True to its reputation of fun and creative product designs, Instagram launched a new “Carousel” feature that lets users share up to 10 photos and videos in a single post.

The feature was initially only available to advertisers, but as Instagram opened the door wider to accommodate all users, more and more people are using it to take advantage of the platform’s authentic advertising environment.

With a single swipe, your audience can scroll through the images you’ve uploaded. You don’t have to choose the one best picture or video of your event ever again. Choose 10 and share your experience without cluttering your Followers’ feeds, too!

It works the same way Facebook’s Galleries and Carousels do. Once you’ve added your pictures and videos, you can tap and hold to change the order, apply a filter individually or edit them all at once. Also, although you can tag the photos and videos to your friends individually, the caption and location you add will apply to all the photos and images.

The post will appear with a blue icon at the bottom, letting your audience know that they can swipe to see more.

On Facebook, Instagram's parent company, Carousel posts have a 10x higher click-through rate compared to regular sponsored posts. There's no available data yet on how effective it is on Instagram, but if it's growing your company that you're most concerned about right now, you could try augmenting your marketing efforts with bought Instagram Followers.

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Okay, so here’s how you can start using the Instagram Carousel.

Steps to Using the Multiple Photo Feature

Step 1. Make sure your app is fully updated, and then tap the plus sign at the bottom to add a new post.

Step 2. Click the “Select Multiple” button.

Note that after the first time you use Carousels, the label “Select Multiple” will no longer appear and only the icon button will remain.

Step 3. Add up to 10 photos or videos. Rearrange the order as you would like them to appear, and then tap “Next” when you're finished.

Step 4. Choose a filter for your photos or videos.

Step 5. Create a caption and add tags or location to your post. This is also where you can choose to share it with your other social media channels.

Step 6. Just click “Share” to post it.

If you want to change a photo, click the < button for back, and then deselect the ones you want removed. Click + to continue adding photos or videos.

4 Ways You Can Use the Carousel Feature

To get you started, we've rounded up some creative ways companies on Instagram have used this feature. Borrow one or two of these ideas and use it in your next campaign.

Showcase a Stop-Motion Post

Telling a story via images is a great way to engage your audience. Take it up a notch by making it a stop-motion presentation of a moment, experience or any message you want to send to your customers.

National Geographic is one of those brands that frequently use images to tell a story. They did it to very engaging effect when they used the Instagram Carousel to share three photos with one to two seconds in between, of a dangerous (and fatal) crab fishing expedition in St. Paul, Alaska.

You can also create your own story using comic images or tell a joke by connecting memes together. See how BuzzFeed did it in one of their Carousel posts.

me and my sister for real. tag yours 😂 A post shared by BuzzFeed (@buzzfeed) on Mar 31, 2017 at 6:58pm PDT

The post encouraged viewers to check out all the pictures by using a swipe left icon below the image (in the original post), and invited participation of the audience with a “tag yours” CTA in the caption.

Feature a Step-By-Step Guide

Engage your audience with guides or tutorials that show each step through an image! Include a link to the detailed how-to guide in your caption.

You can use step-by-step guides for recipes, technical how-tos, makeup tutorials and more.

In the example below, sciencewows used Carousels for science experiment tutorials for kids and their parents or teachers.

Host a Contest

Contests are a great way to truly engage your audience, not only because they're fun but also because there's a prize at stake. Maybe it subtly takes us back to a time when we’d be rewarded for our good behavior with a pizza party, or some other prize we loved as a child.

GrabTaxi clearly understood all of that when they launched a Followers campaign using the Carousel feature on Instagram. They connected nine different image parts of one photo in a clever design.

Their “SpotSweatyBoy” campaign required first that you Follow their account, find “sweaty boy,” and then Repost using their caption and hashtag to get a $4 fare voucher.

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Another company that used Instagram’s Carousel feature for a contest was MTV. MTV engaged its audience by simply uploading pictures of the Best Villain nominees and asking viewers to vote via the Comment section, to great success.

Who should win best villain? 💀 Vote here 👉 movietvawards.mtv.com, and watch the #MTVAwards Sunday, May 7th at 8/7c to see who wins! A post shared by MTV (@mtv) on Apr 7, 2017 at 2:00pm PDT

Take Advantage of User-Generated Content

Utilize your user-generated content and create Carousels out of it.

Canva, a design tool company, featured work of people using Canva and then encouraged other users to keep tagging the brand for a chance to be chosen for their next user-generated Carousel post.

Those whose work was featured, naturally, felt thankful for being chosen. This kind of post guarantees engagement from users who post Instagram photos that you promise to pick from.

Your Turn!

Viewer engagement in Carousels looks statistically more promising than regular posts, and using the feature is a fun and innovative way to stay connected with your Instagram audience. You’ll also show that you can stay on top of the latest trends, and for some people you’ll be the one introducing them to Carousels.

So, it’s time to use Instagram’s Carousel photo function in your marketing. You can share your events, show behind-the-scene photos, showcase a product and more. The only limit with this versatile new feature is your imagination!

Date: July 12, 2017 / Categories: Guide, Marketing, / Author: Chell