Can we all agree that writing ‘good’ Instagram captions is hard? The amount of time that goes by as we stare at our screens just so we can come up with the best captions is not to be overlooked.

Before you started treating yourself as a brand or before you opened a business account, you cared less about captions. In today’s social media world, Instagram is not all about sharing beautiful images, writing good Instagram captions is important because they give your images context, they let you show off your brand’s personality, they allow you to connect with your audience and compel followers to take action. They ultimately give you the liberty to tell your brand’s story, build and expand your audience. Here are three major tips to help you achieve the above.

1. Write like a human and add value

Your brand is built on your authentic self hence put your real self or what your business offers out there and write like a friend to your audience. Offer tips and tricks, pay attention to the comment section and respond like you mean it. Further keep the conversation going by answering and asking engaging questions as you respond to your followers.

2. Include a call to action (CTA) or ask a question

If there is an action you want your followers to take, you can’t just hint, you need a CTA. Maybe you want your followers to sign up for a free trail, click the link in your bio, leave a comment, tag a friend, post a photo using your branded hashtag
download a template, read tips or prompt your audience to make your dreams come true. The key here is to encourage engagement in order to create dialogue and conversations. This also increases the possibility of your post appearing in other user’s feed as a suggested account.

3. Draft your captions on a separate platform

You are more likely to think strategically and less distractive if you structure your captions on another platform. When drafting your captions, keep in mind what you are trying to communicate to your followers and this should tally with your photo.

Hopefully the above points get you in the right direction. Remember it is all about quality of captions and not the quantity hence if your post adds value or is interesting, people will read it regardless of whether the post is too long or not.