Drafting captions can be a headache. Are you struggling to keep your captions current and connect with your followers? Our new resource is just what you need.
Having a strong and engaging presence on Instagram is a must for any Perth business’s digital marketing strategy.
But it can be difficult to come up with engaging, original captions for social media, especially if you post frequently.
The key to creating great captions on social media is knowing your purpose, being clear and concise, and not becoming too focused on your own ideas.
A great Instagram caption will stop scrollers dead in their tracks. And the more time someone spends reading and engaging with your post, then the better your post will rank within the Instagram algorithm.
Follow our top 8 tips for creating the best Instagram captions to boost your social media and digital marketing strategy.
Pose a question
Start your caption by asking a question to grab your audience’s attention.
Keep in mind that open-ended questions often generate more conversation than the general “yes” and “no” questions.
Cut to the chase
Avoid talking too much unless necessary. Use clear, concise captions and avoid jargon that the audience may not understand.
Include a CTA
Posts should have a clear purpose. Your audience should be prompted to act by a call-to-action (CTA). You could save this post, link in your bio, or drop a heart if it is something you agree with.
To help drive engagement, the call-to-action doesn’t have to stop with Instagram. Good CTAs can encourage your followers to sign up for your newsletter, shop online, or engage with your website.
Find your voice
Use a consistent and on-brand tone of voice. Generally, it is a good idea to be informal in your captions, this will make your posts more personal.
Choose 3-4 characteristics that best represent your brand, and then write copy keeping these in mind. You could be friendly, caring, and informative.
Befriend emojis
Use fun and relevant emojis to break up your copy and make it more dynamic.
Emojis have universal meanings and can be understood in any country. Emojis can be used to draw the eye of scrollers and encourage them to interact.
Be helpful
Your Instagram captions can be used to offer useful information to your audience. You can draw people in if you provide value through your captions and keep them interested longer than normal.
Don’t forget others
When you mention brands or other people in your captions, tag them so that they can see and interact with your post. You can also tag, locations and other products.
Hashtags
Hashtags let you reach people who don’t already follow your posts. Include hashtags that match your post. Instagram allows for up to 30 per post, so make good use of that space.
Instagram uses hashtags to organize and categorize video and photo content. This means that Instagram can know when to show your post to people who have searched for the hashtag or are browsing the Explore pages.
Instead of using the most used hashtags on Instagram, it is better to use top hashtags that have an engaged community behind them and are specific for your audience.
Remember to add the bulk of your hashtags at the end of your caption, hidden behind several line breaks or in a separate comment. Using too many hashtags, or starting your caption with a hashtag, will only deter your followers from interacting with your post.
Monitoring and refining your Instagram caption strategies
While you’re testing different kinds of posts on Instagram, keep track of which types of posts work best. Instagram has very little in the way of analytics, so you will have to track this manually.
The humble Instagram caption is some of the most valuable real estate available on the platform, so make sure you use them well to help gain the most out of your Instagram account.
What do you think? Do you use some of these tactics to write your captions?
Don’t let your captions be an afterthought. Contact Studio22, Perth’s top digital marketing agency, and talk to our team about how we can assist you in creating an effective social media plan for your business.