It’s no question I’m a huge fan of Instagram. I mean I wrote an entire guide to Instagram Stories back when that launched! Well today, they raised the bar AGAIN! Now single photo Instagram posts are now OG. Instagram slideshows are here, and it’s going to change the game!
Sometimes one photo just doesn’t tell the whole story – but now it doesn’t have to! Starting today, users will be able to combine up to 10 photos and videos in a SINGLE POST! Think about that – you no longer have to pick one picture of your cat or meal – Indecisive individuals can rejoice! The idea is when you have multiple images, and can’t decide which one to share; you can put them all up in what’s a slideshow (or a carousel). But this isn’t a new concept. Instagram has allowed advertisers to upload multiple photos and video into an album carousel.
Creating these multi-image or video posts is easy. After uploading an image, you’ll see a small cascading square icon on the bottom right. If you tap that, you will be able to select up to nine other photos or videos to put in the post! This will allow you to add Boomerang or Hyperlapse clips. You can reorder the images by tapping and holding then drag it to change the order or remove from the post. With filters – you can either apply the same filter to all your selections or apply them individually. On your Instagram grid, these posts will be marked with the Instagram logo in the upper-right hand corner of the slideshow’s first image. An important thing to remember is these posts will still have a single caption and are square only, for now. All likes and comments will be grouped for the one post.
In my opinion, the biggest benefit of this will be keeping the aesthetic of your Instagram grid but still getting your story across!
This is going to be a game changer for small businesses, marketers, and journalists! Multiple images/videos will make telling a story, so much easier. Having the ability to share multiple images and videos in a single post will allow users to create a permanent narrative – as opposed to Stories, which disappear after 24 hours – turning Instagram into a more powerful storytelling platform.
Here are my initial ideas on how you can implement this today (more on this later!):
- Vender events: Post a photo that follows your aesthetic then post photos from the event in the carousal
- Photographers: Take advantage of this new feature by sharing highlights from your shoot without filling you feed with the same content
- Artists/Designers: Share your creative process with your final design
- Boutiques: Share new inventory with followers without clogging their feed
- Tutorials: Show quick tutorials on your product without filling someone’s feed or a lengthy caption. This is especially convenient for demonstrating a feature of your product!
I’m dying to know – what are your thoughts? Do you think this is something you will implement in your strategy?
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