Instagram’s latest feature, the image carousel, opens up a world of possibilities for digital marketers.
Takeaways
- Instagram has rolled out its carousel feature to all users, allowing anyone to post multiple images to a single, swipeable album.
- Brands like Lonny magazine are pushing the envelope by using the carousel to build “insta articles.”
- Birchbox and Black Milk are bringing storytelling to their carousel posts, creating engaging how-tos and showcasing user-generated content.
Zontee: Whether you call it a carousel, gallery, or an album, Instagram’s new multi-image post format opens up a world of possibilities for marketers to get creative.
Hi, I’m Zontee Hou, senior strategist at Convince & Convert, and today I want to talk about five ways to increase engagement when posting multiple images to Instagram. In a recent article in The Verge, a Facebook employee is quoted as saying that the company regards the camera as the new keyboard. With that in mind, it’s no wonder that the company, which owns Instagram, has expanded the ways in which consumers can use the visual platform.
In late February of this year, Instagram added the ability to create native carousels or albums, allowing users to upload multiple images in one single post. Previously, this feature had only been available to advertisers. Since then, consumers and brands have been pushing the envelope when it comes to using these posts. Beyond the basics, though, I want to talk about a couple of examples of companies that have been doing some creative content that’s designed to increase engagement and make the most out of this feature.
If you’re familiar with Lonny magazine, which is a shelter magazine and lifestyle publication, they’re using the carousel feature to create what they’re calling Insta Articles. And this features both photos and pulled quotes from featured interior designers and artists and other people that they’re interviewing, so it’s a very interactive way to get a lot of information quickly. Another use is to turn panoramic or super wide photos into swipe-ready carousels. A great app for this purpose is the Swipeable app which not only cuts your images to size, but also adds a little animation to the first image subtly signaling to the viewer that they should swipe.
Multiple images is also useful for storytelling or how-tos. For instance, the makeup company Birchbox is able to give more detail on their products and their uses with Instagram carousels. Australian clothing company Black Milk was already known for their cult following and user-generated content, and they’re able to showcase the creativity of their fans through those collections of photos, using this multi-image feature.
And finally, multiple images allow your company to show more detail, so whether that’s going behind the scenes of your office, or literally showing the craftsmanship that goes into a Cartier ring, Instagram carousels allow your followers to go in more depth and, again, creates that touchpoint for engagement.
As always, we want to hear from you. How are you using the carousel feature on Instagram to increase engagement with your brand? Leave us a comment, and let us know.