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5 Innovative Ways To Use Instagram’s Photos Carousel Feature

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You probably know what Instagram’s photo carousel is, but you just don’t know that that is what it’s called! If you’ve ever seen or read a caption that encourages you to swipe left to see more content, or you’ve posted multiple pics in one feed post, then you know what I am talking about. 

Photos carousels are an amazing and useful tool that you can use and this guide will show you how.

An Instagram carousel is a feed post with two or more images or video clips. You can add up to ten pics or videos to the post and users view each one by swiping left on the screen. 

Much like a mini-album, all the pictures and videos are combined into one Instagram feed post with a single caption. Just like you do with other posts, you can add a location, tag relevant accounts, add shopping tags and edit the filters on each image/clip one by one. 

When you share your carousel post, Instagram publishes it with a symbol in the top right-hand corner showing the number of frames there are in the posts.

You will also notice small dots below the post that show you the number of frames and which post you’re on. This shows viewers that there are more pictures in that post so that they know to swipe. 

The Instagram Photos Carousel gives posts the effects of a magazine or a physical book, allowing users to page through content. This makes it the perfect tool to play with angles and different proximities of the same item, like your product, for example.

What you have to think about when using the photos carousel are the sizes and specs of the content you’re posting. You want all the images or videos to be uniform and have a cohesive theme. 

Here are some specs that are helpful to know:

  • Square: 1080 x 1080 pixels
  • Portrait: 1080 x 1359 pixels
  • Landscape: 1080 x 566 pixels
  • Aspect ratio: vertical (1:5), square (1:1), landscape (1.91:1)
  • Formats: .MOV, .MP4
  • Length: 3 seconds to 1 minute
  • Max size: 4GB
  • Aspect ratio: vertical (4:5), square (1:1), landscape (1.91:1)

How to create an Instagram Photos Carousel Post

  1. Make sure the pictures or videos you want to share are available in your device library.
  2. Log in to your Instagram app and tap on the (+) symbol at the top of the screen. 
  3. Click on ‘Select Multiple’.
  4. Pick your images and videos (a maximum of ten) in your preferred order.
  5. Click ‘Next’ and add filters or edit each frame as you wish. To do this, click on the photo, edit, and tap ‘Next’. If you want you can skip the edits by just tapping ‘Next’. 
  6. Add a caption, location tag, account tags, shopping tags by swiping left to this for each photo. 
  7. Share!
Polaroid photos laid out

Promote Product Details

With this feature, you can share multiple pictures of the same product. Using different angles or variations of the product helps you really showcase it and sell it to your audience. 

For example, you can take close-up shots and wider shots, or you can show the same product in different colors or used in different ways. If there are specific details that you want to share about the product, then you can even include a frame summarising those points. 

Using the photo carousel in this way gives other users and customers a detailed view of your products, what they’re meant for, and how they can use them. This extra information can boost your conversions for that product. 

Share Reviews

You don’t just have to share images of the physical product, you can also share quotes or video reviews of the products. Customers today constantly share photos of their products, or reviews online. Capitalize on this! Utilize User-Generated Content and customer reviews alongside product pictures to nail home the quality of your product. 

Doing so can boost your brand’s visibility and reach, increase investment and attraction to your products, and build loyalty and trust. You also cement the sense of community and two-sided engagement that matters on social media. 

Show Before & After Snaps

What’s better than showing your products in action by showcasing the results of using your stuff? Use before and after photo sets to show the effects of your products! Not only can this boost your engagement, but it also serves as a kind of customer review, reiterating that your product works!

Recap Recent Events

What’s better for your marketing than creating a little FOMO? Sharing pictures from successful events is a great marketing strategy. It draws audiences and allows you to share pictures taken without having to post each one individually. You can really encompass the vibe of the event and get followers excited and itching to come to the next one. 

Give Varying Recommendations

While your business might target a specific demographic, you probably have several different customer profiles that you cater to.

You could find that a lot of people in their teens and 20s like what you have to offer. This doesn’t mean that they prefer the exact same products, right? You can use photo carousel posts to share product recommendations for a specific group of people. 

For example, if you’re a bag-manufacturing company, you could do a day-to-day bags post with backpack options for high-schoolers, laptop carriers for varsity students, and purses and handbags for working women.  

Taking a photo for social media content

Final Thoughts

Instagram photo carousels come in handy and they’re useful for a variety of business and brand posts. With this feature, you get to show unique features of your products and brand experience without having to bombard your followers with endless posts. 

This is a nifty, adaptable, smart, and convenient that every business should use for marketing. No need to write long, boring paragraphs to get the details in. All you have to do is get your users to just swipe left!

Account Manager | Contentellect - Intelligent Content Creation

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