If you’re looking to improve your Instagram reach, you should know how to use every type of content Instagram offers — including Reels, single posts, carousels, stories, and even interactive features like polls and Q&As. A well-rounded content strategy ensures you’re reaching different audience segments and maximizing engagement. In this article, Coal Creative’s social media team is diving into how to use carousels effectively and why they’re a powerful tool for boosting your visibility.
Plus, we’ll even show you some examples of how we’ve used them here at Coal Creative and with our collaborators.
Why Carousels Work
Instagram’s algorithm prioritizes engagement, and carousel posts are a built-in way to increase it. Each time someone swipes through your post, they spend more time interacting with your content. That extra time being spent signals to Instagram that your post is valuable, making it more likely to be shown to a larger audience.
More Swipes = More Engagement
Every swipe counts as an additional engagement metric, meaning carousels will naturally boost your visibility. So instead of just one chance to capture attention with a single photo, you get multiple opportunities within one post by creating a carousel.
How to Make the Most of Carousels
Here are a few ways you can leverage carousel posts to increase engagement and maximize reach:
Don’t have any ideas?
Have five tips? That’s a carousel. A step-by-step tutorial? Perfect for multiple slides. Instead of cramming all your information into one image or video, spread it out across slides for better retention.
Repurpose Instead of Reinventing
Content creation takes time, so work smarter! If you have a long-form blog or video, break it down into digestible slides. One idea can become multiple posts—a carousel today, and a single post later.
Make Every Slide Count
Think of each slide as a new opportunity to hook your audience. Keep your text to the point, use bold headlines, and encourage swiping through by building curiosity between slides.
Start Using Carousels Today
Even adding just one carousel post per month can improve your engagement and reach on Instagram. If this tip helped, feel free to share it with a fellow content creator and start experimenting with carousels in your content plan!
Need help getting your social media strategy together? Send us a message!