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Best Practices for Instagram Carousel Posts
Carousel posts have become an extremely popular posting format on Instagram. In fact, according to the Social Media Study, we conducted last year, we found that besides Reels, the format in second place is carousels, which outperforms image posts in terms of both reach and interactions.
With a higher level of engagement, being able to showcase more than one photo, and telling a story to your followers, Instagram Carousels is where it’s at. But what exactly is an Instagram carousel post, what are some best practices, and why do we believe these posts receive better engagement? We will cover this and more in this article, so buckle up!
What is an Instagram Carousel Post?
An Instagram carousel post is a feed post that includes more than one photo or video. Instagram allows up to ten total photos, videos, or a combination of the two when posting a carousel.
For example, linked below is a carousel post we posted in regards to ‘Tips for Content Planning’. In the carousel post, we supplied our audience with three tips to better their content planning as well as an end screen to showcase the Masterclass we are hosting. All in one post we were able to educate our audience and market our latest webinar.
Rather than piling on too much information into one singular post, this formal gives your the opportunity to swipe and get much more out of a post. By swiping left through each slide, your post feels much more interactive while providing your audience with more valuable information.
How To Post An Instagram Carousel Post
Posting an Instagram carousel post is easy! It is very similar to posting a regulator post with just a slight change. All you have to do is:
- Open up Instagram either on your computer or your mobile device.
- Hit the + and click on the ‘Multiple Media’ icon.
- Choose the media you would like to post and click ‘Next’.
- Write your caption, add tags, location, etc as you usually would.
- Hit ‘Post‘.
5 Instagram Carousel Post Best Practices
As we have discussed above, Instagram carousel posts have the ability to gain a good amount of engagement. To increase the likelihood of receiving the most out of your carousel posts, we have provided you with 5 best practices to keep in mind when posting. Let’s dive right in!
Carousels for Seamless Story-Telling
A successful carousel post on Instagram looks and reads seamlessly. To do this you must be sure that your content goes well together. For example, if you are launching a new feature on your website that helps your audience with organization, the carousel post could be a few slides that explain the importance of organization and end the post with a slide marketing your new feature. Also, a plus is when the slides look pleasing to the eye as if they belong together. See an example of this below:
Highlight Your Favorites
Instagram carousel posts make for a great way to showcase your top features, products, or moments in life. For example as a business, you could highlight your top products that you released over the past month, month, or year. You could also use carousels to round up your best moments. A very popular trend on Instagram right now is known as ‘Photo Dumps’. Photo Dumps are when users post a collection of their favorite moments over time. See an example below:
Educate Your Audience
Instagram carousels give you the extra space you need to provide your audience with more information. For example, when we launched our Social Media Study that we discussed above, we utilized the carousel formal on Instagram to educate our audience with our key takeaways regarding Instagram carousels.
Before and Afters
Instagram carousels also make for great before and after posts. However, I have found that structuring the post to feature the “after” before the “before” images or videos can have a larger impact on the audience.
The businesses that come to mind when thinking about these kinds of posts are hair stylists to show the after and before shots of their clients’ hair, personal trainers to show after and before shots of their clients ‘ weight loss journey, and interior designers to show off their new designs.
Instagram Carousel Posts FAQ’s
If at this point of the blog, you still have some lingering questions in regards to posting Instagram carousels, we will be answering some frequently asked questions below!
Instagram Carousel Sizes
The recommended dimensions for carousel posts are 1080 pixels by 1080 pixels, with a maximum of 10 images or videos per post. It is important to note that all images or videos within the carousel must be the same size to maintain a cohesive and visually pleasing layout.
Instagram Carousel Video Length
As you may know, Instagram has recently introduced the option of posting multiple videos in one post through the carousel feature. This has been a great addition for creators and businesses to showcase their content more dynamically. According to Instagram, the maximum length for each video is 60 seconds. This means you can have ten 60-second videos, which amounts to a 10-minute video overall.
What is an Instagram Carousel Splitter
This innovative feature allows you to upload up to 10 images or videos in one post, creating a seamless and visually appealing carousel for your followers to swipe through. The splitter tool allows you to easily split one image into multiple posts or a carousel post. This feature is available in the Mobile App on our Instagram Planner. Please note that this tool is only accessible through third-party apps such as Canva or screenshotting different portions of one photo. Metricool actually has a collaboration with Canva where you can create visuals and schedule them directly to Metricool.
At this point, we hope you feel confident in your knowledge regarding Instagram carousels. We hope that with this information you can try these posts out for yourselves and experience some good engagement.
To make your life easier, we highly suggest scheduling your Instagram content to save time and receive better results. Metricool offers a tool that can help you plan all of your Instagram content with ease.