The carousel is a popular format on both Instagram and LinkedIn. A post holds several images or slides that followers swipe through sideways, so a thought can unfold in several steps, at the reader's own pace.
The slides are usually square or portrait, and within a post every slide has to have the same proportions. The portrait format takes up more of the phone screen, so we often choose it.
It works well because people stay longer on a post, which platforms take as a good signal. Instagram can show a carousel again, starting with the next slide, even if someone scrolled past it the first time, so the post gets a second chance.
When it beats a single-image post
- When a topic is worth unfolding step by step, for example a process or a list
- When you want to show a before and after
- When you want to present several sides or versions of a product at once
- When you give useful content that followers save for later
In text-based carousels typography matters most. You need few words and large, easy-to-read type, because viewers swipe through the slides on their phones, often without sound or their full attention, and one line of thought has to run from the first slide to the last.
The first slide of a good carousel works like a headline. It has to stop the scrolling and make the viewer curious about what comes next. The middle slides each unfold one thought, with little text and large type, because many people swipe quickly on their phones. The last slide says what the next step is.
We build the graphics of carousels on templates that follow your brand identity. This way every post in the series is recognisable, and making a new carousel is quicker too, because the structure is already given.
A carousel is not the right answer for everything. An atmospheric photo or a short announcement can be stronger as a single image, so we vary the formats in the content plan. A month usually includes several formats, and the reports show which works best.
