Hack Your Instagram Captions

Why do you need Instagram captions? 

Picture this: you’ve pulled together the perfect image, carousel or reel and you’re ready to post. 

However, before you press publish, you need to add a caption but you think “does it really matter? I’ve got a fantastic visual so surely that’s all I need”

WRONG!

Not only does your caption add some context to your post but it’s a great space to add some keywords and show off your personality (FYI – personality is one of the most essential qualities your social media profile must have).

Also, the longer someone spends reading your caption, the more valuable Instagram considers your post and prompt the algorithm to push it. 

Quick caption must-haves.

If I were to give you a very quick list of what to include in your captions, it would look like this:

• Catchy headline
• Keywords
• Personality – personal stroies / thoughts / opinions
• Hashtags
• A question
• Emojis
• Easy to read spacing
• Call to Action

Let’s break it down!

Catchy headline

This is the first line of your caption.

You need to make sure you are hooking people in and making them want to learn more.

Think ‘3 ways to do X’, ‘You’re doing x wrong’, ‘Who’d have thought I’d been doing this wrong my whole life’. 

Short, snappy sentences that invite the reader to click the more button. 

Keywords

Pad out your caption with keywords that relate to your niche. 

Think about what your target audience will be searching for and how it relates to what you have to offer. 

Get niche with it! 

Personality – personal stories / thoughts / opinions

People don’t want to hear the same old stuff from every account. 

Offer your followers a unique experience through your post – that’s why they’re following you right? 

This also shows people who don’t follow you (yet) why they should. 

Hashtags

Perhaps an obvious one but hashtags have their own strategy.

Your hashtags will reflect your post and should be thought out carefully. 

DO NOT spam your posts with popular hashtags, especially if they are loosely, or not at all, connected to your content. 

Spend time curating a hashtag strategy that will get the right people in front of you. 

A question

Ask your followers a question. 

‘What do you think about this?’ 

Get your followers talking in the comments (and reply to them!!). You may also find that through a conversation under your post, you get inspired with more content ideas based on what people are saying. 

It’s all about opening a dialogue between you and your followers. 

Emojis

Emojis are more important than you may think.

Visually, they break up blocky text that people may not bother sifting through. 

They also offer an insight into the vibe of the post at first glance.

Don’t underestimate the power of the subconscious mind. If you’ve got, for example, these emojis scattered through your text: ☮️🌈✌🌳🌱, a narrative pops into your mind, right? 

Easy to read spacing

Much like emojis, spacing is very important in Instagram captions.

Imagine each caption is like a blog post. You wouldn’t, and shouldn’t, have super bulky paragraphs. 

Unfortunately, not everyone has a long attention span and won’t bother reading the whole thing. Most people will skim and look for the important bits which is why spacing out your key points is so important. 

Call to Action

Every post must have a CTA.

This may just be as small as inviting a conversation in the comments or something bigger like encouraging someone to visit your website. 

Either way, don’t leave the caption closed. Make sure there is a next step for people to follow.