How to Write Instagram Captions that Skyrocket Engagement and Conversions?

How to Write Instagram Captions: Instagram is filled with jaw-dropping, mind-boggling photos. All we do is check the feed, feel delighted and press the ‘love’ button during our leisure times. With each refresh, new content appears, keeping you hooked on the screen.

It is pretty amazing, though!

Luckily for the rolling entrepreneurs, Instagram has become one of the most important social media platforms to establish their brand authority. Many know how the system works, but very few entail the entire process.

Let us take a quick tour.

An Introduction to Instagram Captions

Instagram is an awesome medium where you can post unlimited pictures, videos, reels, and stories, but when it comes to business, can only pictures serve you right?

Unfortunately, the answer is no! Pictures are just a part of your story- you also need followers and engagement to boost conversions.

How to do it? By writing attention-grabbing captions.

Instagram has almost 1 billion users, sharing millions of visual content each day. These greatly impact visitors’ minds but do they convey any messages? Sadly, no.

Captions act as the brands’ voice, telling the brands’ stories, engaging followers, and prompting actions.

Undoubtedly, visuals are deadly components, yet captions play a crucial and supporting role. If you are struggling to craft effective, engagement-driven captions, you are at the right place.

Tips to Craft Awesome Instagram captions

Here are some killer ways to do it. Read on.

Make it short, crisp, and juicy

People have no time to go through the entire paragraph to understand what your business is about. The shorter the texts, the better and faster Instagram engagement you could expect.

Here is an example from ‘thesill’, with the bio ‘the best-looking plants on the Internet…..’ Though the picture says it all, a sweet caption complements the image, fetching around 12,006 likes. That is a lot of likes in a week.

You get the freedom to type 2200 characters, but that does not necessarily mean you have to cover up the character count.

If you are planning to type a long post, make the first line stellar. Once it grabs the viewers’ attention, they will click the ‘more’ button to read the entire caption.

Mention other people or brands’ name (if you are linked to)

Sometimes, it becomes necessary to give a big shout-out to the people and brands that have helped your business grow. Tagging your customers, too, is a great way to boost engagement. You borrow authority and trust and give credit to people who walk a mile to make your brand stand out.

Plus, giving credits is an excellent way to build relationships that can result in some future collaboration. In the end, you get their followers and increased conversions. It is a win-win situation for all the parties involved.

Briogeo is a health and beauty brand, shipped by Cult Beauty, an international shipping company with 1.5 million followers. Imagine the number of visitors one post can gain by mentioning a solid, globally reputed brand- a lot, I guess!

Get an authentic tone of voice

Instagram is not a place where serious tones work. Crafting seamless Instagram captions help you to communicate like a human and not like some faceless organization.

Take a look at Old Spice’s Instagram post that shows a meat-made sailing yacht. Besides bizarre imagery, the brand uses equally out-of-the-ordinary captions to make the audience stare.

Use hashtags but wisely

Instagram hashtags do the work of SEO, helping your post come on the trending list and increasing the chances of the content appearing in the feed. Do you know that one hashtag generates almost 12.6% engagement?

Hashtags help your products or services to become popular in the community and make people talk more about them. If you have not started using them, then you need to give a thought to it. As you can use up to 30 hashtags, so do not let the opportunity slip away!

Interesting Read: The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Hashtags in 2021

How to use one?

Suppose you have launched your bakery in Colorado. You can use hashtags like,#newbakerybusiness#newbakeryincolorado#chocolatecupcakesincolorado #homemadebakery #freshbakeryincolorado #bakerydesign and etc.

Here is an example:

When you type the word ‘travel,’ you can see the trending hashtags.

These phrases act as keywords, allowing people to find relatable content. Some keywords may have a lesser competition, while some are highly competitive. Neglecting hashtags means your content might get lost in the crowd, which can be detrimental to any business.

So, what is the best way to do it? Identify the main 11 hashtags relevant to your niche and use them regularly. Remember, consistency is the key that can bring a lot of engagement. When people use these hashtags, they find your content, and as a result, you earn followers.

Here is another example:

Emojis, emojis and emojis!

Emojis speak a lot more than long-form captions. In the emoji section, you will find a buffet that you can use according to the post’s mood and tonality.

Honestly, it leads to almost 15% of the user engagement. Believe it or not, emojis convey more feelings and emotions than words can.

Why are these quirky icons important? (I added full-stop, the edits got deleted)

• It helps humans to experience emotions.
• Emojis are easy to understand, and your brain can tap them quickly.
• Emojis are friendlier and trigger actions.
• The tiny digital images liven up the text.

Instead of writing down a paragraph, use a powerful and impactful icon in the Instagram captions.

The post from Zach King below displays emojis to describe his emotions. Additionally, he even asked the same using icons to encourage interaction.

Nowadays, arrows, bombs, and other signs are used to highlight flash sales, discounts, promo codes, new launches, and more. For example:

The sole reason behind their usage is that they stir emotions which a plain text cannot. They lit up viewers’ eyes and make them feel connected to the visuals.

Simply put, just like a picture, an emoji can speak more to the followers, visitors, and potential customers. And, it supports click-through rates (CTR) too!

Use CTA. What is that?

CTA is a call-to-action that lures a visitor to take the next step, such as buying an item or subscribing to the newsletter or signing up for emails, and more.

You wrote a catchy caption, but now, what?  Give your followers a sense of direction, like, what is the next step after reading the copy. The three best CTAs you can use are:

• Tag a friend– You have often come across posts that tell you to ‘tag 3 friends for a challenge’ or some zodiac pages asking you to ‘tag your Scorpio friend.’ You can post something similar funny or romantic, or ask your visitors to ‘Tag Your Partner/Friend’ for the same. People will try this out for fun, and as a result, your engagement will shoot up. Britandco did something similar!

• Ask questions, opinions, suggestions and more– People always want to be heard, and nothing can be better if you allow them to speak on a social platform. Are you making candles? Ask your followers what scent they would love to try.Are you selling cookies? Ask them the add-ons you can put. Are you running a home-decor business? Ask them if they liked your service or not? This constant engagement can be excellent for establishing your brand. You can see a similar example set by Glossier.

• Link in my bio– This is by far the most popular one. As you cannot put a link of your business in the post, you can place it in your bio. Update it now and then to keep your followers engaged with the latest post.

• Put the important information first- The most critical information must be placed first- that is what most people will see. Whether you are debuting with a new parlor in the city or giving takeaways on Sundays, it must be mentioned first. The first few words need to be gripping to keep the audience fixated on.

To prompt curiosity, you can start with a question or place an emoji. If required, you can also go ahead with a call-to-action statement to spark interest.

Airbnb did an amazing job here- unleashing your rustic imagination (though the image itself is tempting enough).

Try using quotes

Not something cliché, but use quotes that are more interesting and specific to the post. Maybe, you can put an inspirational line from the person who is in the photo or the one who has captured it (do not forget to mention their names).

You can see how Gopro used a quote from a featured photographer, adding an interesting touch to the picture.

Moreover, these can also be skillfully used to tell a story. Check out Unicef’s post below.

Instructions, anyone?

It especially works for food bloggers, gym trainers, artists, travel vloggers, stylists, makeup influencers, and professionals who need to give a detailed demonstration of their works/services. 

You cooked something fancy, but posting it on Instagram is not the end of the job. Do you want your followers glued to your page?

Start writing down the recipe- the ingredients used, the special spices combined, the time taken, etc. Your audience should be able to recreate the dish and drop suggestions in the comments.

Since you can utilise only 2200 characters space count, ‘Link in the Bio’ comes in handy. Paste your YouTube link where viewers can find the full recipe.

To understand better, check the Instagram page of Buzzfeedtasty.

Tell a story

Stories are always captivating. 

Do not hesitate to tell your followers about your struggles, pains, and accomplishments. How did you started the venture? Who supported you? How did you climb the success ladder? What interesting and saddening events occurred?

Your audiences is ready to listen and follow your path. Be an inspiration; be a mentor, and you will be gaining followers soon. Besides, you can engage your audiences to share their inspirational stories like the way done by Humans of New York.

Be human (yes, it works)

It is quite evident by now that your content needs to be relatable to connect with your audience on a deeper level. This is why you need to show your human side to initiate a conversation.

Share something that your visitors can relate with like, weekend hiking with your dogs, your first solo trip, visiting a restaurant with your cat, trying out quirky hair colour, first heartbreak, and more.

A shower of likes and comments is guaranteed!

Why killer captions matter?

People feel that Instagram is only about reels, videos, and pictures- after all, it is just an image-sharing platform. But, it has more to it! A strong, attractive caption paired with an appealing picture can make your post get more likes and views.

Did you still not make a perfect copy for your Instagram post? You could be seriously slipping out opportunities in increasing reach and boosting conversions. Additionally, captions are a great way to build community and raise brand awareness.

The Instagram algorithm favours those posts that get more likes and comments. It assumes that the posts are entertaining, educational or useful, making them appear in the feed. The posts that you generally see in your feed section are high-quality, which means greater engagement.

If you find your food recipes or art and craft videos coming in the feed, you have hit the jackpot! However, without captions, things are not so easy.

Writing captions can be easier said than done. To avoid errors and typos, you can hire a team or take the help of free tools.

The Takeaway

Instagram captions can take your Instagram post to another level, increasing visibility and making it enriching to the audience. With so many brands operating here, it becomes challenging to develop into something exceptionally good and stay in peoples’ memory for a long time.

Each brand has an effective social media marketing strategy, a team to manage the business account, professional photographers, collaborators, and more. The only way to beat them is by generating a precise, well-thought caption!

Remember, billions of eyes are watching you. You need to make the copy worth reading!