Posting multiple photos in a single Instagram carousel is one of the most effective ways to increase engagement on your social media posts. Carousels give your audience more content to interact with in a single post, which encourages more swipes, saves and shares than a single image post. You can include up to 10 photos in a single Instagram carousel post, and your audience swipes left to scroll through the images.

This article covers how to create and post an Instagram carousel from your social media planner with Thryv, including how to upload images, reorder them, write a caption using CaptionAI, and schedule your post. This article covers Instagram carousel posts only. Facebook does not support the carousel format in the same way as Instagram, selecting Facebook alongside Instagram when creating a multi-image post will not produce a carousel on Facebook. 

Why Post an Instagram Carousel

An Instagram carousel is a single post that contains between 2 and 10 photos your audience can swipe through. Carousels consistently outperform single-image posts on Instagram because they give your audience more content to engage with in one place. Each swipe counts as an additional interaction, which signals to Instagram's algorithm that your content is worth showing to more people. For small business owners, carousels are a practical way to showcase a portfolio of work, highlight a promotion across multiple images or tell a story about your business without requiring your audience to visit another page.

Your social media planner makes it easy to build an Instagram carousel in the same place you manage all of your other social media posts. You can upload your own photos, browse free stock photos or design images directly in Canva without leaving your social media planner. If you need help writing a caption, CaptionAI can generate one for you based on a prompt you provide.

How to Create and Post an Instagram Carousel

To create an Instagram carousel, navigate to your social media planner and create a new post. Make sure Instagram is selected as the destination for your post. The post composer displays the social media platforms connected to your account, Instagram must be selected to create a carousel. 

Note: Selecting Facebook alongside Instagram will not produce a carousel on Facebook.

Next, click the Camera icon to open the image upload menu.

The image upload menu displays three options for adding photos to your carousel: upload images from your device, browse free stock photos or design images using Canva. Select the option that fits your needs and choose the images you want to include. You can add up to 10 photos to a single Instagram carousel post.

Once you select your images, the photos appear above your post in the order you selected them, displayed from left to right. To reorder your images, drag and drop them into the order you want. Instagram displays carousel images to your audience in the same left-to-right order shown in your social media planner. To add more images, click Add Image and select additional photos. You can include up to 10 photos total in a single carousel post.

If you need a caption for your carousel post, click CaptionAI to open the AI caption generator. Enter a prompt describing your post, your business, or the message you want to communicate and CaptionAI will generate a caption for you. Try multiple prompts to get the result that best fits your post before copying the caption into your post.

When your images are in the correct order and your caption is ready, click Post to publish your carousel immediately or click Schedule to choose a date and time to publish your carousel automatically.

Once posted, your audience can view all photos in the carousel by swiping left on the Instagram post.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I post an Instagram carousel to Facebook at the same time? 

No. Instagram and Facebook handle multi-image posts differently. When you select both Instagram and Facebook as destinations for a multi-image post in your social media planner, the post will publish as an Instagram carousel on Instagram. Facebook does not support the carousel format in the same way as Instagram and will not display the images as a swipeable carousel.

What is the maximum number of photos I can include in a carousel post? 

You can include up to 10 photos in a single Instagram carousel post. The Add Image button will no longer be available once you have selected 10 photos. To replace an image once you have reached the 10-photo limit, remove an existing image from your carousel before adding a new one.

What types of images can I upload to my carousel? 

You can upload your own images from your device, browse free stock photos available directly in your social media planner, or design custom images using Canva without leaving your social media planner. Please verify that any images you upload from your device meet Instagram's image format and size requirements before posting.

Can I use CaptionAI for other types of social media posts? 

Yes. CaptionAI is available for all post types in your social media planner, not just Instagram carousel posts. To generate a caption for any post, click CaptionAI in the post composer and enter a prompt describing your post. Try multiple prompts to find the caption that best fits your content. To learn more about using CaptionAI across your social media planner, see Use CaptionAI to write Social Media Captions.

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