A Step-by-step Guide to Creating a Carousel Post on Instagram

Instagram is an important platform for businesses to use. It's a visual social media site, which means you have a powerful marketing tool in your hands! An instagram carousel can be a great way to showcase multiple products or services on one page. This post will give you 8 steps to create an awesome Instagram carousel that works well with your brand and increases traffic to your website!

Create a Storyboard

One of the best ways to create an awesome Instagram carousel is by creating a storyboard. This will help you develop your ideas and identify what worked well in one post versus another - it also helps when you want to have multiple pages for different products or services. The format can be anything from a story board to a sketch, but the idea is that you have a plan before launching into your project.

Know your Purpose

The most important thing to know when you are creating an Instagram carousel is the purpose. What do you hope to achieve by using a carousel? Are you looking for more traffic on your website, do you want people to feel inspired about purchasing something from your site or maybe even share it with friends and family who might be interested? Whatever your goal is, you need to know it and ensure that the content on your carousel supports this.

Use High Quality Images

The images in an Instagram carousel are going to represent a lot of work - so naturally they will have to be high quality! This includes things like having white backgrounds or not using filters that shrink the size of your images. Just remember to use high quality images so people see them as they scroll through their feed!

Use One Image per Product or Service

In an Instagram carousel, you should only have one image for any product or service. This is because scrolling through a carousel can be tiresome if there is too much content on a page. If you are using multiple images, it is best to use them as links that take the user away from Instagram and towards your website!

Use Proper Image Sizes

Keep in mind when uploading these high quality images into an Instagram carousel - know that they will be cropped by default so make sure that your images are sized correctly. If you create a storyboard, it may be helpful to label the sizes of each panel so that when they are uploaded into Instagram they will fit in nicely!

Create Your Instagram Carousel

Once you've completed your storyboard, it's time to create your carousel! This can be done by editing an existing photo or making new ones from scratch using mobile apps like Adobe Photoshop Express or Snapseed. Once you have your photos, upload them, then follow these steps to create the carousel:

Select "Create a Carousel" Tap on Add Media Choose which images you want in the slide-show Set how many slides and if they should alternate automatically Save it!

Edit Your Carousel

Now that you have your carousel, it's time to edit the settings! Here are a few key points to keep in mind:

Title - Give each slide its own title. This will help people know what they're looking at and if there is an order of importance. Edit Titles - You can also change which title is on top and which goes at the bottom. This is helpful if you have a lot of slides and want to make certain that guests know what they are looking at. Add an Intro Slide - This will be the first image in your carousel so it should show people where they're going! You can also add text, like "Coming up Next!" or something along those lines.

Instagram carousel size and requirements

Create a post with the same format, but different content. Edit all of your images to be exactly square (no full bleed). **This will ensure that they are the correct dimensions for Instagram and don't result in blank space on either side.

There are two common sizes for an instagram carousel: 1080 x 1920 and 1080 x 1440. The first size is the more common and provides for a larger image at the top of your feed, while the second size will allow you to fit three images in one post on Instagram

The two most popular photo editing applications that support this are Lightroom and Photoshop. It can also be done with any other program or app, but you'll want to make sure that the cropped image has a transparent background.

In Photoshop go to "File" and then select "Place Embedded". Find your desired photo on your computer or device and click open. Then adjust the size of the photo so it fits within one square (1080 x 720). You will need an exact square size with no white margin or corner.

In Lightroom, go to the "Develop" tab and select "Crop". Select your desired photo and then resize it within a single box so that there is no extra space or margins on any side (1080 x 720). Make sure you click "Keep Aspect Ratio" before cropping.

You’ll need to repeat this process for the other images you want in your carousel.

Add a Call to Action Button (CTA) or Link

Adding a call to action button that links back to your website can help increase traffic! You would want this CTA button placed somewhere near the end of your carousel, but not too close as you want people to get through the entire slideshow.

Edit Your Bio and Profile Picture

You want your Instagram profile picture (the one that shows up on every post) to visually connect with your carousel, so make sure it's a good representation of what you're trying to showcase! You should also edit your bio so people can get to know your brand better.

Also remember that you can customize the look of your profile picture, as well as change how it appears on your carousel and other posts!

Add Your Carousel to Other Platforms!

You can also upload your carousel to other social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. This will allow people who aren't on Instagram the opportunity to view it too - but make sure you don't post the same thing twice or else people might not see all of it.

Be Patient!

It can take a few days to get your carousel up, so be patient and plan ahead for how long you want it to last. You'll also need to check back every now and then in case there are any updates or changes that could affect the way your carousel works (e.g. new Instagram updates).

Promote Your Carousel!

It's important to promote your carousel! This can be done in a few ways like adding it into your email marketing campaign, sharing on social media channels, or contacting journalists who might want to share about what you're doing. You should also consider how the carousel can best fit into your branding and make sure that it is relevant to what you're selling.

These are the steps for creating an awesome Instagram carousel - now go create one!

FAQ's

1. Which steps are you most excited about Instagram Carousel?

I'm most excited about the Instagram carousel. This feature gives you two key things that you need for any successful social strategy:

1) It increases your opportunity to share content by giving you an almost-unlimited inventory of new, fresh content. Automatically rotate through those posts without ever needing to change your feed we set it and forget it!

2) It allows people who are just catching up on your latest work automatically see all the things they may have missed in between their visits. No more thinking - "Wait, was there a post from five days ago? I don't know where I should start." And since people are used to getting caught up on everything with smaller waits under notifications or DMs, this just feels right.

2. What type of photos do you want to use in your carousel? 

Instagram carousels are an easy way to show a variety of photos on one screen. Usually, you upload up to 10 photos in the same horizontal row and tap on them to slide through them! The "next" button at the bottom will take you into another set. 

If you have some beautiful moments that don't translate well to just a single photo, this is what Instagram carousels are for! When people upload pictures with emojis or quotes, they tend to not work as smoothly in Insta like due to abbreviated text. Whereas those with Instagram carousels won't have any issue skipping ahead randomly throughout their photos!

Always remember that these images should be only about 1080px wide and between 30 seconds and a minute long.

This is the type of photos I want to use in my carousel!

3. How long should each post on the carousel be?

The instagram carousel allows you to post up to 10 posts, and they typically last for 5 seconds.

If the intent is a carousel that loops through frequently posted content or status updates, then it's important not to overwhelm visitors. Choose 1-3 key items with large photo captures if possible, with an equally sized banner in between each header image (change the colors of the text from header to header). The next time a visitor comes back, they'll be lucky if they catch any other string of images due out of what seems like an overwhelming amount at the bottom. If there are different types of content being posted - images vs videos - align the headers vertically so that Instagram can allow up to 3 posts per row.

4. If they click “see more”, what other actions can we encourage them to take, or what new content will the user see after clicking "see more"?

It's extremely important to be creative in the use of images when utilizing Instagram, Facebook, and other social media. For example, a carousel of 9 pictures in a circle is now one of the most popular attractions on Instagram. The simple image that you want them to take can be clicked for an even larger thumbnail which expands into a lush visual display. This allows not only one but multiple photos to become toolkits used for drawing attention back to your company website! And remember, don't forget text on those images and think outside the box with colors and fonts!

5. How many posts should go on each row? 

If it's in a feed, you can't see more than 3-4 posts before scrolling. This is true for pretty much all social media platforms.

If content matters to the reader, it's important to know that making an information product interactive and responsive will deepen engagement levels of your potential audience. Think about how each post on Instagram takes up the whole screen with a carousel effect so viewers are given maximum control over what they choose to view or not - there is an opportunity here with their technology to provide better user experience by implementing interactive features such as buttons that regress one post or advance another as well as being able to comment on posts without having interference from other posts at the same level of depth.

6. Should there be any blank space between posts? If so, how much spacing should there be between one post and another (in pixels)? 

Avoid over posting for an extended period of time. Set goals and have a plan to be more intentional about your posts in order to maintain your follower base. Be mindful when you publish and make sure you keep the overall quality consistent. Do not overload on too many similar images with no variety at all or within a certain time frame-- this will just lead to followers unfollowing because they only receive one type of post which may get tiring after awhile. Change up the stories, different types of photos, filters, etc., but don't change it up so often that it becomes confusing for your viewers as well. Don't forget that gut-instinct while browsing feeds is 95% influential in deciding whether someone follows

7) What is a simple call-to-action button that would encourage visitors to make a purchase or visit your site

The carousel is a perfect fit for driving time on site and engagement. With this technique, the user can see more photos in less time without leaving the current page. This includes seeing different levels of involvement, as they move through slides not only by clicking but also by swiping left and right (as if looking at cards).

The fastest way to get visitors started is to offer them options that are relevant. Yes, it's more work upfront but investing in designing buttons like "connect with me" will be worth it when you see your ROI increase due to increased conversions! You never know what level of interest a visitor has until they connect with you so start personalizing the experience from their first interaction.