Writing great Instagram captions is really simple…
Sometimes we overcomplicate and overthink the process of writing captions for Instagram. It doesn’t have to be that hard and it shouldn’t take you a long time to write the caption.
Today I’m going to be sharing with you my framework on how to write great Instagram captions that generate engagement and conversion.
The first step is your heading. Write a killer headline that is attention-grabbing and piques interest. Keep it within 125 characters because anything more than that gets truncated. Your audience will have to click the “Click More” sign in order to read more.
Here are some attention-grabbing elements that you can put into your first line. The first one is to spark the interest with some hard-hitting stats. For example, you can start off your headline by saying 98% of you wouldn’t do this. This big percentage of people that wouldn’t be doing this will arouse their interest and wanting to know more of what you have to share.
The second is you can ask a question. For example, are you looking to get more clients on Instagram? If this is something that they are interested in, they are going to click the “Read More” button.
The third way is to tease their curiosity and keep them guessing. One example is I’ve got a secret that I’ve never shared before, not even with my family. That will tease their curiosity to know more than they will click the “Read More” button. The goal of writing a killer headline is to get your audience to click the read more sign.
Step two is to ensure that there’s spacing in between your paragraphs to make the content easier to consume. It looks great on the whole, too.
With the previous Instagram version (before the many updates till now), I wasn’t able to add any spaces in between and I’ve received a DM from some people that it has been working for them all along but it hasn’t for me. I had to use a tool in order to have line breaks in between.
If the line breaks are not working for you on Instagram when writing your captions, then there is an app that you can use. Search for Insta Spacer to copy-paste your caption and put it inside the app and it will convert for you with the spacing.
If you’re on a desktop, you can use the Caption Line Breaker – https://www.apps4lifehost.com/Instagram/CaptionMaker.html
Apart from the spacing, it will be great to add emojis. It helps your caption be more visually appealing. It makes your posts stand out more compared to text-only captions. It puts in a little bit of fun and personality into your captions and they do break up the copy in your posts.
You can use emojis as bullet point forms if you’re sharing some tips or use it as punctuation or an accent. Remember, don’t overkill your caption using so many emojis.
The third step is to write the body of your caption. This is where you put all of the valuable information and golden nuggets. Just be generous with what you have to share.
There are two ways that you can do this. The first way is storytelling. You can relate that to the intention of what you are sharing and it flows into your CTA without being salesy.
One example is if you’re wanting people to sign up for an hour of your mini coaching, tell a story of how you’ve gotten more clarity and headed into the right direction after engaging with a coach.
Add a sentence with a PS. or “by the way”, if the clarity is something that you need. You can also add in scarcity to incentivise your audience to sign up with you now. Storytelling will let your audience resonate with you and that you understand what they’re going through.
Here’s a tip when you want to write from your heart and just be yourself and be authentic. Use the voice note on your phone that actually helps you convert your audio into text.
This function is available on iPhones and Android phones. You just have to look for the symbol of a microphone and just talk as if you’re talking to your ideal client.
Once your voice note tool helps you convert the audio into text, all you have to do is just tidy it up a little bit and post it as a caption.
If you can’t find that tool on your phone, there’s another one that I have been really loving at the moment as it has helped me tremendously in my captions. It is called Otter that helps you translate your voice recording into text – http://bit.ly/ottervoicenote
The second way of sharing your valuable information is to list down some tips or mistakes. For example, the three biggest mistakes I made during the first six months of my business and why hiring a coach was the best decision I’ve ever made.
You can list down the three biggest mistakes and expand on the point form that your audience can actually resonate with. You want your audience nodding when they are reading your captions.
They can feel it in your story that you do understand them. You can help them in some way because you have been there yourself.
Step four is to write an ending. Now you can recap on what you have just shared, just like how you write in school, and that will be your conclusion. It’s the summary of what you have shared and where relevant opinion is included.
Step five is to add a strong CTA or CTE. A CTA is a call to action and a CTE is a call to engagement. Get your audience to do what you really want them to do.
Always remember that your audience is not going to do anything unless you tell them to. You need to guide them on to the next step.
Here are a few examples of a call to action that you can actually put at the end of your caption. The first one is register now, sign up for my free training, learn more about my one to one programme, join my free Facebook group or it can subscribe to my podcast or email list.
A CTE is more for engagement. You can get them to save for later, swipe for tips, share this with someone or comment down below.
This is one metric that Instagram really prioritises – engagement. It shows that your audience is interested in what you have to share and Instagram wants to push out the right content for your audience.
Remember to always add a CTA and a CTE depending on what you are sharing. Once you have added a strong CTA, or a CTE, you need to create a sense of urgency because sometimes your audience just won’t take any action. If you create a sense of urgency, some people actually do fear of missing out.
Have you heard of the FOMO? When it comes to urgency it works well with me when it comes to my favourite retail shops giving out discounts that last for a certain period of time. I end up buying a lot more stuff than I actually need.
An example of how you can create a sense of urgency is by stating this somewhere in between the lines after your CTA or CTE. You can mention that there are two spots left for your 1:1 coaching or two spots left for your group coaching.
If you have free training, and you want people to sign up for your training, you can say that this free training will soon be a paid training and so then it creates a sense of urgency that people should sign up now before it actually becomes a paid masterclass.
The sixth and last step is to use hashtags. Remember to use relevant and related hashtags. Don’t use big hashtags as it will be so hard to be discovered.
You can create a list of hashtags and put them into different groups so that you can rotate and use them in between your different posts.
Here’s a recap on how to write a great Instagram caption that helps you generate engagement.
👉 The first one is to write a killer headline.
👉 Follow by ensuring that there is spacing in between your paragraph and use a spacing tool if needed and add in some emojis.
👉 The third is to share the value by storytelling, providing tips or pointing out mistakes.
👉 The fourth is to write a conclusion to summarise and include your opinion if you like.
👉 The fifth is to add in a strong CTA or CTE with a sense of urgency.
👉 The last one is to include relevant shout outs.
There you have it, my framework on how to write great Instagram captions in 6 simple steps that you can implement today.
P.S.: Ready to grow your business online and get more clients? I’ve opened up a few spots of my SUPER 60 – a 60 minutes deep-dive strategy session to help you skyrocket your business today. Schedule a call today – https://calendly.com/kellytan/60min
