From Invisible to Unmissable! Unlock the Power of LinkedIn Carousels

LinkedIn is getting noisier by the day. As more business owners and brands jump ship from other platforms and head to LinkedIn, it’s getting harder to stand out. You’ve now got just 7 seconds to grab someone’s attention with your post!

So, I was delighted to be joined by carousel expert Jacqueline Caldwell on a recent LinkedIn LoveIn Live where she shared her top tips on how to use carousel posts, those swipeable, slideshow-style posts to grab attention, increase dwell time and get your content seen by more of the right people.

Whether you’ve never tried a carousel before or you’ve had a dabble but weren’t sure if it was working, Jacqueline shared loads of practical, lightbulb-moment tips to help you get started and seen.

Watch The LinkedIn™ LoveIn Live With Jacqueline Caldwell . . .

Watch the replay in full either on LinkedIn or on YouTube.

OR just keep reading for the key takeaways and action steps from our chat 😀

📢 What Is a Carousel Post?

A carousel is a swipeable series of slides you upload as a PDF document on LinkedIn. Each slide can contain text, images, icons, anything visual to help bring your message to life. The goal? To grab attention and keep people engaged.

If you need an example here’s the carousel that Jacqueline did for me to promote our LinkedIn LoveIn 😀

📢 Why Carousels Work So Well on LinkedIn?

Carousels work well on LinkedIn for a number of reasons including:

• Multiple engagement points: Unlike a single-text post that offers one interaction (like/comment/share), a carousel encourages users to swipe through several slides, and each swipe counts as extra engagement.
• Boosts ‘dwell time’: The longer someone spends interacting with your post, the more LinkedIn rewards it by showing it to others. Carousel posts naturally keep people lingering longer.
• Better retention: Our brains process visuals 60,000 times faster than text. And we remember 400% more from visuals than from plain text so you’re far more likely to stick in someone’s mind.
• Stops the scroll: A strong first slide, paired with a powerful PDF title and a punchy first line in the post text, gives you three hooks to catch attention. That’s a lot more pulling power than a standard post.

📢 Ways to Use Carousel Posts

Carousels are really versatile and can be used in a number of ways and Jacqueline suggested some content types that work brilliantly in this format, including:

• How-to guides and step-by-step instructions Great for breaking down your expertise into easy-to-digest slides.
• Checklists or cheat sheets Handy, shareable and perfect for encouraging saves.
• Mini case studies Tell a success story slide by slide so Challenge > Process > Result.
• Myth-busting posts Tackle common misconceptions in your industry, one myth per slide.
• Before & after transformations Visually powerful and great for showcasing the impact of your work.
• Data or insight posts Share bite-sized stats, facts or findings in a more engaging way.
• Personal storytelling Share your journey, challenges or lessons learned over a few slides.

The key is to keep them skimmable. Also remember that 70% of traffic to LinkedIn is from the mobile, so you need bold graphics and less text.

📢 Best Practice Tips for Creating Carousel Posts

You don’t have to be a designer to create a great carousel. You can use Canva or PowerPoint for creating your carousels. Here’s how to make your carousel both eye-catching and effective:

• Slide dimensions: Use 1080 x 1350 pixels (4:5 ratio) to take up more space in the feed.
• Keep it skimmable: One idea per slide. White space is your friend.
• Use brand elements: Consistent fonts, colours and design elements help build brand recognition.
• Avoid clutter: Too much design or too many words and people will scroll past.
• Finish with a strong call to action: Tell your reader what to do next. i.e. follow you, comment, message you, or click a link (just remember links in the carousel itself won’t be clickable, so include them in the post and in the comments).
• The Triple hook! With carousel posts you get three hooks: in the carousel title itself, the first slide of your carousel which needs to be a scroll-stopper and in the first two lines of your LinkedIn post (before the ‘see more’ button)

✅ ACTION TIME!

If you want to give carousels a try, here’s what to do next:

1. Pick a post you’ve already written (a how-to, tip list, story…)

2. Head to Canva.com and search “LinkedIn carousel” for a template

3. Tweak the colours and fonts to match your brand

4. Keep it visual and light on text – remember one idea per slide

5. Save as a PDF and upload via “Document” on LinkedIn

6. Write a punchy title for the document and a strong post to go with it

7. Add a call to action at the end of the carousel (e.g. DM me, follow, comment)

Carousels might take a little more effort than a quick text post, but the rewards in visibility, credibility and engagement are well worth it. As Jacqueline says, “It’s all about being remembered.”

👉 Has this inspired you? Is now the time to start including LinkedIn carousels in your content? 😃

Need more support with LinkedIn?

💥 If LinkedIn isn’t working hard for you or you’re not sure where to start with using LinkedIn, email judy@judithparsons.com or connect with me on LinkedIn to chat about how I can help.

Or book a virtual brew here and let’s make LinkedIn work for you . . . ⭐

I run regular LinkedIn LoveIns which are short 30-minute learnings over lunch, often with guest experts to help improve LinkedIn results. If you’d like to be notified of new events why not join my LinkedIn LoveIn group. You can also find the recordings of previous LoveIns as well as tips and updates here.