The first thing that captures the eyes of an audience after the picture or video itself, is surely the Instagram caption you write for them. Captions for Instagram are like the descriptions of a book while the post itself is the cover of it. So never underestimate how effective Instagram captions can be.
While most sites only give you Instagram caption ideas in different niches and types, I am here to explain the A to Z of Instagram captions. After reading this article completely, you’ll know what exactly are Instagram captions, how long Instagram captions can be, how to write the best Instagram captions, and what are the word Instagram caption ideas for the posts you share. So just keep up with us to become an expert on writing captions for Instagram photos and videos in no time.
What are Instagram captions?
Instagram captions, also known as Instagram quotes, are brief explanations to the post you share or a sentence and quote, you find relevant to that post. Captions add more information to posts and can include emojis, hashtags, and tags. Here’s an example of a caption on Instagram.You can mention the place the picture or video was taken, the story behind it, date and time the photos were captured, or add one of your favorite Instagram quotes to the caption.
Why are Instagram captions important?
People who use Instagram only for fun and entertainment usually do not pay attention to what caption they write since they just want to share pictures with their friends and family. But businesses and brands hoping to promote their account should not overlook the power of Instagram captions at all, and they should always seek to craft the best Instagram captions. A few reasons why captions are important on Instagram are as below:
- Captions Represent you
- Captions Encourage Engagement
- Captions Create Brand Awareness
How long can Instagram captions be?
Instagram limits apply to the length of captions as well. It is so important to know how long the Instagram quotes we choose to share under our posts can be. This helps us to choose the captions easier knowing our limits, not to cross them. Instagram captions can be up to 2200 characters long and can contain up to 30 hashtags in the caption.
If you are willing to add more hashtags to Instagram photos and videos, all you have to do is to add those extra hashtags in the comments. But it is recommended to void this mistake since it would make the post look spammy. Using lots of hashtags in an Instagram caption also weakens the effect of the caption since it’d be noticed less. So keep your Instagram captions neat, not overusing hashtags and emojis.
How to write good Instagram captions?
There are lots of websites all over the internet, giving us tons of Instagram caption ideas of any kind, such as funny Instagram captions, romantic Instagram captions, friendly Instagram captions and much more. But what I want you to do is to learn how to write good captions for Instagram yourself without copying quotes from any platform.Following the steps below, you would get one step closer to become an expert in writing your desired Instagram quotes. So folks, keep reading.
- Collect data about your post
The first step in writing a good Instagram caption is to gather information about the post. You must be asking what I mean by gathering information, right? By data, I mean information like when like where, when, and why the photo was captured, or the video was recorded, or tell your audience if there was a story behind the post.
The answer to such questions would make up the Instagram captions you wanted for a specific post. You can even add a bit of sense to the captions and convert them into beautiful Instagram quotes by expressing your feelings about the picture or the feeling you used to have at the time the photo was captured.
- Start writing your Instagram captions
Now that you know what to write about as the caption starts composing it. If you are demanding enough to ask for a good caption you need to know that good Instagram captions need time to be made. After you finished crafting the caption, check the necessary grammar and spelling mistakes.
- Ask for Engagement and comments
Good Instagram captions are the ones that can drive more engagement to your account, and one of the ways to get such engagement is to get more comments on a post. No one is going to be encouraged to write a comment without good content and a good call to action. So try inviting your followers to comment for you by using creative Instagram caption ideas.
How to ask for comments on Instagram captions?
- Ask questions in Instagram captions
Questions in Instagram captions can help you get more “engagement” (if your goal is to grow your Instagram page). Remember not to add all the questions at once and keep it natural. It is also better to write your question at the beginning of the caption so that people see it straight away when they look at your post.
- Encourage users to tag others
This is one of the best Instagram caption ideas ever. You surely have noticed this one lot of times. Numerous accounts are asking their audience to tag their friends, partners, and others on the comment section under their Instagram captions. The purpose of this is to get more engagement. So relate the post to a group of people and ask your followers to tag others.
- Directly ask for comments
Be yourself. Why do you think to be serious on Instagram works? Instagrammers love friendly people. If you want more comments and engagement, ask for it. Add captions such as comment your thoughts, comment on on what you think of my post, etc.
How to format Instagram captions?
After talking about how to write good Instagram captions, we need to discuss the format of captions. This is a rarely discussed subject, but I think it is very important to know how to format good Instagram captions and what is the order to add the caption’s element.
- Writing Instagram captions
The first thing we should add when editing our Instagram captions is the quote we have chosen. As mentioned earlier above, it can be a story behind the post, a question you want to ask your followers, a joke or even Instagram quotes you find interesting. So just type one of your Instagram caption ideas or copy-paste it to the editing space.
- Adding Instagram mentions
Instagram gives us the ability to mention other accounts on comments to capture their attention to a post we want them to see. You can mention other accounts on Instagram captions, as well. This can happen anywhere in the caption, either in between the text or at the end of it.
How to mention someone on an Instagram caption?
To mention someone, type @ followed immediately by their username. Don’t include a space between @ and the username. When you mention someone, they’ll get a notification in their Activity Feed, letting them know.
- Adding Instagram hashtags
This is a well-known fact that you can add hashtags to your Instagram posts in order to expose them to new audiences and make the post visible to anybody searching for those specific hashtags. As well as Instagram mentions, you can add Instagram hashtags both in between the caption or at the end of it. But the most used way to add hashtags is to add them at the end of the captions.
- Using emojis
Another option we have when posting to Instagram is to add emojis to make our posts much more fun and eye-catching. When you include relevant and cool emojis in your Instagram caption, you make them more special, and Instagramers prefer friendly caption formats to formal ones.
What are the Worst Instagram Captions You Should Never Use?
When there is best, there surely is worse too. So since I talked a lot about the best Instagram captions, I think it is necessary to go through the worst ones as well. Below are the worst Instagram captions from my own point of view as an audience. These sorts of captions always bore me and make me want to scroll pas that Instagram posts as fast as possible.
- Instagram captions that are filled with hashtags
I have mentioned this one earlier in the blog, but since it is very important to avoid doing these actions, I ‘m going to focus on it a bit more.
Just imagine yourself as an audience watching Instagram photos which include all 30 hashtags on their captions. And it would be even worse if the posted adds more hashtags on the comments too! These kinds of posts look spammy, and it is obvious that the poster only cared for their post to be seen and doesn’t know a thing about good Instagram caption ideas.
- Instagram captions which are really long
Most of us go to Instagram for entertainment and to see quality content, which is worth watching, and it would be very desperate when we reach a post which is 2000 characters long, and the poster is explaining the whole story behind that specific picture or video. I’d just scroll past these kinds of posts what about you?
- Instagram captions that are overused
There surely are lots of Instagram quotes that are popular among users and are used millions of times as an Instagram caption. But do not make the mistake of using them one more time as a caption for your posts. I know the quote is great, and you love it but pay a little attention to what your audience wants and imagine the moment they’d feel “Ahhhh, not again!”
- Instagram captions that are irrelevant to your post
It surely has happened to a lot of us that we are reading a caption on Instagram and hesitate a bit thinking, “so, what? How is it related to the picture you have posted, dude?” Do not make your followers say such words after reading your post captions. Always look for captions that are relatable to the post you have shared.
- Instagram, captions that are separated
You might be thinking about what I mean by “separate Instagram captions.” So let me tell you that this refers to those kinds of Instagram caption ideas in which each of them is dedicated to one of the pictures on the album you have posted.
Imagine someone posting multiple photos as an Instagram album, and they decide to add separate captions for each of them by dividing the caption into part 1, part 2, and part 3. Sorry to be Frank, but I think that’s just really ridiculous!
- Instagram captions dedicated to a specific person
It’s fine If somebody wants to tell their Instagram followers that their mom is great or how much they love their partner. But the followers probably don’t want to read a long, drawn-out caption that reads like a love letter. Keep things short and sweet. And don’t directly address anybody in Instagram captions.
- Instagram captions that bully or make fun of other people
Making fun of people is never acceptable, neither in real life nor in social media platforms. But there still are users who post sarcastic Instagram captions making fun of a specific person. If you disagree with somebody’s posts, ideas, or choices, try to have an intelligent conversation about it. Don’t turn to an Instagram caption to shame them.
- Instagram inspirational quotes as selfie captions
Inspirational quotes are not bad. Actually they are thoughtful and beautiful if they are related to the post you share, but as an Instagram c caption for a selfie, they do not work. The quote presumably has nothing to do with your picture. Also, it’s a cheap excuse for posting another selfie when you can’t think of anything more delightful to shoot.
How to automatically share your Instagram captions and posts?
In this section, I want to introduce a way that is suitable for people who do not have enough spare time to devote to Instagram like me but need to keep their account alive for their business. What I do is to take time only once, to edit my Instagram captions and posts, and schedule them for specific date and time in the future.
This way, I do not have to waste lots of time each time I want to post to Instagram. All my posts, their Instagram quotes, hashtags, and mentions are prepared and would be automatically sent to Instagram once after another at their set time.
There are lots of Instagram post schedulers all over the web, but not all of them are worth trying. Instazood is by far the best Instagram post scheduler ever. Want to know why?
- Use friendly dashboard
Because Instazood has a very user-friendly dashboard and even beginners who do not know how to work with such services, can easily figure out how to work with it. But services such as later, which is a knows Instagram scheduler, is very hard to use and has a very complicated platform.
- Fair price and quality service
Instazood has the lowest price among competitors meanwhile they provide the best service with the most options even more than Instagram’s posting feature itself.
What are some good Instagram captions?
Good Instagram captions are those which relate the most to the picture you want to share. You can either compose a caption yourself or use some Instagram caption ideas people already use. It is wiser if you try writing an appropriate caption yourself because that would be more relevant and unique at the same time. But if you want some good Instagram captions, here are some website full of different kinds of caption ideas for your Instagram posts.
250+ Best Instagram Captions You Can Use for Your Photos!300+ Best Instagram Captions and Instagram Quotes for Your Photos1000+ Beautiful Instagram Captions – A collection of Lyrics and Quotes
Conclusion
We have come to an end and I’m sure you have found every question you had about Instagram caption in this blog. So from now on, compose more thoughtful captions and arrange them in a way to bring more engagement to your account. Be yourself and do not try to act very formal at all. Your Instagram audience, no matter what your niche is, love you to be friendlier with them and add a little uniqueness and fun to your captions.