How to write good Instagram captions? The complete guide

It`s not a secret that today social media have turned onto a weapon of massive engagement and promotion. People have found many ways to draw user`s attention and get maximum of possible views, likes, comments and shares. However, you can`t have massive engagement from the first day. It`s impossible, believe us. We`ve seen many examples when people spent huge money on their promotion campaigns and expected for the results on the first day. Well, they failed. You should work on your posts every day, look for the mistakes and correct them. Today, we will be talking about probably the most important part of a social media post (in our example – Instagram) called caption. So, Instagram captions!

Instagram captions. Why they are important?

Well, captions help people to get an extra information about your post. Sometimes, when it`s needed, caption can give user all information about your publication. Let`s have a look on an example to have a better understanding of the situation. You`ve posted a huge infographic about your topic (in our example it will be an economic strategy of small businesses), but it`s not completed. You need to add a few sentences, but your scheme is already completed. What should you do? Of course, you should use the power of Instagram captions. Don`t write a huge article – two or three sentences (depending on what you need to add), and your post is completed.

And now, let`s talk about the best tips that will help you to form and improve your Instagram captions.

Know your audience

You can`t create good content without knowing your audience. People who subscribe your profile, put likes and write comments keep your social media alive, so your task is to generate content that will satisfy them. Do captions play a huge role here? Of course, because without them your images will be looking “empty”, and people won`t understand the context. Of course, they could leave your profile, but it`s not a perfect way out – you could lose a bigger part of your audience.

Consider length

As we told in our example with infographic, your Instagram caption shouldn`t be too big. And, of course, it shouldn`t be too small. Your task is to find the perfect border between “too big”, “exactly what is needed” and “too small”. Your caption shouldn`t always complement an image – you need to describe it. Point on the main object or say what exactly is on the photo. Sometimes even a short phrase like “This red T-short is looking perfect here” can finish the post.

In fact, there isn`t a perfect formula of the caption`s length – you should adapt it to each of your posts. For example, if you post a video which shows a working process of your company, you should explain why your workers are the best and why people should work in your company.

Put the most important information at the beginning of the caption

The main problem of social media marketers and, in fact, all social media users is that they couldn`t draw people`s attention. Users are scrolling their news feed very quickly, so you have at least two seconds to make them stop and pay attention to your post. How to do it? Of course, with the help of Instagram caption. You must show that your post is important for the user, so write something that will really impress him. For example, it could be made in CAPS-print. People will immediately react on such form of text, and they will want to understand what`s hiding under these words.

Edit and rewrite

Returning to the beginning of our article, we will say it again: you must always work on your captions. It doesn`t matter how huge your post will be, you should put the right information under the photo. Don`t forget to highlight your caption by pressing “Enter” after a caption – the main text should be separated from it.

Use hashtags in your caption

Everyone knows that hashtags are playing a huge role in the social media system. People can point their post from the global feed, find needed information by making a search with the hashtag or just increase their profile activity. And also, hashtag`s power could be used in your Instagram caption. One clarification: use the right hashtag with the right letter size, because it will be shown to all people who are using this hashtag.

If you have a massive audience, you can even form your own tag and start using it in your posts as a caption. You will know that most of your subscribers will react on this hashtag, so there is no need of using old hashtags. Show your creativity!

Attract people with call-to-action caption

Such formula is working for giveaway posts and Instagram contests. When you are working with a massive audience, your task is not only to generate needed information, but also to give people a real reason to stay on your profile. For example, you can ask them to comment your post, and like all accounts that will take part in this small contest. An author of this article has seen hundreds of such practices made by their friends and popular bloggers. If you feel that there is time to rest from long posts, you can create such contest. People always enjoy such social media activity, so you should give it to them.

Put a question in your caption

Do you want to know everything about Instagram captions? Do you want to increase your profile activity?

Such question forms are probably the most common in social media today. Yes, they are as simple as possible, but when a regular user sees it, his mind tells him “continue reading”. And, believe us, he will. However, if you are using such form of Instagram caption, you should give the right answer to the question you ask. All information should be referred to the topic.