I was standing in a checkout line recently doing what we all do when the person in front of us has shopped for a small army...looking at stuff I have absolutely no intention of buying.

Gum. Batteries. A beverage I don't need. And magazines.

Now, I wasn't looking for a magazine. I had zero intention of buying a magazine. Until one of the headlines on a cover caught my attention. You know the kind:

"7 Things Women Over 50 Should NEVER Wear"

Excuse me? First of all, I'll wear whatever the hell I want.  Second... 🤔What are the seven things?

😂 THAT is the power of a good cover. And social media didn't invent it.

I've spent most of my career in marketing and design, and long before any of us were worrying about Instagram, magazines already understood something incredibly important:

The stuff inside can be fantastic, but first you have to make someone want to open it.

Which brings me to one of my favorite forms of social media content: The carousel.

What's a Carousel?

A carousel is simply an Instagram post or Facebook ad with multiple slides that someone swipes through. That's it. But what makes carousels so useful, especially for travel advisors, is that they give you ROOM.

Instead of trying to cram everything you know into one graphic or an enormous caption, you can take someone through an idea or visual journey one piece at a time.

✅ 5 Resorts I'd Choose With Little Kids Swipe.

✅ 3 Things I'd Do Differently on My Next Disney Cruise Swipe.

✅ Don't Book Your Universal Hotel Until You Know This Oh, I'm swiping.

Carousels are fantastic for tips, comparisons, lists, mistakes, itineraries, recommendations and all those little pieces of expertise floating around in your head. AND they keep people on your account longer which pleases the robots in charge. 🤖

➡️ But there is one rather important catch.

Nobody Cares About Slides 2–8 If Slide 1 Stinks

This is where I see people get carousels wrong. They spend all their time creating the good stuff INSIDE. Great information. Beautiful graphics. Helpful tips. And then Slide 1 says:

❌ Disney Cruise Line Tips

That's the equivalent of a magazine putting “Articles Inside” on its cover.

Your first slide has ONE job: Make me NEED the next one.

Make. Me. Swipe.

Instead of:

❌ Disneyland With Toddlers

What about:

✅ 7 Reasons I'd Pick Disneyland With a Toddler

Now I want to know the reasons. Swipe

Instead of:

❌ Disney Cruise Line Alaska Tips

Try:

✅ 7 Alaska Cruise Regrets You WON'T Have

Wait. What does THAT mean? Swipe.

The content inside matters enormously. But the first slide earns it the chance to be seen. These are the types of carousels we offer inside the Plussing It Membership. They're done for you, customizable and swipe worthy. But, if you want to continue to create your own content:

Think Like a Magazine Editor

Next time you create a carousel, don't start by thinking: What should my title be?

Ask:

What would make someone NEED to know what's on Slide 2?

• Curiosity.
• A strong opinion.
• A number.
• A surprising statement.
• A mistake they don't want to make.
• Something they hadn't considered.

A good hook isn't clickbait if you actually deliver what you promised. It's simply good marketing.

And that's especially important for travel advisors because your goal isn't just to dispense Disney information. You're showing potential clients that you know things they don't.

Every swipe gives you another opportunity to demonstrate your experience, personality and expertise. And by the time they reach that last slide, ideally they're thinking:

Oh. I hadn't thought about that.

Or even better:

🎯Maybe I should have this person help me plan my vacation. 🎯

That's the point, right there!

So yes, make the inside of your carousel useful. Make it smart. Make it beautiful.

But remember what magazine publishers figured out decades ago:

Nobody sees what's inside until the cover gets them on the hook.

On a carousel, Slide 1 is your cover. Make them swipe! 💛