Oli Yeates · 2 November 2026

Instagram carousels get more reach: 3 reasons from Adam Mosseri

Instagram's boss Adam Mosseri says carousels are having a moment. Add music and they can appear in Reels, they get a second chance if people scroll past, and they drive more likes and sends. Here's what that means for your next post.

Instagram carousels get more reach: 3 reasons from Adam Mosseri

If your Instagram feels like it's all Reels these days, here's some good news: the humble carousel is back in favour. And this time it's not a social media guru saying so, it's the person who runs Instagram.

In a short clip with creators Colin and Samir, Adam Mosseri (the head of Instagram) said carousels are "having a moment", getting more engagement than other types of post. Better still, he explained exactly why. There are 3 reasons, and each one tells you something practical about how to make your next carousel work harder.

1. Add music and your carousel can show up in Reels

This is the big one. Mosseri says that if you add music to a carousel, it's now eligible to appear in the Reels viewer, because it "feels native enough" to sit alongside video.

Why does that matter? Reels is where Instagram sends most of its attention, and most of its reach to people who don't already follow you. A carousel without music stays in the feed. A carousel with music gets a ticket to the busiest room in the building.

What to do: add music to every carousel you post. It takes 10 seconds in the app (Instagram has let you add a track to photo carousels since 2023), and the sound doesn't need to be loud or on trend. It just needs to be there.

2. You get a second chance if people scroll past

Most posts get one shot. Someone scrolls past, and that's that. Carousels are different. Mosseri explains that if you don't swipe the first time you see one, Instagram might show it to you again later, already moved on to the second slide. In his words, it gets "a second at bat".

That means slide 2 is quietly one of the most important slides you'll make. For a lot of people it will be the first thing they see.

What to do: treat slide 2 as a second cover. It should make sense on its own and give people a reason to keep swiping, so open it with a bold stat, a strong question or the most surprising point in the post. Don't waste it on "Here's what we'll cover..."

3. Swiping leads to likes, saves and sends

The third reason is depth. Flipping through slides keeps people on your post for longer, but Mosseri says it goes further than time spent: the format makes people more likely to like it and to send it to a friend. He calls it a "deeper, richer format".

Sends are worth paying attention to. When someone shares your post in a DM, that's about as strong a signal as Instagram gets that the content was genuinely useful.

What to do: build carousels people want to pass on. Checklists, step by step guides, before and afters, "5 things we learned" and simple data stories all work well, because they're useful to someone other than the person reading. End on a slide that gives people a nudge, like "Send this to someone planning their Christmas campaign".

A quick carousel checklist

  • Music on, every time. It's what gets you into Reels.
  • A cover that stops the scroll. One clear idea, big type, no clutter.
  • A slide 2 that works as a second cover. Some people will start here.
  • One point per slide. If you're squeezing text in, split it into 2 slides.
  • A last slide that asks for something. A save, a send or a visit.
  • Portrait size (1080 x 1350). It takes up more of the screen than a square.

Want carousels that do the heavy lifting?

We make carousels like this for our own posts every week, and for clients across Instagram and LinkedIn (where the same slides work brilliantly as a document post). If you'd like social content that gets seen, saved and shared, our Social Assets team would love to help. Get in touch and we'll show you what we'd make for you.

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