Tips for writing Instagram captions

“Show me your feed and I'll tell you who you are” — that's the saying of our times!

Compared with other social networks, Instagram is a platform built around visual content. As a business, going viral isn't always easy, but your Instagram feed works like a business card, so it should be as natural and as professional as possible in order to bring the brand closer to its audience.

Engagement on Instagram doesn't depend on how many followers a page has, but on the kind of content it puts out. That's why it's important to get the right strategy in place for your business.

A post's caption plays a decisive role in the engagement your content achieves, so it should tie in with the image you're posting and with your audience's interests. It needs to be appealing so that the content you publish gets more visibility under Instagram's new algorithm.

Remember that you can adopt a friendlier tone of voice without losing sight of the fact that you're dealing with your current and future customers.

How do you write descriptions/captions that reach potential customers and followers? Here are a few tips:

1. Ask questions

This is one of the best ways to get your target audience interacting. You can use closed questions — with a “yes” or “no” answer — as well as open questions asking for an opinion.

That way, your followers will want to comment and, whenever the opportunity arises, it's important that you reply, which builds a stronger relationship with them.

2. Share quotes and interesting facts

Inspirational lines have the power to reach a lot of people, because whoever is reading them identifies emotionally with that kind of content. As long as the lines relate to your line of business, they're always a good posting option.

Encourage your followers to tag friends in your posts or even share them by direct message — it's a good way to reach more people and get them to know the brand.

3. Use emojis that suit your tone of voice

If you think emojis are just for kids, think again! They have the power to convey the tone we're using in a sentence, as well as the personality and mood of the person writing. That said, it's important to be mindful of the tone of voice you've adopted so that your message doesn't stray from the audience you've defined.

These elements make the description more appealing to read, but they should be used thoughtfully.

4. Caps Lock as a call to action

Let's not go overboard with capital letters, but we can use them whenever we want to make a call to action. If you have news or a one-off opportunity, reach for the Caps Lock to catch your followers' attention.

5. Use hashtags wisely

These keywords play a key role in extending the reach of your content. Choosing the right hashtags allows your brand to attract a larger, better-targeted audience for your type of business.

Instagram posts with at least one hashtag get, on average, 12.3% more engagement than those without.

6. Invest in storytelling

Captions let followers find out more about your business, so telling a story is a great way to draw your audience in. Do that and your followers will be more curious about your brand's next posts. Just keep your story short, original and concise.

7. Be coherent and consistent

This may be the most important point to take away from this post. It's essential to keep the same tone of voice throughout your feed and to post regularly.

As for the way you communicate, keep it simple, consistent and to the point. Instagram isn't the ideal social network for very long-form content.

When it comes to how often you post, we know inspiration doesn't strike every day, so we'd advise planning your posts in advance.

If writing content for social media isn't your thing, you can count on us. We have specialists ready to map out the ideal strategy for your business, entirely focused on results. We handle the planning as well as producing the content and visuals best suited to your business strategy.