Writing social media captions may seem simple, but you’d be surprised how many people get stuck writing them every day. In Marketing, the ability to use words to draw someone in and convert them as a customer is a highly sought after skill. Social media is one of the best platforms for engaging a wide audience with your words. Captions drive engagement, so let’s look at how to write great social media captions.
Encourage Responses
What is the best way to get someone to respond to you? Ask them a question but keep it open-ended. Doing this creates conversation in the comments and boosts engagement. Don’t forget to respond to comments. This shows your audience that you’re friendly and encourages them to respond and engage with your posts in the future.
Put the Important Things First
When posting about an exciting announcement, collaboration or giveaway, put that at the beginning of your caption to grab viewers’ attention. It’s best to keep these announcements in your captions brief and to the point so that can be easily read when users are scrolling. Facebook, LinkedIn and X (Twitter) all have a character limit and Instagram allows for 3-4 lines of text before the caption is cut off by the “Read More” feature.
Use Relevant Hashtags
When it comes to hashtags, it’s important to know when and where to use them, and how many to use. According to Instagram’s recommendation, it’s best to use only 3-5 hashtags per post that are placed within the caption and after it. Hashtags can increase engagement and get more eyes on your posts. Posts that are made without hashtags leave you with missed opportunities to optimize your content, drive more engagement and increase your followers.
What is your Intent?
The intention behind your post should inform your caption, making it more effective and clearer. General captions that are full of fluff will not cut it with your followers. What’s the intent behind your social media posting? Is it to:
- Strengthen your relationship with your followers?
- Inform them of something?
- Promote a new product or content piece?
- Show your personality?
- Encourage specific actions from your followers (like, comment, share, download, etc.)?
Once you know the intent behind why you’re posting, crafting your caption will come much easier to you.
Embrace the tips above for the best chances of having your captions and post stand out on social media. It’s also important to remember to stay on brand. It is vital to connect with the right audience. Your captions should play equal parts staying consistent with your brand voice and mirroring its personality.
If you’re looking to up your caption game, reach out to JSK Marketing today. We can help you create captions that stay consistent with your brand voice and have your intent delivered clearly and effectively. Contact us today!
