You might think that Instagram is all about visuals and yes, for the most, it is. But one simple feature of Instagram that can increase your engagement is the caption to your posts. So below I’ve given you 7 tips on how to write the perfect Instagram caption to help give your Instagram a boost.
Your caption can be a maximum of 2,200 characters but can include emoji’s and hashtags too…
Think of the caption as adding a voice to your post – whether you’re explaining more about the photo, telling your followers to do something, or just adding a few words to make them smile, you need to include a caption. Always.
8 Tips On How To Write The Perfect Instagram Caption
1. Call to Action
Include a call to action. A call to action tells your followers to do something. Whether it’s ‘Click the link in the bio’ or ‘Comment your favourite flavour below’, calls to action engage your followers by getting them involved in the post.
And the more engagement your post gets… the more likely Instagram is to show your post to other people.
But if you’re asking people to leave a comment, always respond to them – it won’t look good if you’re asking people to comment but then ignoring them when they do… and this will make people less likely to comment next time.
2. Emoji’s
Everyone loves emoji’s!
Emoji’s are a great way to catch people’s eyes as they scroll through their feed. But… make sure they’re relevant!
Try using an emoji in place of a word to keep your caption looking fun.
3. Think About Your Brand Voice
Think about how you want your brand or business to come across to your followers – your brand might have a serious, professional voice on your website, and other social media platforms, but serious and professional can be boring on Instagram…
Instagram is way more light hearted so make the most of this – show off your personality in the caption and use it to show you’re human too! People are more likely to engage if they feel they have a connection with you.
4. Mention Other Instagram Users
If your post features another Instagram user, or is something which is relevant to another user, then @mention them.
Not only will this get their attention and encourage them to like and engage with your post, but it’s likely that their followers will too… And that means more engagement for you!
5. Hashtags
Here it is again! See… I told you hashtags are important!
Now, whilst in other posts I’ve told you to hashtag in the first comment below your post, you should also include a couple in the caption.
By a couple I mean no more than 4. So include a couple in the caption and then the rest below in a comment. If you want to learn how to hide your hashtags so your post doesn’t look cluttered and messy, check out this blog post.
A 2014 study by Simply Measured showed that Instagram posts with at least one hashtag got 12.4% more engagement than those with none.
So always include hashtags. Open the door to more followers, more engagement and more growth by using them in your post.
6. Spelling and Grammar
This is the one thing that people don’t check and it drives me crazy!!
There are so many posts out there with wrong spelling or missing words where people just don’t check their posts and the same applies to captions. I mean look at this one…
Spelling mistakes or incorrect grammar can immediately turn buyers away. If you can’t spell properly or take the time to check your spelling and grammar, why would people trust you to provide them with a top class product or service?
Exactly. They wouldn’t.
Your Instagram posts are a reflection of your brand or business. And spelling and grammar errors aren’t going to share the right image of your brand with your followers…
So do yourself a favour, before you post… use spellcheck!!!
7. Put The Important Stuff At The Beginning
If you have a lot to say in your caption, arrange it by how important it is. I say this because when your caption is super long, Instagram will only show the first few lines so to see the rest of it, your followers have to click ‘See more’.
So if you really want to tell people to do something, write that first – this is the part they will see and so they’re more likely to do it.
If you start your caption with something irrelevant and then include the super important call to action at the end – it’s pretty unlikely that your followers aren’t going to click ‘See more’ and read all the way to the bottom.
Over To You…
So there you have it. 7 super important tips to show you how to write the perfect Instagram caption.
Now it’s your turn to try them out…
Mix your captions up to see what type works best for you – long captions explaining your post… a quirky comment… or just a few emoji’s and hashtags with a call to action.
Whatever you choose to include – remember… you need to capture the attention of your followers and pull them in to give you chance to turn them into fans and customers. So put some effort in!
