Instagram captions are an essential element in optimising your content for search, explore, and other Instagram features. Perfecting your captions can boost your exposure and grow your following.
Most people now know the value of a strong social media presence to their brand marketing and business strategies as a whole.
Don’t underestimate the power of the ‘gram, she ain’t just a pretty face.
1. Blurt It All Out 🤭
Get the good stuff in early. And by good stuff, we mean the important info – be it a call to action, special offer, collaboration or a new product you’re promoting.
The character limit on Instagram captions is a whopping 2,200, but not every one of those characters is made equal. Anything not in the first 125 will be cut off, and only accessible by clicking on a ‘see more’ button.
Instagram is all about getting people’s attention quickly, diverting them from their newsfeed to your content, both through visuals and copy. Put your message at the forefront and grab even the most passive scroller.
2. A Little More Conversation 🎙
Instagram is a social media platform. The clue’s in the name. Use your Instagram captions to ask questions and get users chatting about your brand, products and the surrounding lifestyle.
Creating that all-important community feel will give your account longevity beyond the one post. Getting to know your audience through their interactions with your content is essential for ensuring you continue to put out the content they react best to.
Plus, the more interaction your posts get, the more likely the algorithm is to show them to others, boosting your reach.
3. Consistency is Key 🗝
Maintain the tone of your Instagram captions for familiarity and cohesion. Work out what works for you, and stick with it!
Is your brand’s persona the helpful older sister? How about a friend who always knows the latest sustainable lifestyle tips? The makeup guru of your dreams? Or a hilarious prankster who’s always up to date with the current trending memes?
Whatever your style, commit to curating it through both your images and caption. Once you’ve found your target audience, they’ll appreciate an effort to stay on-brand. A constant tone of voice makes you recognisable, trustworthy and reliable in an audience’s eyes.
4. Save Your Waffle For Breakfast 🧇
Make sure your post has a purpose and sticks to it. Don’t get distracted with minor details and let your caption go off on a tangent.
While it’s fun to put your stamp on your brand’s Instagram tone of voice, never sacrifice the clarity of the information featured in your captions.
Presenting as spammy, boring, or irrelevant could spell the end of your social media success. People are quick to unfollow when they see content that clogs their carefully curated feed with waffle. Make your Instagram captions scroll-stopping!
5. Name Drop ⭐️
If your post is a collaboration with an influencer/creator, or even just a repost of user-generated content, don’t be afraid to name drop them in your caption as well as tagging them in the photo.
This ups your chances of the collab playing off, maximising the possible exposure by making the connection as clear and accessible as possible to users. Make the most of that potential follower boost!
6. Hashtag Etiquette 🏷
Relevant hashtags are essential for growing your reach, there’s no debate about that. However, their placement is the source of much discussion. To caption or to comment?
To keep captions looking neat, uncluttered, and professional, many creators have taken to posting their hashtags in the first comment on their posts. However, this may not be optimal.
Instagram officially recommends: “for a post to be found in Search, put keywords and hashtags in the caption, not the comments.”
Be strategic with your hash-tagging. Stick to around 5 to avoid being spammy, and use hashtags of varying levels of specificity to avoid getting buried in the masses of posts. Pay attention to what your competitors are tagging, and make use of online tools that can help you to select the most relevant hashtags for your posts.
Hashtags are essential, but overusing them can look unprofessionally and spammy, or just like a Mum who’s new to Instagram. This next tip could help you out with that…
7. Break It Up ✨
Instagram is, by nature, a visual platform. Therefore, aesthetics are important, not only for the images/videos you post, but for the captions too.
Use line breaks to preserve the aesthetic appeal of your captions when using hashtags. This is where the “see more” button becomes your friend. Place hashtags far down enough to be hidden, preserving a polished look.
Follow @creators for more insider tips on how to maximise your Insta captions for maximum effect.
Need help with your brand’s social media presence? dmt have the know-how. Discover our service in Paid Social, PPC and Email Marketing, then head to our get in touch page.
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