How to use LinkedIn carousel: Tips and Tricks

Writing on LinkedIn is great for building your public brand. The earlier you start, the better the leads you get. 

And believe me when I say, "If I were to write down the names of people who have grown their brand into a six-figure agency on LinkedIn, I'd run out of ink.”

But…the problem is that reading text posts is a DRAG, and they don’t ~REALLY~ get a lot of attention. 

So, is there a way to grab more attention on LinkedIn?  

Your best bet is LinkedIn Carousels. 

In this blog, you’ll learn:

- What are LinkedIn carousels?

- How to create high-quality LinkedIn carousels?

- What are the advantages and elements of a carousel?

- How to increase your engagement with LinkedIn carousels?

Let’s begin 

Understanding LinkedIn Carousel Posts

Before creating a carousel from scratch, we must first understand the fundamentals. 

Ehhh, Why, you ask? 

Because fundamentals help you visualize complex information easily and quickly. 

Think of it this way: Any mathematical equation, no matter how difficult, can be solved if one knows the fundamentals. 

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What are LinkedIn Carousel Posts?

Carousel is a format that allows you to add multiple images in a single post. 

Carousels let your audience take a 360 look at your brand. 

Moreover, this creates a visually appealing graphic to help you resonate more with your audience. 

5 Advantages of Using LinkedIn Carousel Posts

Since nobody reads that definition, let’s keep it aside and quickly find out why you should be “ALL IN” for LinkedIn Carousels Posts. 

1. Engagement: They get 3X engagements compared to written posts without spending money on Ads. 

2. Marketing: If LinkedIn were a magic show, carousels would be the Joker. Getting all the attractions based only on the looks. 

3. Visual Storytellers: A picture can speak a thousand words. Imagine having 10 slides in one LinkedIn post. 

4. Repurpose: If you ever run out of ideas. You can easily repurpose your old content and ideas in no time. 

5. Show Your Style: Using carousels, build a consistent brand across platforms.

And soon you’ll brag like this guy: 

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7 Key Elements of a Successful Carousel Post

I’ll be very honest. Not every DAMN carousel works. 

But.. if you knew what I know, you can make every carousel work. 

How do I know what works? 

Ummmmm, let’s see… maybe because I have posted 30+ carousels, and on average, I get 3000+ impressions.  

Here are the seven key elements: 

Specifications:

Mac pages = 300 pages.

The file should be below 100 MB.

Upload in PDF format for the best quality.

The recommended image format is 1080 × 1080 pixels or 1920 x 1080 pixels.

Hook:

‍The attention game starts with the first slide. On LinkedIn, people only swipe if your hook is catchy enough. 

Hit the pain point early on. 

Ex:

Structure:

Make the carousels skimmable, give your carousels some room to breathe. 

Keep the text aligned to the left. 

Use easy to read font and font size big enough to skim. 

Direct them to swipe or show them if there is a subsequent slide.
Ex:

Keywords:

Highlight keywords/phrases related to pain points, solutions,  outcomes, or are of utmost importance. 

Don’t go highlighting all the pages. 

Only the keywords. 

Ex:

‍‍

Graphics:

While hooks can be a great way to grab attention, the other is using graphics. 

This can boost the carousel's attention.

My personal favorite is using a meme. 

Who doesn’t love light laughter?

Ex:

Message Clarity:

Keep your message very clear from the start. Don’t mislead the audience. 

Follow this method: 

One post → One problem → One message → One CTA.

From hooks to targeting a problem and providing a solution. 

Branding:

‍Use your brand colors to create consistent carousels or select a few colors to represent a theme. 

Ex: I use blue color for carousels on cold emails topic because blue resonates with cold.

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How To Create High Quality LinkedIn Carousel

1. Open “Canva” and “Search” for LinkedIn Carousel. 
   Click on the “search result” with the LinkedIn Icon.

2. Pick a “Free/Paid” Template or start from scratch

3. “Edit” the carousel and “Download” it 

Add a sample text and elements as per your preference and then download the carousel.

If you are a beginner, here’s a link to a video on how to use Canva:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un50Bs4BvZ8

4. Open “LinkedIn” and Click on “Start a post” 

Type in a written text for clarity, then click the “More” icon.

5. Click on “Add a document”

6. Upload the carousel you downloaded earlier 

7. “Name” the carousel and click “Done” 

8. Click “Post” and done. 

Congratulations, you’ve successfully uploaded a LinkedIn carousel. 

How To Optimize LinkedIn Carousel for Higher Engagement? 

If you still doubt that carousels do any good to your engagement. I think it’s time I show some proof. 

Although I haven’t had the chance to repurpose my LinkedIn content. 

But.. I do have some interesting stats to share with you: 

Here is what my text based post looks like: 

And here is my carousel:

The Difference: 

Here’s how you can boost engagement:

1. Keep it short: Use only a few slides. I’d say don’t use more than 7-8 slides. 

2. First slide matters: Use a hook that piques curiosity. Here are a few examples:
   

• How I overcome (problem) X dead simple reasons (so you can overcome it too)
• How to steal X (keyword) on LinkedIn in Y steps(this is a secret do not share)
• X cheeky (skill) tips to charm your prospect (without buying them a drink)
• How I achieved (outcome) for my client
• Ever wondered how to (grow) to (result)?
  

3. High-quality images: Images are the first thing we see. So use high quality images and avoid using blurry or pixelated images, and make sure that the images are properly lit and in focus.

4. Tell a story: The biggest advantage of carousels is that they allow you to showcase different aspects of your business. Use the carousel format to your advantage by creating a narrative that engages your audience and keeps them swiping left. 

Carousel examples: Step by step procedure, any listicle, Before and after, etc. 

5. Strong CTA: Make sure to include a clear call to action on the final slide of your carousel so that users know what to do next. 
   Ex: Follow me for more, Repost if you found it useful, comment below, etc. 

Woaah, Congratulations. Now, you’re all set to set fire to your LinkedIn feed with your sexy carousels. 

Conclusion

Before we wrap up, let’s quickly summarize what you’ve learned:

What are LinkedIn Carousels? Nothing but a visual treat that gets 3X engagement. We also talked about the specifications, and elements that are required to make the carousels a visual treat that no one can take their eyes off. 

Next, we learned how to create a carousel from scratch on Canva, download it, and upload it on LinkedIn. 

Lastly, we talked about how to optimize carousels for 3X engagement. 

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