The Secret to Writing Good Captions

Social media platforms are not the place to showcase your English Degree writing skills. This is the place to get clever with (a small amount of) words!

Good captions can arguably make or break a social media post. Social media platforms are not the place to showcase your English Degree writing skills. This is the place to get clever with (a small amount of) words! Here we have some tips for you if you are struggling with great post captions, OR we can help you develop your own social media strategy, including caption writing, using our in-house creative team at Best Practice Media!

Speak to your audience

Think about the age group demographic of your audience when you are writing your captions. You wouldn’t talk to 20+ age groups like you would talk to the 40+ demographic. Arguably, the younger the audience, the more to the point you will need to be, or they may keep scrolling. The language you use needs to match your audience. Also, find out as much about their interests as you can. The more you know about your audience, the better. So before writing any captions, work out your audience and their interests BEFORE writing your copy.

Keep it short and sweet

People don’t want to read long stories on social media – there is a time and a place. Captions should be short and sweet, relevant, and well-targeted. A great way to practice is writing Twitter captions, which have very short character restrictions (280 characters per caption). You will be forced to learn how to write your copy concisely. You can then use this skill on all your other social media captions.

Decide on the intention behind your captions

Think about your end goal and intentions before writing your captions. This is a crucial step in creating your engaging copy. Think about whether your caption is written to:

• Take a specific action
• Talk about your brand
• Share a story
• Connect with your audience
• Get to know your audience by asking a question

Ask good questions to increase engagement

Asking questions to your followers on social media is an easy way to engage with your audience. A clever and exciting open-ended question in your caption can go a long way. It is also essential to encourage your audience to comment, like your post, and share your post.

Give clear CTAs (but not ALL the time)

When writing CTAs to your audience, be clear about what exactly it is that you want them to do. When writing your caption, there is a better time to be specific and bold. You want to get your reader’s attention and interest. Only use a CTA on some of your captions because asking people to do something too often may cause your followers and audience to lose interest in you. After all, would someone still be friends with you if you always asked them for things? Nope.

Be creative; be YOU

In the world of social media, it is vital to stand out from the crowd. Get creative with your captions and write uniquely. You need to find the specific parts of your brand and business that differentiates you from the rest. Show your brand’s personality and always be true to your voice in all communication.

So, there we have it. Some easy-to-follow tips when deciding the best captions for your social media posts. If you want help with any aspect of your brand’s social media, contact us at Best Practice Media today! We can’t wait to meet you.