Looking to increase interaction on your Instagram account? Carousels are the best option at this point in time. Instagram is a powerful medium for expanding your audience, promoting your business, and generating revenue. However, Instagram algorithms vary from time to time, and at the moment, carousels are the most popular content type on the algorithm priority list. They get more reach and higher engagement than any other content type currently. They deliver your message 20 times more strongly and effectively than a single picture. However, carousel posts are still underused as even after the highest engagement rate, they account for only 19%.
Carousel was rolled out in 2017, but back then, they were not as effective and popular as they are now. Today, they can cater 20 slides at a time, which means you can add a lot of information in a single post. Whether you are a brand or influencer, carousels have the power to hook your audience and boost engagement to the next level. In this blog, we are going to share some key benefits of using Instagram carousels for engagement and growth.
What is an Instagram Carousel Post?
Before delving into the benefits of carousels, let’s first understand what exactly a carousel post is. A carousel post is a dynamic single post that can contain a maximum of 20 slides in the form of pictures or videos. They are swipable content, which means that users can swipe left to access the next image or video in a single post. This is best used for a sequence of connected content, tutorials, or facts that can captivate the audience deeply, therefore boosting engagement. You can even buy automatic Instagram likes, which will give the initial boost to the carousel and eventually bring high organic engagement. Creating a carousel is easy; you just have to follow the below steps:
- To create an Instagram post, tap the plus (+) icon.
- Choose the arranged square symbol to add multiple posts.
- Choose up to ten photographs or videos from your gallery.
- Tap “Next.”
- Edit each photo separately.
- Tap, hold, and drag photographs to change the order as needed.
- Include captions, hashtags, audio, and keywords.
- Tap “Share” to post.
The Benefits of Using Instagram Carousels for Engagement
Carousels is a powerful Instagram tool to boost engagement on your account while offering high-quality and informative content. Have a look at a few important benefits of using carousels for engagement.
High Engagement Rate
A single carousel gets 1.26% engagement compared to a single post that gets just 0.59% only. This means carousel posts have a higher engagement rate than regular posts due to their engaging and interactive nature. Whether it’s swiping slides, double tapping to like, or watching videos, they get more likes, comments, and shares compared to regular posts. Moreover, they provide more value and information to the users, which brings higher engagement.
Double Exposure
Single posts appear in the user feed just once, but carousels appear in a user feed at least twice if they don’t watch all the slides and perform some activity. This means you have more than one chance to capture the audience’s interest and attention. Every time a new slide appears in the feed which gives users new information and increases the chances of likes, comments, and saves. This ultimately boosts its visibility and engagement rate.
More Content in One Post
When posting a single image, you have limited scope for adding content. However, carousels allow you to upload up to 20 slides in a single post, providing more content options and space. You can share more information and detailed stories about the topic without using separate posts. This makes it quite advantageous, especially for businesses that offer a wide variety of products and services. It is advised to display a carousel with no more than ten slides, even though the limit is twenty.
Versatility in Content Type
Carousels are a versatile type of content that allows you to add content in varied formats, such as videos, photos, and text slides, all in one post. This approach expands the reach and relevance of information, making it easier for people to connect with and understand. By using a mix of videos, images, and text, you can appeal to different preferences and ways of learning. Moreover, by blending these formats, you can create a more engaging story, which boosts interaction and keeps your audience interested.
Showcase a High Range of Content
Carousels let you post a wide range of content. They enable you to create a story, present a product line, explain product benefits, and so on in a single post. This comprises step-by-step instructions and tutorials, storytelling, lists, customer reviews, statistical reports, case studies, products from many angles, and so on. More slides allow you to break down complex information into more digestible and easy-to-understand content. This enhances user experience and drives higher engagement.
Higher Time Spent
A carousel post contains more information, allowing users to swipe through multiple slides which increases their time spent on your posts. Instagram algorithms consider the time spent on a post to boost its reach and visibility. This shows Instagram algorithms that there is some valuable and interesting information in your content that is making the audience spend more time on it. High time spent means higher reach and visibility, which leads to increased engagement.
Multiple Call to Actions
A carousel post can include multiple slides, each with a unique CTA to drive engagement. One slide may feature a comment-related CTA, while others can have something to boost shares. The primary CTA can be placed at the end in order to increase conversions. For example, you can urge viewers to leave a comment on their favorite slide, share a related one with others, visit your profile, and so on.
Reduced Content Saturation on Feeds
Instagram carousels allow you to reduce content saturation in the user’s feed by consolidating several content pieces into a single post. You can combine 10-12 posts featuring videos, images, and text slides in one carousel and avoid overwhelming audience feed. This ensures organized storytelling rather than scattering content across different posts, which causes higher disruptions to the feed. When the audience remains focused, the chances of them performing engagement also increase.
Conclusion
Carousels are currently the most popular content type in terms of reach and engagement. Due to detailed and interactive content, users spend more time, which is a sign of valuable content for Instagram algorithms. High time spent leads to more reach and visibility, which brings more engagement. Besides that, they are diverse in terms of content type and format to cater to a variety of audience preferences. They even appear more than once in a user feed, which increases their exposure and engagement.
