A guide to writing killer captions for your Instagram business.

Some of us are really finding it hard to grow on Instagram.
And the rest of us have another problem. It is the phase of feeling stuck while writing Instagram captions 😅

In a recent conversation recently we asked our audience if they could drop any one social media platform from their strategy, what would it be?

We got the majority mentioning Instagram 😮

I partly agree it could be a struggle but fitting the right piece of the puzzle and exploring the new features Instagram brings in, does quite well.
I’ve personally watched businesses grow if they’ve moved their strategy as per the new changes on Instagram

Amongst other things, we also find ourselves in a fix between what to do on that platform and what not to, what would work, and what wouldn’t.
Additionally, we’re also facing the most feared — Writer’s block.

Even with years of experience, we sometimes find it difficult to put words together or simply switch to that “I don’t know how to write anymore” mode.

Let’s look at tips and tricks to ace Instagram captions for your business?

1. Tell a story

Use captions to tell a story of your business. For this, it is important to know your business inside out, how it was founded, what is the purpose, how your products or services offer solutions to problems?
Them tell your story as if you were having a conversation with a friend and use that as your caption.

You can also talk about what a day at the office or production looks like, behind the scenes of your workspace, or the process of what goes to make your brand “The brand” that you are.

2. Ask questions

Asking questions is the best way to tap engagement for your Instagram, posts.
Your audience or anyone who visits your page can leave their answers in the post’s comments.

You can also add a quick quiz, riddle, or anything interesting that would push your followers to take action and reply to your Instagarm caption.

3. Keep it short and sweet

Keeping it short is the best way to make that thumb stop. It is important to ensure the first 125 characters have announcements or messages at the very beginning of your caption.

If it is longer than 125 characters, they would have to tap the ‘more’ option to read the whole post.

Another way to leverage the 125 characters is to add a very catchy line and ensure it is to be continued to be read-only when the user taps the more option.

4. Maintain a consistent tone

Your brand tone is based on how you choose to communicate with your followers/ users.
If you’re formal, you can add captions that are direct and to the point.
However, if your business has a super friendly personality or is slightly silly, include fun emojis to make your captions very light-hearted.

5. Encourage your followers to take action

It is completely okay to be direct and ask your users to take action.
If you’ve written a blog about 5 of your best selling products and why people love them, you can ask your users to tap the link in your bio or you can take full advantage of Instagram’s new features like the one where you can add a link to the product in your stories.

Another tip here would be to create highlights to ensure your audience has access to all of the links at any time they decide to give your brand or products a spin.

Another way to encourage your followers to take action would be to be direct.
So, if you’ve introduced a new product, you can give them information and use words like “Buy now” or “Tap the link to get your hands on it” and so on.

6. Write in advance 

As and when you seek inspiration, have thoughts cross your mind, make a bank of your thoughts using tools like Evernote, Google Docs, Notes, etc. These do not have to be organized or anything.
It acts as your brain dump for all the times you need to sit around and plan your Instagram content and captions for those posts.

Also, it is good practice to plan in advance and have a content calendar for your Instagram posts.
It helps you avoid last-minute panicking of coming up with captions closer to the publish date and also organize your content and have enough time to explore content and work on the next set of captions.

7. Read a lot!

Reading helps you have multiple perspectives,  broadens your thought process, and you can also seek inspiration from it with time.
So, if there is a brand that inspires you, you can go ahead and read their stories, captions, and content they put out. This sometimes encourages you and inspires you to tell your story.

In fact, also re-reading your previous captions help you find your voice again and come to the rescue when you’re facing that writing block.

8. It’s okay to not be perfect

Your Instagram captions may not be perfect and that is okay. You don’t have to be hard on yourself and not all your captions should be a masterpiece because we’re only humans.

Instagram as a platform has always focused on making connections, consistency, and engagement.
Not perfection.
It’s better to publish our ideas of imperfect captions and posts than not posting at all.
So, if you’re not too inspired, don’t stress out. It’s okay to go ahead and publish the “not so perfect” captions too.

9. Take breaks

The best part about planning your captions and overall content in advance is the option you have to take breaks when you’re not feeling too creative or if a particular day does not feel like a day to write good Instagram captions.

Take that break, give yourself a no-screen day, meditate using apps like Calm or Headspace, soak your feet in warm water, or do whatever fits your idea of resting and relaxing is.

That’s it, folks!

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