Announcement Carousel: A 7-Slide Template for Launches
An announcement carousel is a swipeable post that tells your followers something is new: a product launch, a feature, a price change, an event or a milestone. A simple order covers it. Open with the outcome and the news on slide 1, show the problem on slide 2, say what’s new in one sentence on slide 3, show it working on slides 4 and 5, put the before and after side by side, and end with the link and what happens when they click. Seven slides cover it. Use 1080 by 1350 pixels (4:5) on Instagram and LinkedIn.
A single image can say “We launched.” A carousel has room to show why it matters to the reader.
What is an announcement carousel?
It’s a carousel whose one job is news. Not a tutorial, not a list of tips: one thing changed, and the slides explain what it is, who it’s for and what to do next. It works for:
- A product or SaaS launch: the first public post about it.
- A new feature: what the user can do today that they couldn’t last week.
- A change: new pricing, a new name, a new plan, a closed waitlist.
- An event: a webinar, a sale, a workshop, with the date on the cover.
- A milestone: a real number you reached, and what it means for the reader.
The trap is writing it for yourself. “We’re excited to announce” tells the reader how you feel. The cover should tell them what they get.
What goes on each slide of an announcement carousel?
This is the 7-slide order Karou’s launch method gives for a product or feature announcement. Treat it as craft, not data: the carousel study behind Karou’s other methods covers sales-niche creators and has no launch posts in it.
| Slide | Job | What to write | Words |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Hook | The outcome, now live | One claim, then the news: “Invoices that chase themselves. Live today.” | 10 to 16 |
| 2. Problem | How it feels now | The minutes or money the old way costs, in their words | 25 to 40 |
| 3. Turn | What’s new, in one sentence | What a customer would say it does | 20 to 35 |
| 4 to 5. Show it | The product doing it | One screen per slide, 1 to 3 callouts | 20 to 35 |
| 6. Before and after | The save-worthy slide | Old way vs new way, 3 to 4 lines a side | 35 to 60 |
| 7. Call to action | The link and the next step | The action, the outcome, and what happens on click | 15 to 30 |
If you have a real early number or a real customer quote, add it as a stat slide before the call to action. If you don’t, skip the slide. Never fill it with a made-up “10x faster”.
What does a good announcement carousel look like?
Here’s one for an invented invoicing app, slide by slide:
- “Invoices that chase themselves. New today.”
- “You send the invoice. Then you spend Friday writing ‘just following up’ emails to six clients.”
- “Auto-reminders send a polite nudge 3, 7 and 14 days after the due date. You write nothing.”
- Screenshot: the reminder settings, with a callout on “3, 7, 14 days”.
- Screenshot: a sent reminder, with a callout on the Pay now button.
- Before: you track who’s late, write each email, feel awkward. After: reminders go out on schedule, the client pays from the email, you get a notification.
- “Turn on auto-reminders in Settings. Link in bio: 30 seconds and it’s on.”
Notice what the cover doesn’t say: the app’s name. A brand name alone isn’t a hook; the outcome is.
How do you write the hook slide?
The cover is the one slide everyone sees. For announcements, four shapes are a good start:
- Outcome plus news: “Invoices that chase themselves. Live today.”
- New in: “New in [product]: export every report as a PDF.”
- How it works: “How we cut our onboarding to 3 steps.”
- The tool in action: “Watch a reminder go out without me.”
Keep it a statement, not a question, and put a number or a date on it if you have a real one. Carousel hook ideas has more lines to start from.
What size and how many slides?
- Instagram: 1080 by 1350 pixels (4:5) takes the most room in the feed. See Instagram carousel size.
- LinkedIn: the same 4:5 slides, uploaded as a PDF document post. See LinkedIn carousel.
- TikTok and Threads: 9:16 for TikTok photo posts; Threads takes the 4:5 images. See carousels on Threads and TikTok.
Karou’s launch method defaults to seven slides, with five to nine as its range. Much past that you’re writing a tutorial, which is a different carousel (how many slides in an Instagram carousel).
What mistakes sink an announcement carousel?
- Opening with “We’re excited to announce.” Cut it. Start with what the reader gets.
- Features without outcomes. “Now with webhooks” means nothing to most people. “Your CRM updates the moment a deal closes” does.
- No product on screen. Show the real screen. A screenshot with one callout is quicker to read than a paragraph about it.
- A vague last slide. “Check it out” isn’t a next step. Say where the link is and what happens: “Link in bio, 7-day free trial.” The last slide of a carousel goes deeper.
- Too many words. Phones show slides small. Keep inner slides under about 40 words (how much text fits on a carousel slide).
How do you make an announcement carousel in a chat?
If you write with Claude or ChatGPT, Karou turns the text into finished slides in the same chat. Ask for a launch carousel and the AI calls Karou’s method with the launch goal: it returns the slide order above, hook formulas and word budgets, then checks your draft against them. Paste your product’s link and Karou’s brief reads the page so the slides use your real facts, and its media tool can take screenshots of the page for the “show it” slides. Karou renders the slides as PNGs in 4:5, 1:1 or 9:16, with a ZIP for Instagram and a PDF for LinkedIn. Ask for another size and the same slides render again.
FAQ
How many slides should an announcement carousel have?
Seven is Karou’s default: hook, problem, what’s new, two slides showing it, before and after, call to action. Go to five for a small update and up to nine if there’s a real number or quote to add.
Should the first slide show the logo?
Not on its own. Put the outcome on the cover; the logo can sit small in a corner or on the last slide.
Can I use the same announcement carousel on LinkedIn and Instagram?
Yes. Make the slides 4:5, post the PNGs on Instagram, and upload the PDF as a LinkedIn document post.
What’s the difference between an announcement carousel and a carousel ad?
The organic post goes to your followers and lives on your profile. A carousel ad is paid, reaches people who don’t follow you, and gives each card its own link. See carousel ads.
Make your announcement carousel
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Start your 7-day free trial and turn your next launch into seven slides in the chat where you write it.