Carousel posts are a great way to keep your followers viewing your content for a longer amount of time. Swiping through slides takes a longer time than scrolling by a single photo. Here are 5 easy ideas to add more carousel content to your feed and up your account's ranking in the Instagram algorithm.
1. Educational Posts
You already knew this one, so we thought we'd get it out of the way at number 1. Head into your favorite graphic design app, and share information that is important to your niche and spread out out across a few slides. Be sure to include a CTA (call to action) on the final slide, like Media A La Carte does below.
2. Post the Photos You Love but Don't Match the Grid Aesthetic
Do you consider yourself a photographer but you're too bashful to share some of your shots directly to your grid? Carousel posts are the perfect solution. Put a "safe" photo that supports your aesthetic on top, and then add those photos that have been sitting in your camera roll. You'll be able to share your art without worry of messing up the hard work you've done on branding your Instagram feed.
3. The Same Quote in Different Color Schemes
This idea is very useful to get people to share your content to their Instagram stories. Some people are so dedicated to their branding that they won't share anything to their Stories that doesn't support it. If you give them 3 or 4 color scheme options, they're more likely to hit that share button. And honestly - people in general love choices. Give them choices, and they'll engage with your content.
4. Show Your Past Without Messing Up Your Aesthetic
Authenticity is essential for organic growth on Instagram. People don't want to just see the successes; they want to see the journey. The problem is the photos from the beginning of most of our journeys are ... not cute. Instead, post a photo that matches your aesthetic, and then add all of your past photos. This way people can see the journey without it messing up your branding. Check out this cute post below by Chupi sharing their past, but making the cover photo an example of their stunning work. This is also a great way to share before and afters. Post the after first to match your feed and tell users to swipe to see the before.
5. Call to Action By Giving Your Followers Options
Do you want to get your engagement numbers up? Give your followers options, and ask them to choose in the comments. This tends to work best as a short form caption. You want to put the question where it will catch the eyes. The simpler the CTA, the more likely your followers are to engage. Check out Amandina's post below asking for her followers to choose between different manicure looks. It garnered 51 comments with very little prep work or effort.
When you feel out of content ideas, come back to this post and start creating these concepts! Content creation is a full time job, and we're here to help. xoxo, Media A La Carte
