Banger Carousels — swipeable slide content that gets saved

Carousels are the highest engagement-by-reach format on Instagram and a top-reach format on LinkedIn, and they earn SAVES (a heavily weighted signal). The craft: one idea per slide, a slide 1 that stops the scroll, and a last slide that earns the save/share.

Freshness gate

Before applying a platform benchmark, algorithm claim, policy, feature-availability statement, or numeric performance claim from this skill or the platform playbook, check references/research/source-ledger.md for non-expired support. If support is missing or past its review date, run banger-research, qualify the claim as unverified, or omit it. Never present a legacy value as current truth.

Load first

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/references/frameworks/writing-quality.md for the living human-writing test and creator-specific constraints. Treat detector results as weak evidence.
${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/references/frameworks/voice-and-audience.md (the creator's own defined audience — ask once if it isn't set) + ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/references/creators/matt-pocock.md (one concept, example-first, make-the-invisible-visible).
${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/references/platforms/platform-playbook.md §4 (Instagram carousels — 8–10 slides, 4:5 1080×1350, strong slide 1 AND 2 for the re-serve) and §6 (LinkedIn document carousels — 5–10 slides, PDF, 1080×1080 or 1080×1350).

Structure (the swipe arc)

Slide 1 — the hook. A bold promise, curiosity gap, or contrarian line + minimal visual. This is the whole ballgame; it decides the swipe. (On Instagram, make slide 2 strong too — IG re-serves the carousel using different cover slides.)
Slides 2–(N-1) — one idea each. One takeaway per slide, big readable text, an example or the actual thing shown (a screenshot of the real result, a before/after, a diagram). Keep momentum — each slide should pull to the next ("but here's the catch →").
Final slide — the payoff + CTA. Recap the value in one line and explicitly ask for the save/share ("Save this for the next time you…", "Send to someone who needs it"). Optionally a soft follow CTA.

Design rules

One idea per slide. If a slide has two points, split it. 8–10 slides for IG, 5–10 for LinkedIn (engagement drops after ~10).
Readable at a glance — large type, high contrast, generous margins, consistent template. Keep key text centered/safe.
Format: Instagram 4:5 (1080×1350) images; LinkedIn export as a PDF document (1080×1080 or 1080×1350).
Keyword-rich caption (IG search is keyword-driven now, not hashtags) + 3–5 tags.

Building the file

This skill produces the slide CONTENT and layout. To generate an actual deliverable:

For a polished slide deck / PDF carousel, use the pptx skill (read its SKILL.md) to build the slides, then export to PDF for LinkedIn. For visual theming/colors/fonts, the theme-factory skill can style it.
For image carousels, you can also produce a clean single-file HTML layout (one slide per section, correct aspect ratio) the user can screenshot/export, or hand a spec to their design tool (Canva/Figma). Always research/confirm the content FIRST, then read the format skill's SKILL.md before building (never anchor on document mechanics before the content is right).

Output format

Deliver a slide-by-slide script: for each slide give the headline text, any body/subtext, and a [visual: ...] note (what to show/screenshot). Call out slide 1 (and IG slide 2) as the hook slides and the final slide as the save-CTA. Provide the post caption (keyword-front-loaded) + hashtags. Then, if the user wants the actual file, build it via the pptx skill and deliver with SendUserFile.

Quality bar

Confirm slide 1 stops the scroll on its own, every slide holds exactly one idea, the deck is readable at thumbnail size, and the last slide gives a concrete reason to save/share.

banger-carousels