Best Ways to Write Captions for Instagram In 2024

No one can deny the importance of eye-catching pictures on the platform. Captivating imagery can compel users to scroll slowly and even stop at a post. But, if you think that is all it takes to get people to engage, then you may be in for a surprise. At the top influencer marketing agency, we pair each content we create for our clients with captions.

Any text copy we create for our patron’s online content needs special attention - the same is true when we are writing captions for Instagram posts. Our experts understand that these snippets of text have the power to drive people to our client’s website, generate more sales, get more followers for their social handle and even compel users to like, comment, and share their posts.

Let me ask you this - what is your perfect caption? Is it funny? Serious? Professional? Friendly? Does it contain emojis, hashtags, or calls to action?

Do not fret if you found it hard to answer the above questions. We have put together a guide to help you create some of the best Instagram captions.

Importance Of Caption for Instagram Post

With the help of captions, we help brands communicate with their audience and disclose their personality - something a picture alone is incapable of doing.

The text we create for our clients can tell a story, provide jokes, and increase the organization's credibility by interacting directly with its target market. Of course, a video is capable of similar feats, but to get the company's message across, people will have to watch the footage - that is, if they decide to unmute the video first. On the other hand, the caption catches the eye of a person who is randomly scrolling through his IG feed.

Captions give us the power to communicate with people. We can direct them to a link, ask questions, request opinions, get them to engage, and much more.

There is another crucial reason why writing captions for Instagram posts are essential.

The content of Instagram gets the most engagement than its other network counterparts. If your goals resonate with the photo and video sharing application, then IG is your go-to platform. On the contrary, if sales are on your mind, Facebook or YouTube is your best bet.The platform first arranged content on the feed in chronological order. But that all changed after the 2016 update. Now, Instagram started leaning more towards engagement while also considering the upload time of the post.

What does this mean for us? When a user logs out of the platform and joins back in, IG will arrange the post we uploaded for our clients and others within that time window based on the engagement each received. If our content falls on the higher side of the attention spectrum, it will appear on the top of the user feed.

Know Your Goals for Effective Instagram Captions

Our professional agency staff do make it a habit to align our clientele’s business goal with their IG account. As such, the posts we create are part of the marketing campaign we have designed for the brand.

Let us look at some common goals.

• Get more visibility for the brand by executing awareness campaigns.
• Promote a product either for more sales or awareness for a new launch.
• Get more user-generated content with brand hashtags.

When we write captions on Instagram, we make sure that they are in line with the brand's campaign goals. For example, if our client's goal is to get people to "buy their newly launched product," – we include the product name in the caption. Similarly, for "brand awareness," we ensure that the caption has the brand name or branded hashtags.

When organizations invest in sponsored posts, they are a universal call to action that we include in the captions: contact us, book now, download, or learn more.

When we run organic campaigns (with no money involved), we usually have two objectives they want to achieve from their call to action.

• Prompt users to read the entire Instagram caption, navigate to the brands IG profile feed, and click the link in the bio.
• Get more likes, comments, and share from their followers.

Unlike a promoted post, organic campaigns do not allow clickable links. Hence, we use a call to action to direct the audience to the bio and compel them to click the link.

How To Write Captions on Instagram

Front-Load Important Information

Instagram is primarily designed for mobile devices. Hence the caption is cropped after three to four lines to fit the screen. Our client's visitors will have to click "more" to view the rest.

Instagram is a highly saturated platform where thousands of others create similar content for the same audience. Thus we include essential details in the beginning (within the first 125 characters) to grab the user's attention before they scroll past your post.

Emphasize On Storytelling

People love brands that are honest and transparent about what they do.

When we use extended Instagram captions with the aim of storytelling, we build credibility for our partner brand and help them connect with their audience at a personal level.

What do we talk about? It can be anything related to our client's business. We provide a brief history of the brand. Tell them why they choose to enter the industry? What was their inspiration behind the product or services the company offers? Etc.

For example, in a post by peg city lovely, Natalie bell, with an influencer marketing agency's help, used IG captions to talk about events that happened in her life. People could relate to her because they have experienced the same thing at some point in her life.

Use Hashtags

Hashtags are like keywords for Instagram. The algorithm uses them to label and group similar content. For example, a sports lover can search for hashtag #football to view related content.

We are confident that you have come across multiple posts where creators placed "hashtags'' at the end of a clever Instagram caption. Our content strategists will often leave space between the two to make the display look clean. We also consider inserting some hashtags between the captions, as there is no harm in doing so.

Now, how do we use hashtags in your post? Instead of going with either brand, trending, or community hashtags, we have a mix containing some from each class.

We also take hashtag inspiration from your competitors, influencers, audience, and niche leaders.

Use Emojis but Don't Go Overboard

Using emojis to write a caption for Instagram is okay. It is an excellent way to get the point across without cluttering our copy with more words.

We also use emoji to point readers to take any action; for example, we use an arrow as a signal to direct users' focus towards a link or even a promo code.

A best practice would be to use emojis as breaks at the end of a paragraph or sentence. Also, we make sure to use the ones in sync with our client's post and brand voice.

We are professionals; hence we avoid mixing irrelevant emojis, which does not help enhance the impact of the message.

Ask Questions to Initiate Engagement

We already talked about why engagement is meaningful on Instagram. But sadly, even if we create some of the best content for you on the platform, if users press the like button or drop a comment, it is still left to doubt. Hence, we provide a signal that compels them to take action via compelling captions for the Instagram posts.

Behind each post we upload, there is an intent and purpose – rest assured, we make it our duty to be clear on these. Once you know our client's goals, we use them to craft a compelling call to action.

Ask yourself this right now

• Do you want visitors to come to your website?
• Do you want people to purchase your product?
• Do you want to promote something?
• Do you want participants for a contest or giveaway?
• Or do you want people to share, like, and comment on your post?

We can invite engagement by initiating a dialogue or conversation with the brand's target audience. The Instagram algorithm extends the reach of posts that receive close attention - this means the content we create will show up more frequently in the target follower's feed or will be bumped up to the top spot in the explore section.

There are some standard actions we ask brand's users to take when writing captions for Instagram posts.

• Use promo code
• Tag a friend
• Leave a comment
• Click the link in the bio

The Ideal Length of Instagram Captions

Honestly, there is no right or wrong answer regarding the length of a captioned copy. But we always go with quality over quantity.

Captions on Instagram can be as long as 2200 characters and can hold up to 30 hashtags. But seldom does anyone utilize all the available space.

A celebrity like Cristiano Ronaldo will get his engagement even if his caption only has one emoji. In contrast, some novel writers or comic selling joints take it too far and use captions to write stories.

So is our ideal length of captions? Since we know that the first 135 characters are essential (viewers see what we enter here without action). We fill this space with relevant details to keep things interesting - prompting people to read the rest.

Communicate Like a Human

We use compelling Instagram captions to encourage engagement because they reveal the human-y side of an organization. Our client’s followers find it easier to start a conversation with the company when they believe a person is on the other side instead of an emotionless robot

How do we help get a conversation going in the comment section? - We put the brand out there by talking about how they spent their holiday or what they did today. We sprinkle bits of your expertise in the copy. One of our agency’s aims is to make our clients appear as a friend to their audience.

Use Mentions for Higher Reach

We will go out on a limb and assume that you are on stranger Instagram influencers. These famous internet celebrities have a broad reach and can influence the buying decision of those loyal to them.

Of course, we can't expect everyone we @mention in the Instagram captions to share the post we create – we will be lucky if they even see it in the first place. They may get the notification but can choose to ignore it. Hence, we make it a point not to tag a random person who is not part of our client's niche or won't be interested in their content.

Don't lose hope just yet. There are instances where Influencers shared followers' content - primarily when it was directly related to them. Rest assured, we are capable of getting our client's posts shared by a celebrity. When that happens, more people see it and potentially become our clienteles’ followers.

We hope you have found value in the time spent reading our article. Please, do share it with others.