Debra Murphy October 14, 2020 
Instagram is a fantastic platform for businesses and influencers to connect with an engaged audience. With the right images and captivating captions, businesses can stop scrollers in their tracks. However, accomplishing the latter is more challenging than one might think.
Finding the right words can be an art form. Here are some amazing ways to shine on Instagram with perfect captions.
Find Your Voice
It’s advice that the greats have been telling writers for centuries: find your voice. However, this somewhat nebulous statement leaves a lot of aspiring creatives and marketers wondering what that means. For Instagram, it means finding the tone and manner of speaking that connects with your audience and conveys your core values. In other words, it’s finding your signature style.
Finding your voice requires digging into your ideal follower or customer as well as the mission and values of your brand. This strategy applies to both large businesses trying to make an impact and solo influencers building a brand online. Your voice may evolve over time.
Tell a Story
At the crux of it, Instagram is a visual storytelling platform. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. Other times, it’s the hook that sparks interest and a desire to know more.
Use your caption as a way to tell a story, either short and sweet or long and engaging. The benefit of using a longer caption to connect with your audience is that it triggers the algorithm to flag your content as compelling or engaging. Instagram measures an “engagement” by flagging a like, comment, or three-second pause on a post. While three seconds may seem negligible, it’s quite long in the world of social scrolling.
Perfect Your Editing and Spacing
Run through your caption a few times before posting. Go back through and ensure everything is spelled correctly, as autocorrect can throw a wrench in the best-laid plans. This second glance also presents an opportunity to carve out redundancies to create a clear, concise caption.
Consider using a line breaker app or social media scheduling app to perfect your spacing. These tools mitigate the need to add dots to break up text walls, making the content more visually stimulating and inviting.
Stay Relevant
Ideally, your caption will have something to do with the image you’ve posted. Additionally, it should resonate with your audience in some way. If you’re at a loss, use online resources and hashtag research to find relevant content. For example, good photo captions for selfies can help you turn your selfie posts into engaging, noteworthy conversations.
Start with a Bang
Every great story starts with a hook. As mentioned before, your image will likely be the first hook when someone is scrolling. The second opportunity to engage your audience comes in your caption’s first three lines (this is how much shows without expanding).
Use a strong one-liner that inspires people to keep reading. This one-liner could be anything from a question to a confession. For example, when posting an image of food, you might ask, “what’s your favorite fall recipe?” Then, the story should start below. By posing a question, you make viewers feel as if they’re a part of a conversation, not being broadcasted to. Starting a conversation is the key to an amazing Instagram caption.
Use Eye-Catching Emojis
Finally, break up your text with a few well-placed emojis. These graphics were designed to convey emotion in an often-emotionless medium. As 93% of language is non-verbal, relying on body language and tone of voice, text often falls flat. Adding an emoji can clarify the tone and set the stage for the message you’re sharing.
Use this expert advice to craft amazing Instagram captions that attract an audience and boost engagement.
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