Instagram can be a powerful marketing tool. Although it is centered around visuals, the right caption can take your post to the next level. Whether you want to tell a story about your business or run a giveaway, there are a few things to keep in mind when starting out on your next post.
Before You Write Your Caption
Know Your Audience
Instagram has over two billion users but the good news is you don’t need to impress all of them. The best captions speak directly to your audience—not the masses.
Knowing your audience is a great first step in choosing what kind of post, and more specifically, what kind of caption you are going to create. Finding out demographics like age groups, locations, and the jobs of your followers will come in handy. You’ll have a better idea of whether or not they’ll understand certain references and the level of detail you need to provide. Now, if you really want to understand your audience, look at psychographics and behavior. These are your followers’ desires, interests, goals, lifestyle choices, etc., and will tell you why they are looking at your posts.
Find Your Brand Voice (And Stick to It)
Now that you have your audience in mind, it’s time to focus on you – well, your brand. Knowing your brand voice is the next step in crushing your caption creation. Quirky? Bold? Mysterious? Light-hearted? Ask yourself how you want your brand and business to be perceived. What kind of values and images do you want to convey?
If you’re not completely sure, don’t worry. Just follow these tips:
- Be informal – It still depends on your audience but Instagram is a generally informal platform in terms of language. Keep your it accessible and friendly, but make sure it meets your target audience.
- Be real – When in doubt, honesty will go a long way. Being genuine breaks down the social media barrier and shows your followers there is a person behind the business.
Writing Your Caption
Place Important Words First
Generally speaking, no one goes on Instagram just to look at one post. Your followers will be scrolling through a lot of posts, yours included. Leading with the hook and putting the important words first is essential if you want your followers to stop and read your entire caption or do something else like clicking the link in your bio.
Length of Caption
Instagram gives you 2,200 characters, but that doesn’t mean you should use them all. Some brands thrive with short, snappy captions, while others crush it with longer storytelling. The key? Quality over quantity.
In an analysis of almost 6 million Instagram posts, 35.8% of the posts analyzed had 300 characters or more but saw that generally, posts between 1-50 characters received more interaction for accounts with followers between one thousand and ten thousand.
If you do decide to go for a long caption, breaking up the lines in 2-3 sentence chunks makes it easier for your audience to read and digest the caption you worked hard on.
Polishing It Up
Read Your Caption Out Loud
You did it! You wrote an engaging, unique caption for your post. The next step is to read your caption out loud. It may seem silly at first but when you stare at the words for a long time, you begin to think that it’s perfect. Reading it out loud allows you to hear any mistakes you might’ve missed when you read it back in your head.
A second pair of eyes is even better. You know what you’re trying to say with your caption but after looking at it for a while you might forget that there could be a better way to phrase it. Letting someone else look over it will determine if you missed the mark or hit the nail on the head.
Revise
Now that you’ve gotten some feedback, update your caption! You don’t have to go for a full rewrite but improving some words or phrases could mean the difference between a good caption and a spectacular one.
Caption Styles That Win on Instagram
Call To Action
No matter what type of CTA you use, link in your bio, question, tag a friend, or comment on what you think, you can improve engagement and activity on your posts.
Behind the Scenes
Let’s face it, people are nosy. Whether it’s a day in the office, a project in progress, or a fun team moment, sharing behind-the-scenes content adds authenticity and builds a stronger connection with your audience.
Informative
Informative content captivates! Share something and pair it with a caption that explains what viewers are seeing. This sparks curiosity, encourages saves, and drives profile visits. A great example? A LinkedIn post with a clear explanation, backed by a carousel of images.
Contest / Giveaways
Everyone loves free stuff. Tip: Have words like “CONTEST” or “GIVEAWAY” at the beginning of your post. It’s an easy eye catcher, and your followers will at least read the whole caption to see what it’s about.
Memes
Memes make the internet go round. They can be both entertaining and educational—plus, the funnier the post, the higher the engagement. Just check out this HubSpot post. Feels familiar?
It’ll be hard to find another account that does story captions as good as Humans of NY. Remember, emotion over information.
Less is More
This is Instagram, after all—where visuals do the talking. Sometimes, a single image says it all, but when you have more to share, a well-designed carousel invites people to swipe through and engage. A quick phrase, like this one by Hubspot, can be all you need to tie everything together.
Final Takeaway: Make Every Caption Count
Instagram is a place where you can find some of the most beautiful pictures online. As a marketing tool, it can expand your business and your brand to new heights, and this is where the caption really shines. Your caption game is what will set you apart from everyone else.
If you need help crafting captions that engage, convert, and align with your brand, First Ascent Design has you covered. We specialize in helping businesses build strong, authentic connections with their audience. Don’t let great content go unnoticed. Let’s talk!