When it comes to Instagram, your visuals are ultimately what’s going to stand out the most. However, no good post is truly complete without the addition of engaging copy. If you want to be a social media rockstar, you should always have relevant, clever Instagram captions to add context and show off your brand’s unique personality.
Crafting Perfect Instagram Captions for Beginners
Building your Brand
Before you even write your first Instagram caption, you should come up with a brand voice to shape the tone and style of your writing. The words you choose and the way you express yourself will combine to create the personality of your brand. Your company’s personality is used to engage and motivate your audience.
Try to brainstorm essential qualities and values that you want your brand to exemplify. This will help you shape your voice.
Your brand’s voice depends on the industry and audience, but most businesses keep it lighthearted and fun on Instagram. Try not to be too serious or formal. Inject humor when you can—it will help add an authentic, human element to your brand.
Keep it Brief
When trying to determine the length of your Instagram captions, you should always keep it on the shorter side. Ideally, your caption can be read by a user scrolling through their timeline at a brisk pace. There are just too many posts out there for users to read a lot of text.
Short punch lines and sentences can be used to give context when needed—but mostly the posts should speak for themselves. If there are interesting facts or details behind the image, you can share them. Just make your point as quickly as you can and let the photo do the rest of the talking.
As a general rule of thumb, any key terms or phrases should be towards the beginning to engage and hook readers. Also, lengthy captions tend to be cut off, so stick all mentions and hashtags towards the end.
Edit and Rewrite
No matter what, you never need to rush when it comes to your Instagram captions. Many successful brands go through several drafts. They never stop editing and rewriting, especially if the caption is longer than a few lines.
Every word and phrase you use should support the overall content and message you’re trying to convey. Cut down on as many extraneous and unnecessary words as possible to get it as concise as you can.
Well-written Instagram captions can help your social media marketing campaign receive the engagement and exposure that it needs.
