One of the most important tasks when you are on social media is to get as much engagement as possible with other people. After all, that is the aim of social media – helping you to connect with others and also give you a space to entertain others using content you put out.



Instagram has the same goal, and Instagram captions are a great aspect of that. The better captions you post in your videos and photos, the more engagement your account and content gets. That engagement is part of the factors the platform algorithm considers when it wants to order content in the feeds of general users. With the immense number of users Instagram has (a daily user base of almost 300 million active users every day), greater engagement levels mean that you have a higher chance of getting more exposure and brand awareness. You do not even need to buy Instagram video views either, because this strategy will help you overcome half the battle.


What makes an Instagram caption great?


 
If you are wondering what you need to put in your captions the next time you post, keep in mind that great ones will always give off the personality of your brand, add context, make the audience entertained, as well as encouraging people to take action (also known as CTAs, or call to action). The general limits are 2,200 characters for the maximum limit, can have hashtags (a maximum of 30), and you can also include emoji.
That does not mean that the hashtag should be filled with meaningless hashtags though, or being full of emoji that cannot be understood quickly by the audience. Similar to having the mind of a writer, all Instagram captions worth reading should be easy to understand, in addition to grabbing the attention of the reader.

Some tips you can use to perfect your captions
Understand the audience you are targeting


 
Realistically speaking, you cannot start a business and hope to attract everyone who comes across it. Some people will connect to what you do, while others will not care. However, those who decide to follow you should be the priority when designing your content for them.

Instagram has very many users, but who among them actually fit your profile of a customer? The platform is more popular for women compared to men, and people of all income ranges use the site, according to the demographic data of the site.

Once you can do a market study on this demographic, you will better know who they are and what they enjoy, which helps you make better decisions on the marketing front. 

One way to achieve this is through the construction of audience personas, which show basic details concerning the customers you are targeting, their frustrations and goals, as well as interests. Once you figure this out, the next steps become easier.

Know what your brand voice is and stick to it


 
You might be surprised at the many businesses out there that have not identified the core aspect of their own brand voice, instead using that of other successful brands and trying to tweak it to themselves. If you do not have a brand voice that represents you, then chances are low that you will gain much success in marketing yourself on social media.

When identifying what this is, make sure to ask yourself some important questions. These include – what do I want people to associate my brand with? What values do I want to show? These and many other questions can be useful in making a list, which you can use to shape your brand.

Adjectives can also be helpful in describing what you want your brand to be known for. However, do your best not to make it serious and formal – that will put many Instagram users off (many of them are young people). It will also depend on the sector your business is in, but try as much as possible to make it have a friendly tone with appropriate humor, and that is sure to draw them in. 

A good example of such a brand is Lego – they use a combination of whimsical thoughts and humor to tell their audience their story.

Think about the length
Many people will tend to quickly scroll through their Instagram feeds, as they are searching for quick sources of entertainment. Therefore, it is important to remember this – if you are not sure of what length to go for, make the caption as short as possible. If you need to provide context, then do so, but let the photo or video speak for itself if it can.

When you examine the captions in a feed, you will notice only the first three lines are displayed, and if there is more information, the user has to tap the ‘more’ button. If you want the whole caption to show, use captions that have a maximum of 125 characters.

Whether you have a long or short caption, have its beginning contain the important words
Keeping in mind that users cannot see captions beyond three lines of text, make sure you communicate your most important points, such as the call to action, in the beginning of the caption. In addition, make sure the writing itself is interesting and encourages the user to click on ‘more’ if the caption is long. If you are planning to include hashtags or mentions, leave those for the ending.

Rewrite and edit


 
Do not be scared of going through several drafts of your captions, because they will be the first impression many will have of you. If you are aiming for a humorous post or educational status, make sure to do multiple drafts and have someone else read it just to be sure of what you are posting.

Final thoughts
Writing good Instagram captions takes skill, but it is valuable in drawing people to your brand and what it stands for. Because of this, make sure it is at the best it can be, and aim for as much effectiveness as possible in your communication.