action never hurts. In fact, Socialinsider’s study finds the CTA increases engagement.
14. Share testimonials
Break larger stories into “sound bites” using multiple images. This can be a good way to share testimonials, employees as ambassadors, artisans, partners, or other interviews you’d like to share.
15. Keep your feed aesthetically consistent
Patagonia uses Instagram carousels to create a magazine gatefold effect. This is a good way to maintain a consistent look, especially if you want your feed to be image-only but still want to share text.
This Hootsuite Instagram carousel parses findings from the 2022 Q3 Digital Trends Report into easily digestible stats and takeaways.
Manage your Instagram presence alongside your other social channels and save time using Hootsuite. From a single dashboard you can schedule and publish carousels, edit images, and measure performance. Try it free today.
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