Do you struggle to write meaningful captions every time you publish a post to social media?
A lot of marketers spend too little time coming up with captions for their posts. Their captions are always plain and descriptive or filled with generic marketing copy.
In this post, we share tips on how to write better social media captions that will help turn casual viewers into followers and customers.
Do social media captions matter?
Before we begin, let’s answer one simple question: do social media users even read captions?
The answer to that question is…kinda?
According to a poll by Preview, only about 35% of Instagram users “always read captions” while 65% “don’t always read captions.”
The phrases “always” and “don’t always” are important here, though. It means that 65% may read captions but don’t make an effort to read every single one.
And while it’s not as conclusive as a poll of Instagram users, a travel influencer asked her audience if they read captions and whether or not she should continue writing them.
After a bit of research, she came to the conclusion that “about 30%” of Instagram users read captions and that she would make the effort to continue writing them.
Her audience even shared a few opinions on the matter.
Most said they only read the caption if the location interested them with others giving simple “yes” and “no” answers.
At least one fellow creator said that although they write captions, they don’t believe consumers read them as they still receive a lot of inquiries for questions that were answered in captions.
How long should social media captions be?
A study conducted by SocialInsider revealed how engagement rates are higher on Instagram when captions are 30 words or less.
Engagement rates were highest for carousel posts. Specifically, carousel posts whose captions were no more than 30 words had an average engagement rate of 0.84%.
Here’s how the average engagement rate for carousel posts differed based on the word count for each post’s caption:
- 0 to 30 words – Instagram carousel posts with captions of this length received an average engagement rate of 0.84%
- 30 to 60 – 0.73%
- 60 to 90 – 0.50%
- 90+ – 0.30%
This is surprising given that the average caption length on social media is 404 characters.
In fact, the average caption length in the year this second study was conducted by Fohr decreased by 7%. Specifically, caption lengths went from 434 characters each to 404.
So, if your captions contain a few hundred words each, you’ll be on par with the rest of social media.
However, if you cut back on word count and create simpler captions, your posts may receive higher engagements.
Should you use a call to action in your caption?
You don’t necessarily need to use a call to action (CTA) in your caption, but it definitely doesn’t hurt when you’re trying to promote something or need your viewers to take a specific action.
According to SocialInsider’s data, the CTA “read more” received the highest engagement rate out of every CTA phrase they studied.
This phrase received an average engagement rate of 0.58%.
Here’s how this compared to other common CTA phrases:
- Read more – This CTA phrase received an average engagement rate of 0.58%
- Let us know in the comments – 0.51%
- Like if you – 0.48%
- Check the link in bio – 0.48%
- Available now – 0.32%
At the same time, data from Statista suggests that engagement rates are higher when CTAs aren’t used at all.
Specifically, carousel posts that contained the phrase “link in bio” had an average engagement rate of 0.60% while posts that omitted the phrase had an average engagement rate of 0.58%.
9 tips for writing better captions on social media
1. Consider the purpose of your post
Are you promoting something?
Do you want to educate your audience? Inform them about something?
Or do you simply want to entertain them?
Your caption should reflect the purpose of your post.
If you’re trying to promote something, provide extra details about what you’re promoting or its release date.
If you want to educate or inform your audience, provide more details and context about the topic.
If you want to entertain them, be funny!
2. Consider the style of your post
If you’re uploading an image, carousel or video with no audio, your caption can provide details not seen in the post itself.
You can add text overlays, but it may be better to let the post speak for itself and provide more details in your caption for those who are interested.
3. Consider your audience
Consider whether or not your audience would want to read a longer post?
Would they want more information about your post?
If you don’t think they’d be willing to read the caption, consider turning the topic into a multi-post saga.
4. Use hashtags
Make note of trending hashtags in your niche. View posts from fellow creators in your niche to find these.
You can also use the search bar to see what hashtags come up for certain topics. TikTok even has a special tab specifically for hashtags related to your search query.
RiteTag is a good tool to use to find hashtags for Instagram and Twitter (X).
5. Use emojis
If you’re being humorous or a little laid back with your caption, don’t be afraid to add an emoji here and there.
You can even create an emoji-only caption.
6. Tag other accounts (when relevant)
Tag the accounts of your collaborators or whatever company you’re promoting in your caption.
Put an “@” symbol followed by their username on whatever platform you’re creating the caption for.
For example, if you partnered with Duolingo on TikTok, use “@duolingo” in place of their name when you mention them in your caption, such as “Download @duolingo if you don’t want to look like a fool overseas like me.”
7. Check out your competitors’ captions
While you’re spying on your competitors’ captions in search of hashtags, analyze their captions in general.
How long are they? Do they use humor, provide basic facts or include a lot of extra details?
Take a look at their engagements as well. If they seem pretty decent, consider adopting their caption styles.
8. Check for spelling and grammar mistakes
Be sure to proofread your captions before you publish the posts they’re linked to.
Check for spelling and grammar errors, at the very least. A tool like Grammarly can help with this if you’re not sure.
You should also double check facts and brand/username mentions.
9. Use generative AI to create caption ideas
If you use a social media management tool like SocialBee, you can use generative AI technology to generate captions on the fly.
They’re pretty decent on their own, but you can also use them as a starting point and perfect them as needed.
7 social media caption ideas (with examples)
1. Use a call to action
If you’re promoting something, use a call to action in your caption.
Common calls to action include “buy now,” “shop,” “get it now at” and “read more.”
Use “link in bio” if you have a link-in-bio page.
The TikTok creator in this example used the call to action phrase “available” in their caption to demonstrate that the dogs shown in the image are “available now.”
2. Share important details
If you’re promoting a product or hosting a giveaway or event, provide more details about it in your caption.
That’s what the Harry Potter account did with their latest collection of wands.
They shared details about how the creator of the collection approached its style.
For a giveaway, be sure to list giveaway rules.
3. Provide more information
If your post was created for artistic purposes, consider adding more information about the topic in your caption instead of using text overlays or voiceovers.
Many recipe creators add ingredients to their captions rather than adding them in text overlays.
That’s what the creator in our example did for this recipe using Biscoff cookies and Biscoff butter to make “Biscoff cups.”
4. Provide an explanation
Some viewers might understand your post without needing an explanation. Others may need a few more details to understand what’s going on.
Plus, sometimes details aren’t as clear as they need to be.
In these instances, add an explanation to your caption that sums up what the viewer is seeing or hearing in your post.
You can be as simple or descriptive as you want to be.
In our example, “Fairly Odd Theme Song” is given as an explanation for a video of voice actors from The Fairly Oddparents singing the show’s theme song.
5. Tell a joke
A simple way to add a caption to your post is to add a joke to it.
This is easier to do when the post itself is funny, but be creative.
6. Share secret details
Fans of a topic love to learn more about it in any way they can. You can do this with your caption and make a post more engaging at the same time by sharing secret details.
These are details that don’t explain what the viewer is seeing nor do they provide more information about it.
They’re somewhat useless facts some viewers might find funny or interesting.
For example, if you uploaded an image of a sculpture you made but caught something in the background, make note of it, such as “I’ve had that Winnie the Pooh mug in the background since I was 5.”
7. Ask a question
One of the simplest ways to increase engagement is to ask your audience a question.
They’ll leave their answers in the comments.
Final thoughts
While most people won’t read your captions, a significant number of people will. So they’re worth doing.
As a general rule of thumb, shorter captions tend to perform better but don’t let that stop you from saying what you need to say.
Now, take what you’ve learned and start writing some captions for your next batch of posts.
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