2021
10/19
16:37
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How to Create Your Instagram Caption

A great Instagram caption will stop a scroller in their tracks — and the longer someone spends reading your caption and engaging with your post, the better your post will rank with the Instagram algorithm! Words can enhance a picture by telling a story, providing context, or adding an air of mystery.

An Instagram caption is a written description or explanation about an Instagram photo to provide more context. 

can add context to your posts, show off your brand’s personality, entertain the audience and/or compel people to take action.

The caption allows you to take the visual message of the photo several steps further. The biggest Instagram stars use captions that are inclusive of all audiences, so stick with words that resonate with all.

Generally speaking, images that contain a lot of text do not perform well on Instagram. So while you can grab your viewers' attention with a beautiful image and a few words in the photo, the caption is where you convey the full story and the details you want to share.

Caption length

Captions can be up to 2,200 characters in length and include up to 30 hashtags. That gives you plenty of time to say something engaging.  

Lengthy Instagram captions can be difficult to read and handle. Users often want to scroll through their feeds quickly and they don't always have the time or patience to read everything. So if you want to come up with Instagram caption ideas to draw people in, keep them short and to the point. While this doesn't always apply to every post, only use lengthy headlines when absolutely necessary. Even if you do, make sure you add line breaks to improve readability.

First sentence

Instagram will shorten your headline after three to four lines, so include important details at the beginning. You'll only see the first sentence in a user's contribution, so make sure it's compelling or asks a question, and don't put the call to action at the end.

If someone scrolls through the feed on Instagram, you will only get about 20 characters to make an impression. Make sure that the beginning of your Instagram headline does matter. Put your most catchy sentences, hooks, and heading in the first few words, as these will make people stop and scroll.

Format your Instagram caption

Journalists often use the inverted pyramid style of writing, knowing that most people won't reach the end of their articles. Therefore, they ensure they place the most crucial information at the top of the article, 

Using line breaks (and skipping lines) not only makes your Instagram captions easier to read, but also more attractive to scrolling followers.  

Include a CTA 

The most common CTA used on Instagram for this purpose is “Click on the link in my bio”.

This CTA clearly tells your audience that they can navigate to your profile and access the links there to complete actions. This applies to almost any type of action: read a blog post, download a freebie, sign up for something, watch a video, buy a product, schedule a meeting, etc.

Other CTA

Encourage users to share your content with their Instagram stories

Prompt your audience to tag their friends in the comments

Ask users to “tap to purchase” in Instagram shoppable posts