Ever feel like you have NO idea what to post on Instagram? Me too.
But guess what!?!
You almost certainly have a treasure trove of fascinating content that’s just waiting to be transformed into highly-engaging posts made just for Instagram – and with minimal effort!
If you have:
You’re ready to apply this Instagram Recipe! We call it “Carousel Flipbook,” and you’ll use it to tell your audience a fact-filled and engaging story.
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To get started, you’ll need a piece of content to split up into smaller, bite-size nuggets of information. We’ll use these helpful facts as the content in each “page” of our flipbook.
Ask yourself: What lengthy, high-value pieces of content have you already published on your blog, podcast, or YouTube channel?
If you don’t have your own piece of content, can you use an existing book, video, or podcast your audience will love? Make sure you don’t forget to include proper credit and consent if you reference someone else’s content!
Next, make sure you break down the 1 main lesson and 3-5 most important facts featured in each piece of content.
As an example, let’s turn this blog post, “How to Use Instagram Stories to Get More Sales” into a Carousel Flipbook together.
The key? Identify the most valuable key points in your big piece of content, then break them down into bite-size chunks for every page of your flipbook.
Boil down the main points your “big” article, podcast, or video seeks to communicate. Remove extra words and boil each idea down to the bare minimum necessary to help your viewer in about one sentence.
For this blog post, we can use the section headers as a starting place and jot down a simple outline like this:
Cover Photo: How to Use Instagram Stories to Get More Sales
Next, we’re ready to take our slimmed-down outline and plug it into an Instagram-ready design.
Open up Canva, PicMonkey, Adobe Spark — or your image editing tool of choice — and create a series of 2-9 images to construct your flipbook.
Quick Template Design Tips
Want to test a quick design out for yourself? Make a copy of this sample “Carousel Flipbook” template in Canva for a quick test run.
Want to get fancy? Make it a Video Carousel Flipbook if that’s an effective format for you by using short (under 30 seconds long) video clips instead of photos.
This great post by @buzzfeedtasty shows off this strategy. It’s true: Video can take more time to produce. But, an effective video can quickly communicate complicated ideas in a way that’s true to your unique voice.
Don’t be afraid to let your personality shine! The production doesn’t have to be perfect — just be confident, friendly, and genuine.
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Need caption inspiration? Since you’re already adapting a longer piece of content, try this formula for a longform caption we call “The Short Essay”.
When executed well, this caption can inspire all the emotion and impact of an impassioned speech — but in just a handful of compact sentences.
Let’s write a Short Essay caption together for our Instagram Stories example post!
Remember: We’ll start with our “Big Belief.”
Example Big Belief: “Here’s the truth… Stories is massively underrated as a tool to drive REAL sales on Instagram in 2019.”
That’s a bold claim, right? Now, let’s back it up with a couple supporting sentences.
Example supporting sentences: “When was the last time you watched a TV ad uninterrupted from start to finish? If you’re like me, I reach for my iPhone every time a commercial break starts.
But what about Stories? It’s one of the few places where my attention stays 100% glued to the screen. And there’s only ONE thing to watch (unlike the busy Instagram feed where you’re scrolling through dozens and dozens of options!)”
Okay, you caught me… I wrote five sentences! Stopping at just three can feel tough when you get me fired up about Instagram.
And now it’s time to end on a high note. Let’s call our audience to action!
Example call to action: “Ready to up your sales? Post your own Instagram Story this week that features your top-selling product. And don’t be shy about asking for people to try it out!”
Not bad. See how all the pieces of this Short Essay caption work together to teach a compelling lesson once you’re finished:
Why This Post Works:
Why This Post Works:
Why This Post Works:
Don’t let your Instagram followers miss out on your best insights from the blog posts, podcasts, and videos you’re already publishing!
Instead, build a new habit of repurposing your most useful “Big Beliefs,” fascinating facts, and gripping stories into posts that sparkle on your Instagram feed too.
Hopefully, the Carousel Flipbook is one of many formats you can remix and reuse to bring your most engaging ideas to Instagram in a natural way that draws in likes, comments, and followers.
Love this post recipe? It would make our week if you took a second to share it on social media too. (That’s how we know we’re on the right track and should continue making more like this one!)
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