7 types of carousels you can create for Instagram

It's no secret that these days carousels are the next best thing for your Instagram account after Reels (nothing beats Reels!).

There are several reasons why carousels work so well for business accounts on Instagram. Here are the main ones:

The technical reason. Unlike traditional photo posts that are only shown on everyone's feeds once, carousels might be shown TWICE! At first, people see the first photo in your post and if they don't interact with it in any way (don't swipe, don't like, don't comment), they might be shown the second photo in the carousel later, giving them another chance to interact with your content! So, by appearing on people's feeds TWICE, you're not only giving them more opportunities to interact with you, you're also keeping your business visible and at the forefront of your followers' minds.

The social reason. Carousels are exactly the kind of content people enjoy sharing and saving - the two most powerful actions to boost the performance of your account. Up to 10 slides instead of one give you more space to share more tips or break down some complicated topics you're an expert in, you can share 10x more beautiful photos or interesting quotes. In any case, there are 10 times more chances SOMETHING will resonate with your audience and make them save and share.

But what can your carousel be about? Here are some ideas and formats to experiment with!

1. Carousel of tips. Probably the most well-known and popular format at the moment. Share something you're an expert in by 'spreading' your info over several slides. For example, '5 tips to make more sales', '3 baking mistakes you should stop making', '7 best skincare ingredients for acne-prone skin', etc. Use one slide per tip to create continuity and keep people interested!

And an extra tip for you: Your first slide will obviously be 'the cover' of your carousel, announcing the topic of it or the problem it solves, so don't start your tips from slide two! Remember that people who didn't interact with your post the first time they saw it will be shown your post once again, only this time they'll see the second slide instead of the first one! So, make sure your second slide is also 'sort of' a cover - give some extra explanations of what people are about to read but in a way that will be understandable for those who didn't start swiping from slide one.

Here is one of our carousels explaining why 'subscribe to my newsletter' CTA doesn't really work.

2. Seamless carousel. This is my favourite type of carousel! I also call them 'wedding carousels' because I first started seeing wedding photographers doing this before accounts from other niches picked up the idea. The seamless carousel has this beautiful flow, when you can't tell where one slide ends and another one begins. It's perfect for sharing photos but I now also see business coaches and other service-based accounts doing it by letting the backgrounds and other elements of their slides interconnect.

Just look at this gorgeous carousel, for example - backgrounds, images and little design elements flow from one slide to another so beautifully, don't you think so?

There are also a lot of apps with seamless carousel templates - download the one that appeals to you to minimise the time you spend on these carousels! All you need to do is just upload your photos into a pre-made beautiful template.

3. Carousel with details. Have a new product to show off? Post its photo as the first slide in your carousel and use the other slides to show close-ups of the same picture, so that people can see all the details in your new creation!

It's important to have really high quality images for this kind of carousel! You don't want your close-ups to be blurry and pixelated, right? Not only will it prevent people from actually seeing what's pictured there but it will also make you look like you're careless with your content and your business (which, I know, you're not!). The standard size of an Instagram post is 1080x1350px. Say, you want to post your product photo first and then four close-ups. It means your photo should be at least 2160x2700px big to be successfully cut into four close-ups!

See this wonderful Kiwi artist showing her latest artwork with such a carousel.

4. Photo dumps. This carousel is basically a return to what Instagram used to be at the very beginning of its existence :) Had a great, interesting day? Share its highlights in one post! These photos don't have to have one style and don't even need to be from the same place or cover the same topic - it's just 10 photos about your day! There are many people doing this regularly and by participating in a trend and using the right hashtags, you'll increase your reach and engagement tremendously.

5. 'Before and after' or 'expectations VS reality'. A short carousel with just two slides showcasing the results of people using your product/service or showing how something went wrong in your daily work process in a funny way. The key idea is that there are only two slides - quick and easy!

6. Video carousel. Did you know that carousels don't necessarily mean photos? It could also be 10 videos or a mix of both! These carousels are especially popular among cooking accounts (split your video recipe into several shorter videos to make it easier for your audience to follow and re-create!) and furniture/interior design accounts (showing how to assemble some more complicated pieces).

We have recently published a carousel with a couple of videos.

7. Quiz. A carousel is a great way to organise a mini-quiz for your followers! Put your question and answer options on one slide and a correct answer on the next slide. Keep going ;) That's entertaining and will definitely keep your followers on your account for longer which is beneficial for the algorithm!

Here is a very short example of a quiz carousel.

Categories: : Instagram Reels tips