Turn Your Content into Swipe-Worthy Carousel Posts

Shannon McKinstrie [00:00:05]:
I am your host, Shannon McKinstrie. Welcome to Good Content, the podcast where I remove the never ending content creation, guesswork and overwhelm so that you can actually enjoy being on social media again and growing your business with what has always worked. Good Content. Hey, sweet friend, let's dive right in. We are going to talk carousel posts. First, can I just say, it's not that they're better than reels, they're not performing better than reels. We've gone through this for years. All of a sudden they're like, carousel posts are up, reels are sucking now.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:00:36]:
Reels are thriving. Carousels, no one wants them. It's like, y'all good content will work no matter what. Now I will say Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, did come out recently and say the reason carousels do so well, typically if they are swipeable. Let's start there. Just because it's a carousel post does not mean it's going to perform better. Is because there's more chances for people to connect and tap and engage. And I think people just generally like consuming carousels.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:01:01]:
Now, again, for anyone new to IG, carousel just means like a photo dump. It's anything that you are swiping through and it's images. Sometimes it's images and pictures, but it's the ones where you swipe. It's not a reel. It's a post essentially. And just so you guys know, static posts can still perform well too. Now, a few months ago, Instagram rolled out the ability to do a carousel post and add text on it so you no longer have to use Canva. I was freaking out when this happen because I overthink my carousels.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:01:28]:
This is why I mainly do reels, because carousels I will literally overanalyze. That's the piece of content that I obsess over. Reel? I'll create a reel in five minutes and it like goes bonkers. I'm like, see ya right? Like, yay, job done. Right? Because I keep my reels very, very simple, typically, unless it's a talk to camera. But when it comes to carousels, I would overthink the design again. I'm not a graphic designer, but I love consuming carousels by graphic designers that are like gorgeous and stunning.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:01:58]:
I like geek out. Actually, let me look at. I've got Instagram open on my computer. I'm gonna look at something real quick. Let me see if it pops on the Explore page on my. Oh, but how funny is this? One of the things in my Explore page says my Carousel posts went viral. Here's how. Let's see what this creator has to say.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:02:13]:
So she. She does the structure very similar to how. How I would. So let's just get into that. And I'm gonna pull up. I can't find the one girl that does a lot of carousels that are just gorgeous. But the problem is when I absorb beautiful carousel posts like that, guess what happens to my mindset. I suck.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:02:29]:
My carousel is ugly. And guess what Instagram said, guys, stop it. And they now have the ability to. You can just upload a bunch of photos or the same photo over and over and over again, which a lot of people do, and I've done as well. And you add text to it inside of Instagram. If you do not have that update yet, I would definitely suggest deleting app, reinstalling the app. But please know if you do that, you will lose all your drafts. Go to your drafts and your reels and save them to your camera roll.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:02:54]:
You should have them by now, I believe. If not, then they're still rolling it out. And that's annoying that you haven't gotten it yet, but hopefully you will soon. My social media management client has it and they have a smaller following, so I. It's not a following thing. It's. Sometimes these things just take time. So I've also done it with one of my management clients who I manage, who is a brewery for their weekly events, right? We're like, this week's events, and then slide two, Monday this, slide three, Tuesday this.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:03:19]:
That's a great way to do it, especially if you have something where every day of the week there's something else. The schedule, things like that. It doesn't have to be that crazy, right? So the way a carousel, though, is built, if you want to do it in the storytelling way. Remember last week's podcast, we talked about talking to the camera, sharing a story, and then we would turn it into a carousel. That's what we're going to do. I like to talk about talk to camera hooks that are very eavesdropping, almost like. And there I was wondering what I was going to do with my life. Or I don't know.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:03:46]:
That's not that compelling. But something like that, where you kind of start in the middle of the story. Second thing, it was Monday, October, da da da da 2008, and I had just gotten laid off. Slide three. Do you see? It's like a book. That's one way to do a carousel. Okay, so if you talked to the camera this week, and told a really cool story. Remember I told you the funny story about my husband passing out right before the finish line? I could say the story of my husband fainting right before the finish line.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:04:14]:
And what that has to do with your business. That could be the first slide. Slide 2. It was a crisp morning on Da da da da. Slide 3. Dah dah dah dah. Okay, so it reads like a book. That is a really cool way to do it.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:04:25]:
So I just look through a bunch of carousels that are my Explore page. They don't have great likes engagement or anything. And they're still using those mediocre "how to get more followers on Instagram" "How to da da da" No, you got to make it enticing. Okay, so that first slide is either going to start with the story something like. Did I tell you the time I almost. Da da da da.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:04:46]:
Second, it was right. Do you see what I'm saying? It's just like a story. You're going to any. And if you're in the reels lab, go to any of the reels scripts that I've done that read like a story where you're telling someone a story that happened. Flip it into a carousel. I did a founder story a while ago. It's pinned. My founder story starts out with we all start somewhere.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:05:05]:
And for me, it was in the ICU. Powerful. That's the first slide. Second slide, I just had my daughter and I was hemorrhaging and da da da da. Third slide. Another version of telling a story with a carousel. Let me scroll down. If you go to my Instagram, I posted it back in.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:05:21]:
Gotta go. I posted it in August. August 29th. So if you want to go look at it with me as I. As I read this, this was done in Instagram. Okay. So again, you can either do these in Canva or you can do them in Instagram now. It's great.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:05:35]:
You have both options. I do a mix of both. First slide is a picture of me and my family at the beach. And it says, as August slips away into a moment in time, we have something to share with you. The story of the beach house. Second slide. Back in the 70s, my grandparents bought two lots on Milepost 7 in Kill Devil Hills. In 1978 they built....
Shannon McKinstrie [00:05:50]:
And I go on to tell the story. And in that picture is a picture of the original house in the 70s. Third slide. They love when the grandkids would visit. Blah, blah, blah. Picture my grandparents with me and a couple of my cousins. Fourth story, they did a few additions As I go on, I tell the story of how my grandma passed and then we purchased the lot next to my grandma's house. Anyway, it's a whole thing if you want to go see it.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:06:10]:
It's a very touching, moving story and will bring me to tears if I talk about it. So let's move on. But do you see what I is the storytelling type of carousel. You start kind of in the middle or start with just saying, I got a crazy story about da da da, here's what happened. And then as they go through what it does, what carousels do so well is they break up the text. So it's just enough to keep it juicy. Second type of carousel is more the helpful type of content, right? That was more heard storytelling, feeling seen tug at the heartstrings type of stories. The next is the educational piece, the helpful content, right? Here's one that did really well for me months ago when Instagram first rolled this out is the first hook is meet your content pillars based on the four H's.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:06:53]:
Again, that is not how to da da da da. It's like meet them builds curiosity based on the 4H's. What the heck is the 4H's they swipe to see. And then I go on and it's again a picture of me. And it gives a little intro. So if you guys are thinking about it, the education helpful is a lot like a caption. So any captions you guys have done years ago or six months ago or three months ago, you can flip into a carousel post. The first slide is your hook, the second is the intro, and the rest is value, value, value.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:07:22]:
And guess what the last slide is? Call to action. It's that simple. So instead of going, okay, so carousel posts are doing really well right now. Just because it's a carousel doesn't mean it's going to do well. It needs to be good. It needs to be good content. So a caption or reel that has done well for you, you're going to flip it into a carousel. Your first slide is going to be the hook, right? So if you go to the next slide, it set my second slide, it says, I came up with a simple method for my clients that makes it easier to create content and hit post.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:07:48]:
And now you, with three arrows to direct them, tell people what to do with your carousels. Swipe. Okay, my hook in my caption meaning underneath the carousel, underneath the post, it said swipe and save and read below. And guess what they did? They kept swiping. They saved it and they read below what happens when that happens. That increases watch time. Sorry, this is a very educational, heavy podcast episode. Okay? It increases watch time, meaning people are spending more time on your carousel and that is why they do well.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:08:16]:
But again, just because it's carousel post doesn't mean it's going to do well. It needs to get people to swipe and read it. Okay, so again we have the storytelling carousel, which is huge. Great for something to pin about your story of how you became right. Do you see? I just said I immediately flipped my founder story into a carousel. That's how I would do it. And I would have pictures of my journey. First would be me maybe just starting my business or maybe to the point that I am now in my business.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:08:38]:
Second slide would be me dying in the hospital with my newborn. Dark but true. Third would be and then I decided I was going to and maybe a picture of me in the corporate world and then a picture of me building my business and then, then me speaking on stage and carousel and pin that bad boy for your about you and things like that. All right, Second again is your educational. And then, you know, I go into helpful, heard. And at the end, my last slide is. But wait, there's more. My Latest freebie has 5 reels da da da.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:09:04]:
Comment this. So many opt ins. And now let's talk about the carousel I did last week. That went absolutely bananas for me. Okay. Over 4,000 likes. I think it had like five, over 5,000 saves. It had more saves and shares than likes, which was kind of funny.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:09:17]:
This is the first slide. First of all, if you've been following me a while, you may have known this tip. This was based off a reel that went viral for me a year ago. And the hook of my reel was the first three Instagram stories to share every day. Good. I added a little more context underneath it. I say easy ideas with a big impact. Guess what they swiped.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:09:38]:
And guess what my caption was. The third one is often missed, why did I do that? Because I knew it would get them to swipe because of curiosity. So we've got the storytelling and then we've got the education. And both do well. If you're going to do the education route, do not just put how to blah blah blah. If you're going to say how to blah blah blah, make it very specific. How to double your income by January 2025. And then underneath in a subtitle, just like I do without xyz.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:10:05]:
All right, so then again, there's my first slide. The first three Instagram stories to share every day: easy ideas of the big impact they swipe. Intro: stories are the open door to your business. Instagram stories are amazing for building trust. I set the stage. Third tip. Tip. Slides 3, 4, 5 are tip.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:10:24]:
And a little bonus at the end. And then a call to action. That's a carousel. It's that simple hook that is juicy, captivating intro. Slide 2, a little set the stage moment. And then value, value, value. Or story, story, story. End with a call to action or end with the lesson and the takeaway.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:10:45]:
Okay. That is how you make a carousel post that goes viral and brings in sales, et cetera, et cetera. Now, again, I just want to drive home. Guess what else carousels are? A photo dump. If you are a blogger or if you are just a boutique and you just are like, I just want to share some photos of my pretty store. Do it. You don't even have to add text.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:11:03]:
Those still work. I did one of Taylor Swift of us at Taylor Swift did really, really well for like a personal. Again, what is that content category? Happenings. That's behind the scenes of my life. And again, happening is going to be behind the scenes of your business too. But it's a happening. And I said swipe to the second video for the extended version. It was a longer video.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:11:20]:
So again, with carousels with that, like, if you're doing a photo dump of a vacation or an event you're at, you can actually do videos in there too. One minute is the max for those. So that's carousels. Guys, I don't want to go too deep into it because this is what I want you to do. Any reel of yours, any caption of yours that has done well in the past, you're going to flip it into a carousel just like that. Let me give you a couple more hook ideas for the front of a carousel. I'm gonna go to the Explore page and see what other carousels pop up. Love this one.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:11:44]:
Oh, my gosh, yes. Okay, this one says, 37 B roll ideas for any niche. Make content creation easy. Oh, and that's from Michelle, a friend of mine on Instagram, and it did very well for her. So again, do you see why it wasn't just B roll ideas? How to shoot B roll boring. 37 B roll ideas for any niche. And guess what? She has a subtitle under it too. Make content creation easy.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:12:07]:
Genius, Michelle. And then it just goes into. She doesn't even have an intro paragraph because she knows she didn't even need it. The hook was that juicy. And then at the end, guess what? She has want a hundred plus more. And then she tells them where to go for that. Another carousel. Okay, I found one of the pretty ones from a graphic designer.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:12:23]:
This creator is a l u n creative. Okay, so she's like a graphic designer. The first slide says how I craft my carousels. Time to wake up. Great hook. Also, another little tiny subtitle. She put my design secrets. This was post August 3rd, if you want to check it out.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:12:40]:
Why carousels? There's your second page. Her intro. Reels are great. Times of change. Well, I don't know if I agree with that. Times have changed, but reels are still great. She says reels aren't delivering like they used to. Again, I have proof that reels still go bonkers, but carousels are definitely doing very well for people.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:12:59]:
And then she breaks down what how she does it. So again, I want to reassure you, if you're like carousels, Nope, I don't even wanna do them. Don't I do one every week. One every two weeks right now. Some do really well, some don't. Let me give you one more example of mine. Sorry, this is a little longer of a podcast, but I know this is a hot topic right now.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:13:16]:
Here it is. I put a week of reels hooks. Perfect for every niche. Again, a subtitle, plus what to include in the video itself. I didn't do an intro post for this one either. I just went Monday, Tuesday and then at the very end, wait, there's more comment pop off if you want to go through again my account just to see how I structure them. Have at it. And then here's another one of mine that I made in Instagram.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:13:39]:
And if you go to this one, I posted it September 3rd. Again, we'll put these in the show notes. I just took a bunch of selfies of me in the car and made different faces depending on. So that's kind of a fun way to do it. My hook was on the first slide was the secret to use the algorithm to blow up your content in a smaller subtitle. How the algorithm actually works and how to get more reach and engagement daily. I added a little more context, a little intro, and then I kind of just gave them bit by bit.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:14:02]:
And guess what that was? That was an old caption. An old caption I used like a year ago. So again, the one where I said the three stories to share every day, that was a reel script I turned into a carousel. Every single one of my carousels that I've done. You guys are either reels scripts or old captions. Stop overthinking it, but do make sure that that first hook is juicy. Maybe add a little more context. And again, look at mine to get ideas or use it as a way to tell a really cool story.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:14:31]:
Carousels are amazing right now for growing and connecting. They do give people even more opportunity to connect with you. And I think as we scroll carousels we're, we are okay with getting more information than we normally get, like reels we want. So bite size carousels, you can give them a little more. They're. They're clocked in a little bit more. Right? They're set for those. All right.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:14:50]:
This was the longest podcast I think I've done, so please let me know if this helps. If you're on YouTube, drop any comments you have, but that's it. Guys, do you see how easy. So easy. Go create a carousel. Repurpose something that already did well, flip it into a carousel. Let me know how it goes. Love you.
Shannon McKinstrie [00:15:06]:
Bye.