LinkedIn carousel posts are an effective way to share engaging and eye-catching content on LinkedIn. Carousels allow you to include multiple images, videos, and captions in a single post. This catches viewers’ attention and helps drive more engagement.
Creating high-quality organic carousel posts that perform well takes strategy and planning. In this comprehensive guide, we will walk through how to:
– Plan the content for your carousel post
– Create compelling visual assets
– Write captivating captions
– Format your carousel post
– Optimize your post for maximum reach
Follow these steps to create an organic carousel post on LinkedIn that grabs attention and drives meaningful engagement.
Plan the Content for Your Carousel Post
The first step is planning the overall theme, topic, and goals for your carousel post content. Consider the following when brainstorming content ideas:
Identify Your Goal
What do you aim to achieve with this carousel post? Potential goals include:
– Drive traffic to your website or blog
– Promote an event, product, service, or launch
– Share company news, culture, or values
– Establish yourself as an industry thought leader
– Engage your target audience
Once you identify your goal, you can create targeted content that helps you accomplish it.
Choose a Compelling Topic
Choose a topic that is timely, interesting, and relevant to your audience. Analyze trending topics and news in your industry to inspire ideas. Tap into topics your audience cares about.
Some examples of compelling LinkedIn carousel post topics include:
– Industry news and analysis
– Trend reports, projections, or predictions
– How-to guides and tips
– Lists or roundups (e.g. top 10 tools for social media marketers)
– Company milestone or achievement
– Event promotion
– New product or service launch
– Work culture and values
– Employee spotlights
– Philanthropy and social impact
Tell a Story Across Cards
The most engaging carousel posts tell a story across cards. Each image builds upon the previous one and moves the narrative forward.
Plan your cards to feature:
– A beginning that introduces the topic
– A middle that elaborates with supporting points/visuals
– An end that concludes with a call to action
Craft your story arc when outlining the content.
Guide Viewers Through the Post
Retaining attention throughout a multi-card carousel post can be challenging. Help guide the viewer through the post by:
– Starting with an eye-catching visual hook that draws people in
– Using numbered cards (Card 1, Card 2, Card 3, etc.)
– Including transitions between cards like “Next,” “Moving on,” or “In addition”
Providing structure helps the viewer consume the information.
Determine the Mix of Visuals
Carousels allow for a variety of visual formats within one post. Mix up your media to keep it dynamic. Consider including:
– Photos
– Infographics
– Graphs or charts
– Illustrations
– Branded graphics
– Videos
Aim for visual cohesion while also providing variety.
Check Ideal Card Length
LinkedIn carousel posts work best with:
– 2-10 cards
– 20-100 words per card
Keep your cards focused and scannable. Avoid overloading viewers with walls of text.
Now you’re ready to create your visual assets and captions!
Create Compelling Visual Assets
Quality visuals are critical for an engaging carousel post. Here are tips for creating share-worthy visuals:
Design On-Brand Graphics
Use graphics tools like Canva to design polished graphics on brand for your company. Maintain consistent fonts, colors, and style across visuals.
Graphics ideas: Motivational quotes, tips lists, promotional graphics, event imagery.
Make Professional Photos
Shoot high-quality photos that look crisp and appealing online. Pay attention to lighting, framing, and image resolution.
Photo ideas: Headshots, workspace, products, infographics, employees.
Develop Captivating Videos
Short 30 to 60 second videos can help tell your story. Avoid amateurish quality. Use professional editing software to polish videos.
Video ideas: Product demos, employee testimonials, behind-the-scenes footage, animated explainer videos.
Design Sleek Infographics
Infographics condense complex information into digestible, visual formats. Use infographic design tools to present data in an engaging way.
Infographic ideas: Data trends, process flows, statistics, comparisons, timelines.
Hire a Designer If Needed
If you don’t have strong in-house design skills, consider hiring a freelance graphic designer. They can create polished, high-converting assets tailored to your brand and audience.
The upfront cost is well worth the payoff in engagement.
Write Captivating Captions
Compelling captions complete your carousel post. Follow these best practices when writing:
Grab Attention
Hook viewers from the start with a captivating opening caption. Ask a provocative question, share an eye-opening stat, or highlight an exciting announcement.
Provide Context
Give viewers the background needed to understand and care about your post. Set the scene and explain why they should keep reading.
Emphasize Benefits
Explain how your content benefits the target audience. Focus on solving their pain points and offering value.
Use Scannable Sentence Lengths
Break up long blocks of text with sentence lengths of 1-2 lines maximum. Make your captions easy to scan for busy readers.
Incorporate Call-to-Actions
Include one strong CTA per card inviting the viewer to click, sign up, download, learn more, or take another desired action.
Check Grammar and Spelling
Mistakes look unprofessional. Use spellcheckers and grammar tools to polish your writing. Read captions aloud to catch errors.
Stay On Brand Voice
Maintain a consistent tone and style aligned with your brand identity across all captions. Reference brand voice guidelines if needed.
Format Your Carousel Post
Once you’ve created your visuals and text, it’s time to put them together in an eye-catching carousel post.
Organize Cards Purposefully
Arrange your cards intentionally to tell a cohesive story that flows logically. Place the most eye-catching visual first to draw viewers in.
Use LinkedIn Post Creation Tools
Design your carousel natively within LinkedIn’s post editor. Access carousel templates and tools to easily add images, rearrange cards, and insert captions.
Check Image and Text Placement
Ensure visuals and text are balanced. Avoid text-heavy cards without enough breathing room. Images should complement captions.
Preview Your Post
Double check how your finished carousel looks by toggling through the preview mode. Verify cards are ordered correctly and readable.
Polish the Metadata
Fill out titles, descriptions, tags, etc. to help your post get discovered in searches. Add relevant hashtags like #smallbusiness, #marketingtips, or #infographic.
Optimize Your Post for Maximum Reach
Finally, incorporate best practices to maximize visibility and engagement on your carousel:
Post at Optimal Times
Analyze when your audience is most active on LinkedIn. Post during peak hours for your industry for higher visibility.
Engage With Your Post
Don’t just publish and abandon your post. React to comments, respond to shares, and like followers’ posts on your carousel.
Promote Across Other Channels
Share a link to your carousel post on your other social channels, blog, email newsletters, etc. to expand reach.
Advertise With LinkedIn Ads
Consider sponsoring your carousel as a LinkedIn ad. Target it to your ideal audience for added exposure at a manageable cost.
Analyze Performance
Track engagement metrics on your carousel post like reactions, comments, shares, and link clicks. Review insights to refine future posts.
Carousel Post Best Practices
To summarize, here are some top best practices for creating high-converting organic carousel posts on LinkedIn:
– Plan an engaging topic and narrative arc
– Use eye-catching images, videos, and graphics
– Write concise, scannable captions
– Limit 2-10 cards with 20-100 words per card
– Put the most captivating visual first
– Include a strong CTA per card
– Check post formatting on mobile and desktop
– Post at optimal times for your audience
– Promote your post across other channels
– Engage with your post continually
– Analyze engagement metrics to improve
Carousel Post Examples
Below are a few examples of brands effectively leveraging LinkedIn carousel posts:
| Company | Carousel Post Topic |
|---|---|
| HubSpot | Virtual event promotion |
| Hootsuite | Industry survey results |
| Salesforce | Philanthropy / social impact |
| IBM | Thought leadership and expert tips |
| Sprout Social | List post: Top social media news of 2022 |
Conclusion
By following this step-by-step guide, you can create stunning organic carousel posts for LinkedIn that get results. Carousels let you share an in-depth story and a diversity of multimedia content within one post. Take the time to craft compelling visuals and captivating captions tailored to your audience’s interests. Implement promotion and optimization best practices to maximize the reach and impact of your carousel. Get creative with your next carousel post on LinkedIn!