Instagram Captions 101
By Sarah Knowles | June 6, 2023
Ready for a cold, hard truth that most business owners don’t want want to hear?
Believe it or not, as with most digital marketing strategies, your business’s success on Instagram often comes down to your copy.
Yes, they come for the visual, but they STAY for the caption.
So, how do you come up with the perfect caption, written strategically for YOUR audience and business goals? Do you write something funny? Informative? Inspiring? How many hashtags should you use — and what should they be? How long should your Instagram captions be?
Yes, there are many factors to consider. But, have no fear — we’ve laid out the basics regarding goals, lengths, and hashtags to provide you with a great framework for writing badass captions that move you closer to your goals!
What are my #CaptionGoals?
Determining your caption goals is the first, foundational step in understanding how to best craft your caption — aka, knowing which tone to write with, what style of hook and call to action (CTA) to use, etc.
A truly effective Instagram caption should be written with one of the following goals in mind — and, the one you select should be determined by your overarching social media goals:
Promote sales and drive traffic
Grow your following
Engage followers
Convert leads
Once you determine the action you want your audience to take, you can begin to write your caption for them with that goal in mind.
How long should my Instagram captions be?
Buckle up, this may be controversial.
According to a Hootsuite study, short Instagram captions with fewer than 100 characters generally get a lot of likes. However, longer Instagram captions with 400 or more characters are generally a better choice for encouraging more meaningful engagement, like comments and conversations. (Again: what are your goals?)
Unfortunately, there’s not a magic word count. Both long and short captions come with advantages and disadvantages, depending on your audience, industry, and goals — and it may require testing out different versions to see what performs better. Read more about Long vs. Short Social Media Copy where we dive deeper into the perks of each.
How many hashtags should I use?
This is a big one — and, the answer has evolved over the years. While large blocks of 30 hashtags were once all the rage, now, Instagram recommends using only 3-5 hashtags.
Hashtags are meant to be a tool that provides context to your posts and gets your posts seen by people who are interested. With that being said, make sure the hashtags you use in your Instagram captions are relevant, easy to use, and don’t look spammy. No one likes that.
Need hashtag inspo? Here’s a complete list of hashtag holidays we’ve compiled for you.
Bonus Caption-writing Tip
Our final bit of advice? No matter what Instagram caption strategy makes sense for your brand and goals, it's in your best interest to write original Instagram captions.
As Instagram increasingly prioritizes unique content over repurposed content, authenticity is more important than ever. And, as we always say, keep testing out options, as engagement trends may continue to evolve in unexpected ways!
Want to keep leveling up your caption-writing game? Keep reading four of the most common copywriting mistakes, and how to fix them (very easily!).
Sarah Knowles
Sarah is a Social Media Content Creator at AMR Digital. Sarah is a professional wordsmith, and when she’s not behind a keyboard, you can find her in the window seat of an airplane on her next adventure or in the constant pursuit of trying to be a morning person