7 Ways To Write The Best Instagram Captions
As more business utilize Instagram for their marketing needs, it’s now more important than ever to reach and engage with your customers in this day and age. And, with the platform having more than one billion monthly active users (and counting), there’s no better time than now to make your move.
Photo by energepic.com from Pexels
Though, Instagram is more than just posting pictures and videos. It’s about nailing the first impression with high-quality captions, or else people will either lose interest or not acknowledge your post at all.
Here are eight ways to make your Instagram captions shine:
1. Start With Drafts
“Writing a caption on Instagram is a process in of itself,” says Zara Joyce, a social media writer at Essayroo and Australianhelp, “because it can give you a clear idea of what you want and what you need in it.”
Here’s how to draft a caption:
- Jot down a few ideas.
- Jot down a few ideas.
- Pick the best one.
“Ultimately, your caption depends on quality,” adds Joyce. “And with Instagram’s feed algorithm always changing, it’s essential to put out a good caption – one your followers will read, appreciate, and share the post with friends and other people.”
2. Identify Your Audience
With over 1 billion users on the platform, creating a good caption is essential. According to Storrito.com, the best way to understand your audience on Instagram is to “do extensive research and collect data that you will then analyze,” and then “create the content that will correspond to [the audience’s] expectations.”
Once you understand your audience better, you can use things like emojis, references, etc. in your caption.
3. Make Your Caption Valuable
Customers want an offer that they can’t refuse. So, don’t be afraid to make the caption valuable by offering tips and tricks, important information on a topic, special updates, etc. Adding value to your captions will increase your chances of your post getting noticed and being shared.
4. Don’t Be Robotic
On Instagram, authenticity matters. You have to put the real you out there, not a forced, generic version of yourself. Sure, you want your captions to sound great, but they also have to be natural-sounding, or else people will notice the lack of authenticity in the post.
5. Tell A Story
Storytelling is a big part of Instagram, especially with its Stories feature. When describing something, remember the five senses: hearing, seeing, smelling, touching, and tasting. Be specific with what’s going on in the post. Bottom line: give people a good story.
6. Have A Call-To-Action
Good CTAs tend to stick with your followers in a positive way. However, it’s still up to you to make that draw.
Here are some great ways to create an effective call-to-action:
- Asking your audience to like the post and or comment on it (One of the best ways to drive more user engagement)
- Asking them to visit your website
- Inviting them to sign up for a newsletter
- Having followers tag a friend (or a few friends)
- Running a contest/giveaway
- Running a poll (You can do this with Instagram Stories)
Also, make sure to use eye-catching fonts and attractive emojis and symbols in captions.
7. Use Hashtags Sparingly
“Hashtags aren’t always beneficial for your caption,” says Luca Meldrum, a journalist at OXEssays and Stateofwriting. “People may think that the more hashtags they put on a post, the more attention it will get. Unfortunately, that’s no longer the case. In fact, hashtags are now often used to link your post to related topics and posts, as well as connect with others who would use those same hashtags or similar ones. However, having too many hashtags will have the entire post come off as spammy, which is something that you don’t want viewers to think of you as: just spam.”
So, what can you do to make your caption not seem spammy?
“The limit should be three or four hashtags,” adds Meldrum. “Or, if you strongly feel that a hashtag isn’t necessary for your caption, then skip it. Don’t force yourself to come up with the perfect hashtag to go with your caption. But if you do have a hashtag, then place it at the end of the caption, so that the post looks natural, and not canned.”
Need inspiration for a good hashtag? Instagram suggests hashtags based on their popularity. All you have to do is open up a new post and type out the # symbol, along with an incomplete search.
Conclusion
As you read through these seven tips on bettering your Instagram captions, we hope you take advantage of this great opportunity to improve your social media appearance as a brand. Once you start putting out great content, you’ll be selling products and growing your brand.