Engagement is something every single Instagram marketer thinks about as it is vital for growth, among many other things. A big part of increasing engagement is writing really good captions. Unfortunately, this is where most people fail. If you want your captions to be better and increase engagement, here are some simple tips to help you achieve just that.
Use Location Tags
Geo location tags are not often considered but this is something you want to start using more. Instead of telling people where you are inside the caption, simply tag it. It is always a good idea to tell people where the photograph was taken but if you add it inside the caption, you lose valuable space that you can use for something more important. Geo location is also great because it means the photograph appears with those with the same tag. It is a new opportunity to have the image discovered.
Put Some Thought Into The Caption
The common approach is to take many different picture so that a perfect one is chosen. Then, filters are added and the photograph is edited. All this takes time so when it comes to posting the image, everything is hurried. So many just write the very first thing that comes to mind, which is a huge mistake. When you blog you first write a draft copy, then you edit it and then you post it. The same concept should be applied to captions written for Instagram. Take your time and come up with the best possible description. Do some hashtag research too since you are there.
Add The Vital Information First
It is totally understandable that you want to write a caption that is longer but you do not want to be clever about it and use some sort of creative introduction. Start with the message that is the most important. You want to be as direct as possible in the first sentence of the caption. Followers will first read that sentence. Then, they will decide whether or not the rest of the message should be read.
Shorter captions are almost always more effective. A long one is rarely recommended. The really important content you want to share in the caption should not be at the end. This is the vital thing to remember.
Encourage Comments
One way to increase post engagement is to get people to leave a comment. This is, obviously, much easier said than done. Be sure that you always reply to every single comment you get, at least in the beginning. People see that and they are much more likely to leave a comment. Alternatively, encourage people to ask you questions in the comment section. Reply and drive the conversation forward. You can also end captions with questions so that followers are invited to comment. Try to find what works best in your case but do focus on encouraging commenting.
Start A Contest
People are always excited when they have the chance to get something for free. Contests are thus highly effective to promote brands on Instagram. If you can write a really good caption engagement is going to be increased. You basically have 3 available options:
- Regular contests
- Sweepstakes
- Lotteries
If a contest participant has to put some skill or effort into winning the prize, engagement goes up. You can choose out of all the options available and see what works best. Experiment with contests and be sure that people do something like commenting in order to get the prize.
Always Use Hastags
Properly using hashtags on Instagram is close to being an art since it is hard to get the right mix in. If you talk to different people, you will hear different recommendations. The reason for that is that what hashtag use works for one account may not work for another. Including hashtags inside the caption exposes the content to a wider audience, which is something you always want. However, you do not want to blindly add them.
Be sure that the hashtags are put right at the end of the Instagram caption, even if it is cut off since the hashtag does not need to be visible in order to work. The network is going to suggest hashtags as you start typing. This is a great way to find new tags that you can use. Try to pick those hashtags that have the highest number of posts as this is where engagement is higher. Just make sure that you do not use too many tags. Just add the hashtags that are really relevant.
