2 game-changing updates associated with Instagram carousels that all busy mompreneiurs need to be aware of.
These changes have the potential to transform the way we reach and connect with our audience, ultimately impacting our business goals.
By aligning our content strategy with these developments, we can leverage carousels effectively to maximize engagement and propel growth on Instagram, all while maintaining our precious work-life balance as moms.
Key Takeaways:
- Carousels now being featured in the Reels feed present a valuable opportunity to expand our reach and unlock new possibilities for growth on the platform.
- The shift in user preference towards carousels with minimal text underscores the importance of crafting concise, impactful content to drive engagement and action.
- Understanding that many Instagram changes stem from user behaviors rather than the algorithm emphasizes the significance of nurturing genuine connections with our audience to sustain engagement during fluctuations.
2 game-changing updates associated with Instagram carousels that all busy mompreneiurs need to be aware of.
These changes have the potential to transform the way we reach and connect with our audience, ultimately impacting our business goals.
By aligning our content strategy with these developments, we can leverage carousels effectively to maximize engagement and propel growth on Instagram, all while maintaining our precious work-life balance as moms.
Key Takeaways:
- Carousels now being featured in the Reels feed present a valuable opportunity to expand our reach and unlock new possibilities for growth on the platform.
- The shift in user preference towards carousels with minimal text underscores the importance of crafting concise, impactful content to drive engagement and action.
- Understanding that many Instagram changes stem from user behaviors rather than the algorithm emphasizes the significance of nurturing genuine connections with our audience to sustain engagement during fluctuations.
Welcome back to another episode of mompreneur mastery, simple Instagram strategy for busy moms. Today, I wanna talk about 2 really big changes that are happening with Instagram carousels. I love using carousels. It's a great way to share content, a really powerful way to connect with your audience And a great way to do it without showing your face or your messy house on reels. You wanna be able to use them and use them strategically to reach your business goals. You're gonna need to know about these 2 really big changes. So stick around. I am going to break them down for you. Welcome to the Mompreneur Mastery Podcast, where we share actual Instagram strategies that fit into a busy mom's schedule so that you can get more engagement, more leads, and more sales in less time. I'm Sydney O'Brien, an Instagram strategist who started my business with 3 kids under 5 and found a way to do it without sacrificing quality time with my family and only working 2 hours a day. I love helping other mom business owners find that seemingly impossible mom work life balance instead of spending too much time creating content that isn't getting them the results they want. If you're an overwhelmed but very ambitious business owner and you wanna the heck out of your Instagram account so that you can save time and make more sales, you're in the right place. Alright. Here's the deal. So like I said, 2 really big changes. 1 is a change in Instagram itself. That's really big news. Carousels are going to be included in the Reels fee. This just opens up a whole new avenue for reaching a much wider audience, and I will get into that in just a minute. And then the second change is really just user preference. It's more of a trend shift than it is a change to Instagram or the algorithm. And that is that carousels that have less text on them are performing better. And I really wanna know here that lots of people are very quick to blame Instagram and the algorithm for changes and shifts in how things perform on Instagram. But the algorithm doesn't change nearly as much as you think it does. It is just reacting to user preferences, and that is what changes a lot. So let's talk about how to rethink your content strategy with these changes in mind. So carousels being in the real speed, this is yet another move Instagram is making that is inspired by TikTok. If you remember the times on Instagram before reels, the switch to short form video there instead of, I think it was IGTV was inspired by TikTok as well. Now the Reels feed itself is the feed where just reels show. No static posts in there. It is all real all the time. And it's like the little reels icon at the bottom of the app. That is where you can access it. So now that carousels are going to be in the reels feed, you are gonna see a lot more reach on your carousels, which gives you potential for a lot of more growth because of carousels. Because the RealSpeed is kind of like in the discovery page where it's people you don't follow. It's just based on your interests, how you interact with the app. They'll show you similar content and similar topics by new creators that you don't already follow. I personally am very excited about this change because as a mompreneur, I don't spend as much time creating reels because showing up on camera is a lot more of a commitment than being able to type away on a phone while I'm in my messy mom bun and pajamas with kids screaming in the background. So carousels are a lot more accessible for me, and I assume if you're in a similar boat, they're more accessible for you too. So I am excited about this change and the growth opportunity and discoverability that comes with it. Now if you really wanna hone in on this new reach, this new growth that you could get, make sure that you are using the right hashtags. If you're not sure, I have an episode from maybe 2 or 3 months ago about a hashtag strategy. Listen to that to see how to find your right hashtags. And also be very specific with your keywords that you're using and your content, both in the carousel itself and in the caption. I am really excited about this change. I'm excited to see it in my feed. Now with any big change to the app itself, keep in mind that it is done slowly and rolled up to, certain accounts at a time over a long period of time. So if you're talking to someone and they are seeing carousels and they are reels feet, but you aren't yet, just be patient. It'll happen eventually. They roll these out in like batches to accounts. So it doesn't cause big glitches on the app, which we all hate. Now the second big change, that is happening with Instagram carousels is not a change to the app or the algorithm. Although the algorithm gets blamed a lot, it is a change in preferences that needs to be noted so that you can tweak your strategy and how you are crafting your content, how you are approaching your copy for your content. I think it is very safe to say, we all know that technology and social media has, like, blown up. And as it does that, we are just constantly being bombarded with various forms of, like, digital content. Right? Whether it's podcast or social media, email, like all the things when we have our phones in our pockets, it's just coming at us all the time. Given that our attention spans are shorter than ever. If you want your Instagram content, especially the kind of longer bits of it, whether it's a carousel or a caption to get results. And by results, I mean, get you the follows, get you the comments, get you the leads, the sales, the things that help your business. You need to make your content very, very concise and heavy hitting. So no fluff. You want it to be short and to the point and really highlight what your audience is getting out of this content. You need to make it so, so valuable to them to actually get them to consume and engage with your content. So it used to be, you could share carousels that were pretty text heavy. That's just not really the case anymore. The text on your carousels needs to be so brief. If you want people to actually swipe through to the end of it, which of course you do, because that is where your call to action is. And in order to get those results, you want the follows, the comments, the leads, the sales. You need people to take action after reading your post. Right? So you need to construct your carousel in a way that people will actually get to the end of it and take action. Make sure you're crafting the copy in a way that keeps people swiping. Right? Strategically break up the text so that it so that it will increase read time and increase the likelihood of people actually getting to that call to action and following through on it. So you get the results that help your business. Leading questions works great for this. Curiosity gaps also works great for this. So definitely try out those tactics and you will see an increase in engagement. And then because of that reach, constructing carousels is actually my favorite thing, which is a little weird when I love it so much. 1 of some entrepreneurs that is using my what the heck to post content map sent me an email the other day because along with the content map, you get weekly strategy tips. And one of them is about stealing my carousel strategy for maximum engagement. And she told me how helpful it was and how much more engagement she was getting because she actually knew how to set up her carousel. They can be really, really powerful, especially when you are a busy mom who might not have the ability to show up on Reels for longer content, carousel can be a great option for that. And like I said, this is really a shift in user preference with the shorter attention spans. It's not a change to the algorithm. So often, we hear people blaming the Instagram algorithm for things, like not getting reach or not getting comments. It's very rarely the algorithm. Sometimes there are glitches and it happens or changes and, like, there are drops in these things. Sometimes it's not the algorithm, though. Sometimes it's the algorithm reacting to user preferences. Like, when it's the holiday season, engagement drops a lot because people are busy. They're with their family and friends celebrating. They're traveling. They're not on their phones as much. That's not the algorithm. That's Instagram. That's just how people are using the app. Same thing in the summer. People are outside more. They're doing activities. They're going on vacation. They're not on their phones as much. They're not scrolling social media. So your engagement is going to look different. While that can be very frustrating, and I it certainly is. I'm not arguing that at all. I think the important lesson here is to focus on building that genuine connection with your audience so that they, 1, keep coming back to your content. Even during the lull, they'll be there seeing your stuff and engaging with it. And 2, it helps you know what to post to continue to get that engagement to continue to foster those connections with your audience And by having that connection established, you can naturally stay a little bit ahead of the curve and keep your audience as engaged as they would be during these lulls and these changes, regardless of algorithm tweaks or seasonal drops in region engagement. So there you have it. The 2 big carousel changes that you need to know about to make sure your content is as effective as ever. One, carousels are going to be in the reels feed, and that is an Instagram change. So in a row to be patient with this one, it's gonna take a while to roll out and that the end roll out to everyone. And to keep the text on your carousel super short and super sweet to make sure that people are actually swiping to the end and engaging with the content. And remember that not every change or trend that you see on Instagram is driven by Instagram or the algorithm. The bulk of it is the algorithm reacting to how people are using the app. So keep fostering those connections with your audience so that you can stay ahead of them. And if you're not sure what to post to foster that connection, check out my what the heck to post content map that gives you 3 months of post topics specifically designed to do just that. And also gives you those weekly emails that I mentioned that helps you construct the actual post to maximize comments, connections, and conversions from followers into leads. Thank you so much for listening. I will be back again in your earbuds next week. And don't forget to say, Hey, on Instagram. Thank you so much for listening to Mompreneur Mastery simple Instagram strategy for busy moms. If you were listening to this episode and find yourself nodding along, I would love it. If you would find me on Instagram and send me a message telling me your biggest takeaway. My handle is at socially.yours. Strategist. And don't forget to grab your free 1 month of conversation starters contact calendar so that you know exactly what to post to get more comments about spending hours brainstorming Instagram post ideas. You can get it at social yours dotbiz slash content calendar, or head to the link in the show notes.