Writing a good caption is not as easy as it sounds. As a content writing service, you might have created a marketing campaign which might a masterpiece, but without a caption that sums up a post, it could entirely miss the point of your campaign. Your caption must connect with your audience, after all, social media is a people to people connection even if you are creating a campaign for a brand. Did you know, 76% of people do not read a post, they just skim through it. Therefore, if you’re posting a narrative caption on Instagram for instance, it should be readable for a consumer on the move to even skim read it and connect with it. Tough task? Not if you follow these formulas:
Caption With An Intent
When writing a social post, think about the intention of your caption. Think about your audience. Figure out if a post is for the intention to sell a product or simply to connect with your audience. Your post could simply be about showcasing a brand’s culture. Thinking about the reasons for putting up a post will ensure you are able to tailor a well-crafted and to the point captions.
Conversation Starter
Once you have figured out the intent of your post, ensure the caption you are writing creates a conversation. A simple one-liner may not suffice. Creating a conversation with open-ended question or calling for a response is a great way to garner chatter around your post.
Make It CTA
One of the most common oversight by any agency or an individual is not including a call-to-action text. For instance, in traditional marketing such as radio or print, one will come across lines that says, ‘Visit our website to know more’ or ‘Call us at…’. Social media is no different. If you’ve shared a blog post or simply shared an image, include a line that informs your audience there is more to your update. Potential sales depend on this, and therefore CTA plays a vital role for ROI.
Value Addition
Writing a caption is not always about being a sales pitch. The best captions are ones which are engaging, funny, informative. Your posts can feature a still or video with a quote or contain an inspiring message but think about this, does it add any value to your audience? Social media is about being social and therefore, your caption should be good for people to share it.
Wear Your Audience’s Hat
One of the ways to understand if your caption will work or not is by putting on your audience’s hat. Putting yourself on the other side of the table brings a different perspective to the type of captions that might work with your audiences.
Ask yourself would you as your audience be interested in the type of content being posted with the captions written for it? Are you giving your audience a chance to respond? Does the caption reflect the brand? Is the caption ideal for the type of demography that follows the brand?
These are some of the questions you must ask before putting out a caption.
Be You
Social media is a very crowded place. From Twitter to Facebook, Instagram to Pinterest, each has a role to play to enhance your client’s or brand’s digital outreach. Following what other accounts are doing is not recommended. People follow brands and on social media platforms, they follow a brand to connect at an even more personal level. Authentic and original contents are always preferred and some platforms like Facebook assists brands in broadcasting their message who follow this rule. So before you type in that caption, just do a quick scan of your industry accounts, reflect on your brand’s personality and go ahead with your creative caption.
Storytelling
People look for entertainment when they come on social media and there’s nothing more entertaining than narrating a story. Your content post can be either a visual still or footage but that does not mean your caption cannot be one. Weaving a story in your caption that reflects the brand shows a personality with which your audience can connect and relate to. A simple motivating caption on a Monday is as good as imagery it goes with. Create a relationship with the story.
If you’re looking to step into the world of social media or have an existing account but wish to elevate your level to connect with your audience, there are plenty of content writing services which can assist in improving your captions and run it along with your marketing campaign.
