Instagram is all about the beautiful photos serving various purposes. While some are simply meant to please the eye, others aim at attracting more people to a business profile or engaging people in different types of actions. When you’re posting on Instagram, you can play with colors, templates, fonts, and pictures to create the perfect visual display for your audience. However, there’s more to a good picture than just the visual.
In addition to all of the above mentioned, there needs to be a seal-the-deal moment for your readers. And that is your caption. A caption of the picture is much more powerful and efficient than you can imagine. It can help you reach your goal, engage more people and receive the right kind of feedback. The only thing you need to do is master the skill of writing creative and engaging captions.
Take a look at what you need to know in order to write killer Instagram captions.
1. Reflect Brand Personality
The first thing you need to have in mind when posting on Instagram is the brand voice you’ve established since your earliest stages of existence.
This voice is actually the reflection of your brand’s personality and you need to make sure it’s consistent throughout all your posts and content that you publish.
In terms of the caption, that implies determining whether it’s:
- humorous
- serious
- informative
- complex
- simple
Once you know how you want to express yourself, you can move on to the next step.
2. Determine the Aim
There is a reason why you’re posting that picture. It can be anything from informing your audience about something new or important to simply feeling like doing it.
Whatever the reason is, make sure your caption helps your audience identify it.
“Knowing the purpose of your post before posting it will help you focus on the right things and fashion the perfect caption,” says Pat Fredshaw, a copywriter at Essay Supply.
If the purpose of your picture is to get your audience to perform certain actions, you need to check out step number 3.
3. Call-to-Action
CTA is a message you send to your audience, inviting them to perform certain actions and engage in your post.
On Instagram, your caption is your CTA weapon of choice. Make sure you write it clearly, inspiring the people reading it to engage with you and your brand. Use straight-forward verbs like:
- comment
- tag
- share
- like
- click
In addition, you can be subtler with your CTAs:
- ask your audience an engaging question at the end of the caption, to inspire them to comment
- inform them about your link in bio they can click for further information
4. Start with the Most Important
You know how on Instagram you sometimes see only the first part of the caption while the rest is cut out?
Well, if you want a caption that’s both engaging and effective, you need to open big.
Make sure to write the most important part first. In addition, make it intriguing to inspire people to click the “read more” sign and carry on reading.
Carry Michales, a copywriter for Citatior agrees: “Your opening line has to be the strongest because that’s the only thing most people will see.”
5. Use Hashtags Smartly
Using hashtags on Instagram is a must.
They can help you stand out and create a community of people gathered around your brand.
There are three important things you need to remember about using hashtags:
- don’t overuse them- 3 or 4 is more than enough
- come up with your own– make specialized brand hashtags and inspire people to use them in their pictures
- use the most popular ones- Instagram will suggest it to you while you’re typing
6. Emoji power
Emojis are fun and can be a great way of entertaining your Insta audience.
Your captions can be more fun and appealing if you include a little emoji or two. Don’t hesitate to use them, everybody loves a good emoji.
In addition, make sure to be creative. Instead of typing several emojis at the end of a sentence, try incorporating them in your caption as a substitute for words. It will make the whole thing much more natural and pleasing.
7. Draft Away
Even once you’ve got everything figured out, take a minute or two (or fifteen) to think about your creation.
“The best thing you can do is write several caption drafts and leave them to rest for a while. Come back after half an hour and read them again. You’ll know which one to choose” says James Pearson, a copywriter at Resumes Centre.
It’s always a good idea to give yourself more than one choice. Brainstorming and writing several drafts can lead you to the best results.
Final Thoughts
Instagram captions are your right-hand man when it comes to audience engagement. They help you deliver the message and keep your followers entertained. That’s why you definitely need to dedicate some attention to writing them and making them just right.
Keep an open mind and let your creativity speak for itself. Keep your captions rich in engaging calls-to-action, emojis, and hashtags. Have them mirror your brand’s voice and the vision behind it.
In case you need help writing compelling, accurate and engaging content, here’s a list of readily available tools and services which can help you do it:
Online Writers Rating– Here you can find the best online writing services and choose one from their list of reviews.
Grammarly– It is a useful online tool which highlights your spelling and grammar mistakes, suggesting you the necessary corrections.
Flash Essay-This online writing service can help you with everything from writing and rewriting to proofreading and editing your content.
White Smoke– It can help you perfect your content by identifying mistakes of any kind and helping you correct them and make your text impeccable.
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