How to write Instagram captions like a pro
Instagram captions are one of the most important parts of any post. But how do you write them to inspire and engage with your audience? Read on to find out.
Instagram captions are one of the most important parts of any post. But how do you write them to inspire and engage with your audience? Read on to find out.
Are Instagram captions important?
Yes! Even if your photo or video is a show-stopper, the text underneath can either help or hinder. Bad captions filled with typos, weird phrasing, offensive language, tacky hashtags, and more can sabotage your hard work.
The best captions can ramp up the number of comments and likes, encourage engagement, generate more followers, and even send people to your bespoke site or store. Pretty neat, considering it’s just a little text box at the bottom of an Instagram post.
Instagram captains add context and personality to your posts. Whether you’re telling a personal story, announcing a giveaway, or just goofing about, captions hammer your point home.
What should I caption a photo or video with?
Unless you’re mega-famous or only using Instagram privately, you should probably avoid no-captioning your posts. Here are the different kinds of captions you can try out.
The call to action
You’ll have seen these before, sometimes without even realizing it. A call to action means the post is geared to drive users towards doing something. That could be:
- Tag your friends who like/agree with/hate this thing. It’s a great way to bring more people in and ramp up engagement from outside your core following, which can help balance things in your favor with the Instagram algorithm.
- Vote on a topic, either with emojis, text, or likes/shares. Make it something universal – ‘hot dogs or tacos?’ will get more engagement than ‘David Lynch or Cronenberg?’ – and give people a reason to voice their opinion.
- Click on a link in your bio. This could be a link to your merch store, an affiliate link, or a fundraiser. These links can be a solid way to bring in passive income, which can help you become a full-time creator.
This kind of engagement can be measured using Instagram analytics, which helps you make informed decisions about your content going forward. Professional creators don’t post aimlessly, and neither should you!
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What are some clever captions on Instagram?
Sometimes, you’ll see an Instagram caption that, in the context of the photo, makes you LOL. It might even make you ROFL.
The power of the pun
Wordplay, puns, self-deprecation, and sarcasm – as long as it’s not mean-spirited – can all be used to add extra zip to your posts. They can make your Instagram captions cool, relatable, and offer a unique vibe that sets you apart. As long as it chimes with your personal brand, go for it!
What are some cute Instagram captions?
If you want to write compelling, attention-grabbing captions for cute Instagram posts of something like nature or travel, a side-splitting pun might not be the best way to sell it.
The micro-blog approach
If you’ve snapped a beautiful, serene video of a mountain range, you can’t really convey that with one line of text. Micro-blogging your journey in the captions, detailing the steps you took and the equipment you used, is a sure-fire way to bolster this kind of inspirational content.
You can go a step further by tagging any companies, people, or organizations that helped you along the way, finishing the post with a raft of relevant hashtags. If you’re making it a long one, remember to use line breaks between paragraphs, just to break up the text!
The diary
If you’re comfortable with it, some of the most powerful captions on Instagram come from deep, personal experiences. Content creators who are honest about their physical and mental well-being often gain traction just by being honest. They don’t exploit the fact they’re not feeling 100%, but they’re savvy enough to realize that people don’t want to see influencers, vloggers, and celebrities pretending to live perfect lives.
Don’t post Instagram captions like this if it makes you uncomfortable, but if there’s anything personal you feel you can share that will give people insight into your life beyond ‘content creator,’ then try it out. We’re all human, and acknowledging that is what makes content relatable.
What else should I caption an Instagram post with?
The main purpose of Instagram captions is to drive engagement. Whether through likes, sharing, commenting, clicking, or something else, those little bits of text at the bottom of your post can make a huge difference. Here are a couple of other ways you can use Instagram captions.
User-generated content
What better way to engage people than using their ideas, right? Take people’s comments from your previous posts to inspire fresh, new content. Tag them in that, shout them out, thank them. Make them feel appreciated and part of your community, because without them, you’d not be making that content in the first place.
Back to school
People love a good how-to, so if you can share tips, tricks, and hacks in your Instagram captions, you’ll make someone’s day. If you made your own shaving kit out of wood or figured out how to save money on a certain bill, let people know in the captions. Consider using clear steps, numbers, emojis, and line breaks to make each step super clear.
Instagram captions add an extra dimension to your content. When used correctly, they can score you more followers, drive more people to your paid-for platforms, increase your merch sales, and more.
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