5 Steps to Great Instagram Captions
Great images alone won’t sell
We need purpose behind the visual - so captions matter! This post is our summary of a fabulous blog post by Ashlyn Carter.
1. Get To The Point
Unless you’re just typing a few quick words, you’re going to have to click on the ‘…more’ link to read a full post on instagram so ‘front-load’ your captions and get to the good stuff first!
This should approach will help you get better engagement as people are more likely to actually click and read the whole caption.
2. Type it on a Desktop Computer
It’s SO MUCH easier drafting Instagram and Facebook captions on a desktop computer than doing it on your phone.
There are a few reasons to do this: First, we tend to make less spelling and grammatical errors this way, and secondly, everything flows better.
It’s also a great idea to ‘batch’ and type a few captions at once.
3. Use Paragraph Spacing
People DO read long things online but they’re so much more likely to read them if they’re digestible and easy to consume. It’s really hard to read long posts with no space in-between to give your eyes and brain a chance to rest plus we love to be able to skim read!
So break your captions up with line breaks!
4. Use your Authentic Voice
When writing your captions, really think about what you want to say and develop a brand ‘voice’ - a vibe, a mood that illustrates to your followers what kind of person/business you are. Whether that be sarcastic and funny or serious and thoughtful - try to stay within that voice and be authentic.
5. Use Long & Short Captions
The “best practices” for how long your captions should be are what works best for YOUR engagement and audience.
“Good Instagram captions come in all shapes and sizes, from short and sweet to a longer, in-depth stories (an Instagram caption can be as long as 2200 characters). As long as your audience finds it engaging, you’re doing great!” -Later
So, experiment! Post long and short captions and see what gets you the best up-take, what feels right and what sounds right for your brand voice!
