5 creative ways to use the carousel feature on instagram

The instagram carousel feature was introduced in 2015 and added in the video carousel feature in 2016. It was initially introduced for advertising purposes but was later released for public use due to popularity. What is the carousel feature though? It’s a post that can feature between 2 and 10 images in a single post.

Many people use the carousel feature for many different types of posts, but this is what yellow cherry digital’s top 5 interesting ways that we have seen the carousel featured used.

Stages of process:

People enjoy seeing the creative process or the process of creating something. For example showing people the different ingredients that go into the dish, with the different stages of cooking. Another example of other popular carousels are when people are making a piece of furniture and they show all the different processes that they go through to finish the item of furniture.

We have notice that showing people how to edit, or the editing process on images, graphics and videos is a popular use for the carousel. It’s always interesting to see how creative people can get with the carousel feature.

Before and After Images or Videos:

Before and after images or videos are possibly the most popular way that carousels are used. A largely popular piece of content that we see time and time again are restorations. Weather its shoes, cars, cleaning and body transformations. People really enjoy seeing before and after images, and they engage with them well too. It’s always been something that has been popular on social media. Before and after images aren’t necessarily just two images stuck next to each other, but they could show the whole process of the transformations with the use of the carousel feature. If you have the opportunity to use the full 10 images, why wouldn’t you use them?

Showing full length Videos on your feed:

There is a slight limitation in regards to the videos you can put onto your feed on instagram. That limitation that you may have stumbled upon already, is a 3 second minimum and a 60 second maximum for the videos. The way around that is to use the carousel feature. Using the carousel feature has enabled you and others to post multiple 60 second clips, which you can edit the splits into your video. One of the more popular uses of this “hack” for the longer videos, is workout tutorials/videos. They are able to show you how each exercise should be done, and the movements included in each one.

Brands launching multiple items:

The maximum amount of images as previously mentioned in a carousel is 10 and the mimum is 2. A very popular trend for clothing and apparel brands, large and small, is for them to use the carousels to show their new releases all together. It’s a great way for brands to show the lines altogether so people can see them altogether. Furthermore if it’s a special or limited release line, it’s easier for the audience to see these products specifically together.

Not spamming people feeds:

When you’ve been to a concert, festival, sports even or even a holiday you’re going to have a lot of images and possibly a couple of videos. The last thing you like seeing is someone posting all of their pictures one after the other and flooding your feed, so why do it to them in return?

The carousel feature enables you to avoid that. You can post all your pictures in the one places. If it’s all in a slidable gallery instead of them scrolling through their feed and possibly scrolling on by. Another benefit of the carousel is you can split the images from your holiday into smaller sections, for example, splitting up your holiday pictures into food, beach and activities, a much easier and visually the same post that can feature lots of your images all in one.

The carousel feature has proven to be a great way to showcase multiple different ways of being creative. The five we have listed above are just the tip of the iceberg for some people. With new features coming out across multiple different social media platforms, people will always express themselves in different ways, they will always think outside of the box. We recently released a blog that talked about collages, and some of those collages used the carousel feature. If you’ve liked this blog, you should check that one out too! http://bit.ly/2J6ac8l