ICYMI: 7 Brand Carousels to Inspire You

Plus more tools + tips from Social Media Week

Scroll all the way down to get some suggestions of tools, social-first brands and your next marketing book mentioned at Social Media Week.

⏩️ Carousel Posts Are Taking Over

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Carousels are one of the hottest formats on social right now. 

We know TikTok is encouraging users to post more photo carousels (they claim photos can get 2.9x more comments than videos) and Instagram’s launched several carousel tests and updates in the last few months. 

It seems more creators and brands are jumping on carousels while they’re hot — which I’m here for.

Friend and fellow social media expert Rachel Karten recently pointed out how some brands are nearing 50% photo content on TikTok, which we know is traditionally a video-first platform. 

While we’ve seen carousels used for photo dumps and product roundups for years, recently brands are using carousels as a means for creative storytelling through listicles, swipe and choose, inspirational posts, and seamless panoramas.

My guess on why brands are posting more carousels? 

They are relatively easy to produce and create several engagement opportunities — on both Instagram and TikTok. Plus, there are so many different ways you can use carousels. They’re a super versatile content type. 

Here are seven brands killing the carousel game you can take inspiration from.

#1: Aerie

Aerie always crushes it on social across the board. They use TikTok photo carousels for product catalogs, showcasing UGC, GRWMs, and choose-one swipe-throughs.

#2: Gymshark

Gymshark mainly shares photo carousels on TikTok vs. video content — and they generate a ton of engagement. They use carousels to share relatable and inspirational content:

#3: J.Crew

Instead of only focusing on short-form video content, J.Crew mixes in TikTok Carousels to showcase curated themes and their latest collections:

#4: Olay

Olay has creatively taken advantage of Instagram’s new carousel stop-motion feature:

Disneyland and Target are a few other brands experimenting with the fun feature.

PS: If you’re testing this out, try it early to stand out before audiences get tired of seeing the CTA “hold and scroll.” Use it for a product demonstration, to feature a person or place from multiple angles, or for the passage of time (eg. a disappearing slice of pizza).

Note: this is part of a monthly series of social and influencer marketing trends I send out to paid subscribers.