5 Instagram Carousel Ideas to Boost Engagement & Grow Followers

Introduction

Instagram Carousels are taking over and for good reason. They're up there as one of the most versatile growth tools on Instagram. We love a good growth tool later, and we know you do, too. Get more followers, engagement and sales with these five quick and easy Carousel ideas.

Idea #1: Promote a new product

Carousels have to be one of the best ways to announce a new product, feature or series. Think of each slide as its own opportunity to shine. You can share different variations, like colors or styles, the product styled in different ways, or simply highlight other important details. 

As I'm scrolling through Canadian company Smash+Tess' Carousel post, you can see how they used each slide to share different items in their new collection worn by different models. Super simple, yet effective and easy for you to recreate for your brand or business.

Idea #2: Personalized recommendations

Next idea is to offer personalized recommendations. Your Instagram audience is filled with different types of people: ages, locations, demographics... You name it. It's hard to cater to them all individually, but Carousel posts may be the answer.

You can provide targeted advice or recommendations without alienating your wider audience. And beauty brands like Supergoop and Fenty Beauty have done a killer job at this. Hopefully, these examples give you inspiration for your own business. To springboard your planning, think about how your customers can be grouped into categories and how your products or services could be positioned as solutions for each.

Idea #3: Share your brand story

Third is to share your brand story without ruining your feed aesthetic. Instagram aesthetic doesn't matter as much as it used to, but we'd be lying if we said it doesn't matter at all. Storytelling is a great way to humanize your brand on Instagram, but sometimes the photos we want to share aren't super cute.

This is where Carousel posts shine. Share an aesthetic photo as your first slide and include the others in the following ones.

Idea #4: Share UGC

Fourth is to share user-generated content in a roundup. This is probably the most simple Carousel idea to jump on. Not only is UGC one of the most trusted forms of content, but community members love it when they're featured on a brand's Instagram.

Sharing a carousel full of community photos is awesome for community building and also reach, especially if they share it. Also, another bonus is that it encourages your followers to jump on the UGC bandwagon for the opportunity to be featured. You can also use this same roundup approach for customer reviews or Tweets.

Idea #5: Share a roundup of graphics or memes

Last but not least is to create a roundup of graphics or memes. This type of Carousel post is bang on for getting more followers and increasing your reach.

This can be a collection of educational information, quotes, graphics, insights... The opportunities are endless. The most successful Carousel posts are the ones where each slide can stand on its own. For example, if someone only resonated with slide five of your carousel, they can share it and it would still make sense without the context of slide one. Self-help accounts, therapists and mental health advocates use this approach on their Instagram, but it can really work for any niche or industry.

And that's it. Let me know if you enjoyed these ideas or if you have any questions down below in the comments. And if you want more Instagram growth tips, make sure to check out our blog. I'll leave a link in the comments below. See you later.