Social media captions can be a bit intimidating. Crafting your message in a way that touches all the points you want to make, keeping it short and sweet, and including a call-to-action that is genuine and not too “salesy,” is enough to give you writers block and shy away from the social media platforms altogether.
Depending on the platform your social media captions are one of the first things people see. With just a few sentences, your desired audience can make the decision to lean in closer to hear what you have to say or keep on scrolling. So why not put some time into crafting the best captions possible?
Allow this 5-step guide to coach you on how to craft captivating social media captions and expand your social reach and brand engagement.
1) The best captions have intention
Before taking your fingers to the keyboard, think about your intention behind your post. Are you promoting a piece of personal content you made? Are you amplifying an existing message? If you’re sharing content from other platforms, your caption should focus on two things:
Prompting users to engage with your original piece of content
Driving traffic back to your website / social media channel
2. Write as if you are talking to one person
It might be hard to pull back the need to address your thousands of followers with your posts at first. Hell, it might even be a little awkward to make this switch but do it! Once you start writing for the individual, you can put yourself in that person’s shoes. Do you find it engaging? Does it resonate with you? I like the trick of writing a letter to a good friend. As you develop as a more personable writer, it’s important to adopt this into your brand voice. Keep this in mind across your platforms.
3. Keep paragraphs short and sweet
Put the most thought into the first sentence. Your intention is to keep the attention of your audience, so craft sentences that leave them intrigued and wanting more. Depending on your online persona, maybe a long copy is your thing! I am not here to take that away from you. However, try breaking up your copy into short paragraphs for the ease of the reader. Both these tactics will boost your post engagement.
4. Spelling & Grammar
You’d be surprised at the number of businesses and accounts that seem to skip a good spell check every now and then. I pull my captions into word/ notebook for a good read-through before even touching my social media platforms. Confused about if your message sounds right? Ask a trusted friend to take a peek and ask for feedback.
5. Adding a call-to-action
A call-to-action is an extremely powerful tool for connecting with readers across all your platforms. With a CTA you are guiding your audience to the next action you want them to take, i.e., signing up for a newsletter, following another account, engaging with your content further, etc. Call-to-actions are a great way to make a post actionable and give your content more value altogether. A few call-to-actions to consider:
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When it comes to social media captions you often just have a few seconds to grab someone’s attention. Focusing on a few important elements like the 5 tips above can help you craft great captions that can make all the difference in the engagement you see on your social media accounts. Know someone who might benefit from learning how to write great social media captions? Don’t be shy, send this article to them! Have a few tricks up your sleeve? Leave a comment below!