Successful Instagram marketing is all about the visuals. The photos that you publish will attract followers, highlight your unique personality and show off the human side of your business. However, just because Instagram is a visual platform doesn’t mean that your words won’t count too.

The text you place next to your post gives context to your images and allows you to share your brand voice. The best Instagram captions make posts more memorable by telling your followers how to take action or laying the foundations for a stronger relationship. The right Instagram caption even makes your content more shareable.

The benefits of Instagram captions

A compelling Instagram caption improves your chances of engagement. Engagement is one of the most important things that the Instagram algorithm looks at when ordering the content in user feeds. As well as improving engagement, Instagram captions:

  • Add context to your image so you can explain complicated information.
  • Show off your brand’s personality and help followers to understand you.
  • Improve the visibility of your posts with #hashtags
  • Highlight the human side of your business with emoji
  • Encourage action with call to action text.

The key to Instagram captions is understanding your audience and knowing how to connect with them on social media. You’ll need to decide which hashtags are the most useful for your campaigns, how much your customers like in-depth content and whether your followers will respond to emoji. The more you know about your fans, the easier it will be to tailor your captions to their needs.

How to write a great Instagram caption

Writing a successful Instagram caption takes time and focus. There’s no one-size-fits-all guide to creating content that automatically speaks to your audience. However, some best practices include:

  • Writing several drafts: Writing, reviewing and editing your content before you publish it will improve your chances of spotting any mistakes.
  • Front-loading your captions with valuable information: Instagram cuts off what your users see after a few lines of text, so cover the crucial things first.
  • Including a call to action: Guide your customers towards activities that are lucrative for your business. For instance, ask them to tag their friends in the comments to improve your brand reach, or visit the link in your bio.
  • Ask questions: Engagement is crucial on Instagram and Instagram captions are a great way to cultivate engagement. Asking your audience’s questions is an excellent way to spark a conversation and get people interacting.
  • Use the right number of hashtags: Hashtags in your Instagram caption improve your visibility. However, it’s essential to use the correct number of relevant hashtags. Measure the engagement levels of your audience with different amounts of tags to see what your magic number is.

Remember, you can A/B test your captions with different phrases, hashtags, calls-to-action and even different lengths of content. To find out which captions give you the best result, track your metrics with a social media tool like Sprout Social and use your findings to guide your future posts.