Carousels are the easiest post to make badly. A few slides of text, a template, done. Here are the rules we hold every carousel to, for every client.
Size it for the feed
1080 by 1440, a 3:4 frame. It takes up more of the screen than a square or the old 4:5, which is the point. Keep about 180 pixels clear at the top and bottom so nothing important gets covered.
Hook, points, call to action
The first slide earns the swipe. Then the points, in order, one per slide. The call to action goes last. Never in the middle, and never on a random slide because it fit.
Keep it clean
- Minimal design. One idea per slide. White space is fine.
- The brand's own colors and fonts. Not a template everyone else is also using.
- Headlines that read as a thumbnail. If it only works zoomed in, it doesn't work.
What goes on each slide
- Slide one. The hook. One line, big, with a reason to swipe. A question, a number, or a claim worth checking.
- The middle. One point per slide, in the order a person would think it through. If two points need the same slide, one of them is a different carousel.
- The last slide. The ask. Book, call, shop, comment. One thing, not three.
Photos beat flat graphics
A carousel built on real photos of the business, its people, and its product does better than text on a color block. We shoot with carousels in mind, so there are frames with room for a headline instead of a busy background.
Aim at buyers
A carousel can get saved a thousand times and sell nothing. We mix four kinds: personality, value, proof, and a clear ask. Proof is the one most accounts skip, and it's the one that moves people from following to buying.
Read about social content, or see the people beat graphics note.
