So you’ve created the perfect graphic for your next post, created a bundle of hashtags you know work, confident it will perform well, and then what? Nothing. No engagement, no conversations started, and no one jumping in your DMs to talk about the subject in your post. Sadly, you can’t just assume the graphic and some hashtags will do all the work. You’ve gotta create capturing captions to draw your audience in and boost that engagement. Well, I’m here to give you some tips on how to write a compelling Instagram caption.
You’re not alone though. This has happened to me before many times, and I’m not out here saying I’m an expert at copy…absolutely not. But I’ve been working as an Instagram manager for a while now to understand what works to formulate a great caption. Bear in mind, this is just a formula to use as a guide, but you know your audience better than I do. Try longer captions, and try short ‘n’ sweet ones, and see what engages your audience best.
There are 5 specific things I have to give you a little guidance in creating a compelling Instagram caption. Hopefully these will help you create great content that converts in the future!
How to Write a Compelling Instagram Caption
Why are captions important?
Initially, the graphic/image/video you’re using will draw attention to your audience. Once they’ve got their eyes on your post, it’s the caption that will retain your audience’s attention. But without a compelling caption, you’ll quite quickly lose the reader.
Step 1: Attention grabber / hook
First things first, you want to start your caption off with a strong hook to stop the scroll, draw your audience in and leave them wanting more! This is so important as it’s the first part of the caption people tend to see when scrolling through their feeds. MAKE IT CATCHY.
Step 2: Add your personality into your content
Your audience wants valuable content from you, but they also want to get to know who you are as a person through your copy. Include your favourite phrases into your content, relate it to something you love or are passionate about, and bring that connection between you and the reader closer.
Step 3: Speak directly to your ideal client
You want to speak to your ideal client as if they were sitting in front of you and you were having a conversation with them. My top tip for content creation is to imagine you’re speaking to that one dream client of yours. Just one person. How can you help them? What’s your solution to their pain points? What questions are they asking?
Step 4: Always include a call to action
This is where you ask people to take action from the post. You want to end every post with a strong call to action or engagement. This can be as simple as asking people to comment their opinions below. People just want to be told what they have to do next. It’s as simple as that.
Step 5: Use keywords and hashtags to make your content more searchable
Make sure you’re using keywords throughout your captions as these are searchable with Instagram’s keyword search function, making it easier for people to find content around a certain topic. And, of course, keep using hashtags that relate to the content you’re talking out. Make sure you’re not just using the same hashtags over and over again!! What I do is keep a few different bundles of hashtags around each content pillar I have in my business and tend to mix them up in each post.
And there’s my version of how to write a killer & compelling Instagram caption. There are many different ways to formulate an amazing & catchy caption; it does depend on your audience and what sort of captions they engage more with so make sure you’re keeping that in mind!
Now it’s all good and well for me to just say ‘go off and create all the captions for your next 30 days of business’. But, let’s be realistic here guys. Unless writing is your absolute zone of joy, you have all the ideas and can shut yourself in your office and write for a couple hours, to go and write 30 odd captions off the bat is pretty damn hard. I struggle with writer’s block constantly and give myself a break if the words aren’t coming out with ease. I have a couple other tips that you can find HERE to help you get around writer’s block if this is what you’re currently struggling with.
If you’ve got the caption bit covered but stuck with ideas on what to post, grab my free download below!
