LinkedIn carousel posts are an effective way to share engaging multimedia content on LinkedIn’s platform. Carousel posts allow you to include multiple images, videos, and text in a swipeable format, similar to Instagram or Facebook stories. This keeps your audience interested as they can swipe through different pieces of content seamlessly. As a marketer or business professional, using LinkedIn carousel posts can be a great strategy to boost engagement, promote thought leadership, and highlight your products or services. In this comprehensive guide, we will walk you through how to create optimized LinkedIn carousel posts to maximize their impact.
Why Use LinkedIn Carousel Posts?
Here are some of the key benefits of using LinkedIn carousel posts for your business:
- Showcase Products or Services: You can include images, videos, gifs, and descriptions of various products or services your company offers.
- Increase Engagement: Carousels garner 2X more comments and 3X more clicks compared to regular posts.
- Promote Content: Share slides, infographics, ebooks, whitepapers etc. in a carousel post to drive traffic.
- Highlight Media Coverage: Include logos, headlines and images from recent press mentions or media coverage.
- Boost Brand Awareness: Carousels stand out in the LinkedIn feed, helping you get noticed.
- Share Event Updates: Post photos and details from conferences, webinars or other events.
- Thought Leadership: Demonstrate your expertise by sharing tips, how-tos, key data points etc.
In summary, LinkedIn carousel posts enable you to share diverse multimedia content in an engaging format optimized for the platform. Implementing them strategically can help you achieve various business goals from the above list.
How to Create a LinkedIn Carousel Post
Here is a step-by-step guide to creating optimized LinkedIn carousel posts:
Step 1: Access the Post Editor
– Go to your LinkedIn homepage and click on “Start a post” at the top. This will open up the post editor.
– Alternatively, go to the Publishing tab from the LinkedIn toolbar at the top and click on “+ Share an article, image, video, or idea”.
Step 2: Select “Carousel” Format
– In the post editor, you will see a carousel icon on the far right of the formatting bar. Click on this icon.
– This will open the carousel post editor where you can add slides. The carousel format is now enabled.
Step 3: Add Slides
– You can add up to 10 slides in your carousel post on LinkedIn. Each slide can contain text, images, videos, and GIFs.
– To add a new slide, click on the “+” icon at the bottom right and select content type. Add your multimedia content and text.
– Customize each slide with optimal formatting – font sizes, colors, annotations etc.
Step 4: Manage Slide Order
– Once you’ve added all your slides, you can rearrange their sequence easily.
– Simply click and hold on a slide thumbnail on the left rail, then drag and drop it to the desired position.
Step 5: Finalize Post Details
– Add a compelling headline and description for your overall post.
– Proofread the text across all slides for errors.
– Include relevant hashtags and @mentions where applicable.
Step 6: Preview and Share
– Click “Preview” to see how your carousel post will look on LinkedIn.
– Make any final edits, then click “Share” to publish it on your profile and network feed.
Best Practices for LinkedIn Carousel Posts
To maximize the impact of your LinkedIn carousel posts, keep these proven best practices in mind:
Choose an Attention-Grabbing Visual
Your opening slide visual is the first thing viewers will see in their feed. Use high-quality, eye-catching images, videos, or graphics to grab attention fast.
Optimize Text on Each Slide
Keep slide text succinct – 1-2 sentences or 3-5 word headlines. Use large font sizes for readability.
Align with Your Audience
Tailor your carousel content, messaging, hashtags, and visual styles to resonate with your target LinkedIn audience.
Promote Consistently, Not Excessively
Post 1-2 carousels per week to stay top of mind without overwhelming your followers.
Include a Strong CTA
End your carousel with a clear call-to-action to drive the desired results – visits, downloads, sales etc.
Analyze and Refine
Check LinkedIn Analytics to identify well-performing slides. Double down on those content types and styles.
10 LinkedIn Carousel Post Ideas
Here are 10 creative ideas you can use to get started with carousel posts:
1. Company Culture Spotlights
Showcase your company’s unique culture and work environment through photos, quotes, fun videos and employee spotlights.
2. Product Launch Teasers
Generate buzz leading up to a product launch with teasers, demos, and launch details in a carousel.
3. Event Recaps
Share photos, quotes, key learnings, and stats from recent events, conferences, and webinars your brand hosted or participated in.
4. Customer Testimonials
Highlight inspiring customer success stories and their feedback about your products/services via testimonial quotes and pictures.
5. “How-to” Tutorials
Demonstrate your thought leadership with an educational how-to carousel post complete with tips, screenshots, illustrations and more.
6. Relevant News Roundups
Curate and share the latest news, trends, and insights from your industry in one easy-to-consume carousel post.
7. Fill-in-the-blank Quizzes
Engage your audience by turning tips, advice or interesting facts into fun fill-in-the-blank quizzes within a carousel post.
8. FAQ Listicles
Answer frequently asked questions from prospects and customers through an informative FAQ listicle carousel post.
9. Free Resource Samplers
Promote free resources, tools, templates, or downloads by sharing excerpts, previews, and descriptions in a carousel.
10. Video Content Highlights
Repurpose your best video content into share-worthy carousel posts using preview images, embeds, quotes and insights.
Tools to Create Carousel Posts
Here are some useful tools to help create high-quality, optimized carousel posts for LinkedIn:
Canva
Canva’s templates and easy-to-use graphic design tools help create beautiful slides with images and text.
Biteable
Make short, engaging brand videos right within Biteable to include in your carousels.
Slideshare
Turn your existing Slideshare presentations into carousel posts with slide images and descriptions.
Adobe Spark
Spark’s range of templates can help design animated videos, graphics, and visuals for carousel posts quickly.
Snappa
Use Snappa to resize images properly, edit graphics, create color palettes, and more for carousel posts.
Desygner
Desygner has carousel post templates alongside other graphic design capabilities to create eye-catching slides.
Stencil
Stencil offers a huge library of free stock photos, illustrations, and icons to visually enhance your carousel posts.
Pexels
Find stunning free stock photos and videos on Pexels to incorporate into your LinkedIn carousels for more engagement.
Lumen5
Turn blog posts and long-form content into 1-minute explainers and videos to recap into carousel posts.
Bannersnack
Quickly create professional banners, images, and visuals for your carousel directly within Bannersnack.
Top Examples of LinkedIn Carousel Posts
Here are some stellar examples of LinkedIn carousel posts from brands for inspiration:
Microsoft
Microsoft uses carousels to reveal key data insights, market research, and trends. Their text is short, data/image-focused, and easy to digest while scrolling.
IBM
IBM leverages carousels to showcase their popular podcast episodes. This engages their audience with share-worthy audio content.
Salesforce
Salesforce promotes their virtual events, webinars and news announcements through visual carousel posts with strong CTAs to register.
Adobe
Adobe creatively repurposes their most engaging blog content into condensed carousel posts.
Oracle
Oracle uses carousels to reveal inside looks into their company culture, values, and remote work.
Sprout Social
Sprout Social generates leads with carousels that preview their in-depth guides and generous content offers.
Hootsuite
Hootsuite shares useful tips, hacks, and best practices for social media marketing through instructional carousel posts.
HP
HP showcases their tech products beautifully through carousels with product images, feature lists, and strong CTAs.
HubSpot
HubSpot condenses their blog articles into digestible carousel posts to repurpose content.
Common LinkedIn Carousel Post Mistakes to Avoid
When creating LinkedIn carousels, stay away from these common mistakes:
Weak Headlines
Vague, boring headlines fail to capture attention. Use strong headlines optimized with keywords.
Too Much Text
Cramming too much text makes slides unreadable. Keep them short and scannable instead.
Inconsistent Branding
Mixing up brands, fonts, color schemes across slides appears haphazard. Maintain consistent branding.
Overused CTAs
Limit CTAs to just 1-2 strong calls-to-action. Weak repeated CTAs dilute your goal.
Low-Quality Visuals
Pixelated, cluttered images look unprofessional. Invest in high-res, eye-catching visuals.
Outdated Information
Stale, outdated content won’t engage your audience. Use current information.
Too Sales-y or Promotional
Avoid hard sells. Focus on value, education, and storytelling.
Inconsistent Posting
Sporadic, infrequent posting loses viewer interest. Post carousels consistently.
Frequently Asked Questions
What image size should I use for LinkedIn carousel posts?
The recommended image size is 1200×628 pixels for carousel posts on LinkedIn’s desktop feed. For mobile, 600×600 pixel square images work best.
What’s the ideal number of slides for a LinkedIn carousel?
Experts recommend using 3-5 slides in most cases. Maximum allowed is 10 slides. Avoid going over 5 unless you have a compelling reason to do so.
Can I only use images in a LinkedIn carousel post?
No, LinkedIn carousel posts allow images, videos, gif files, and text on slides. You can even mix and match content types across the different slides.
Should I use hashtags in my LinkedIn carousel posts?
Yes, relevant hashtags help extend your carousel’s reach to users interested in those topics. Include 1-2 popular hashtags.
Is there a limit on how much text I can add in carousel slides?
There’s no strict limit, but keep slide text short – 1-2 sentences or 3-5 word headlines. Avoid dense paragraphs of text.
Conclusion
Implementing carousel posts in your LinkedIn marketing strategy can pay dividends in increased engagement, thought leadership, and lead generation. Follow the tips outlined in this guide to create optimized, high-impact carousels tailored to your brand and audience. Analyze performance data to refine your approach for maximum ROI. With consistent, high-value carousel posts, you can build a loyal following and achieve your business goals on LinkedIn.