7 Tips For Killer Social Media Captions

Social media captions are a great way to give your followers more context about the image or video you are posting, and also get them to interact with you. But with the exponential growth of social media channels, it can be hard to get your voice heard – and your posts read!

Social media captions are the words, text or writing (often referred to as copy), that goes with the image or video you are posting on social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn or TikTok.

Take your social media posts to a new level with my 7 easy tips for creating killer captions. Vital for standing out in the social media feed so people don't scroll on by. They can also be applied to emails and blog copy.

1. The Hook

Grab your audience's attention in the first line to stop them scrolling through their feed. Be engaging enough that it 'hooks' your audience and gets them to read more. Sometimes opening up by a question can be a great way of catching people's attention.

Talk about your audience’s problem or pain point that you can help solve. Show you understand their desires, goals and struggles and how the benefits of what you are writing about, can help them.

2. The Body

Get straight to the point with short, easily digestible bites of information. Follow KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid(!) You have milliseconds to grab your audience's attention as they scroll through their feed.

Write brief captions. Edit ruthlessly. Cut out unnecessary words. Take them on a journey with a story. Don’t be afraid to use emojis, as pictures can tell a thousand words.

3. Keep It Personal

Be yourself - trying to do something you are not, is exhausting. Write as if you are having a direct conversation with someone and address the reader as ‘you’, so it feels like someone is speaking directly to them.

If you’re a company of one, use 'I' and 'me' in your writing, rather than 'we' and 'us'. Avoid the indirectness of terms such as ‘the company’ or ‘the client’.

Be more human and less robot. People buy from people. When your write remember you are talking to a real human being and this will help build the know, like and trust factor. This builds a bridge to earning trust and credibility, which should ultimately lead to sales or whatever it is you are trying to achieve with social media.

Use clear conversational language that your audience uses and don't sound like you have just swallowed a copy of your brand guidelines. This helps demonstrate you are on their wavelength and understand their situation.

Talk it out and write as you speak. Be informal and show your personality. Avoid jargon, acronyms, clichés and business speak.

4. It's Not About You

Don't start you posts with 'I' or 'we'. They should be all about the benefits for your reader and what’s in it for them.

There’s nothing more off-putting than the hard sell in social media posts. You wouldn’t go up to someone at a networking event and say, “Hi I’m Kerry, do you want to buy my social media courses?”, so don’t do this on social media.

Content marketing is all about building relationships, so when someone is ready to buy from you, you’ll be top of mind and they’ll come to you. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. What problem do they have that you can solve with your product or service? What can you help them achieve? Address a need and you’ll get a far better response.

As with all kinds of copywriting, it’s better to show than to tell. Your customers don’t care that you pride yourself on your excellent customer service. Flip it to show what that means for the reader: fast delivery times, loyalty discounts, 24/7 support, etc.

5. Write For Skim Reading

People’s attention spans are the shortest they have ever been and they are looking for the quickest way to reach the transformation they want. You need to set up your post copy for skim reading.

Make sure your posts are well spaced out, have lines breaks and short paragraphs so they are easier to read. Use emojis as bullet points and make sub heading with capital letters.

6. Check, Check And Check Again

Keep it professional and always check for spelling mistakes, typos, bad grammar and poorly written copy. Any sloppiness will reflect badly on your personal or company brand. Your posts may not be seen for long but they are out there forever. Always check, no matter if it is a longer LinkedIn post or a twenty-word tweet.

If grammar and spelling isn’t your strong point try out these tools:

• Grammarly - typing assistant that reviews spelling, grammar and punctuation
• Hemingway app – writing and editing tool to help improve your writing

Always proofread your updates before posting. Or ask someone else to read it for you. When you are in the thick of it, mistakes can be easy to miss.

If you struggle with writing, another option could be to hire a copywriter, social media manager or VA (Virtual Assistant) to help you write better social media posts and could increase your chances of success.

7. Add A Call To Action (CTA) 

End the post with a clear call to action, telling your audience what you want them to do.

Remember, social media is a two-way street, not a broadcast media. So, vary your call to action with a question to encourage your audience to respond.

Try out some of these call to actions:

• Learn more in our link in bio / Click on the link below to learn more
• Sign up to our mailing list / newsletter in our link in bio
• Add a poll or question and ask them to respond in the comments
• Save this post for later
• Discover more in our blog
• Sign up for a freebie
• Tag a friend who can relate
• Double tap to like
• Watch our stories for more info
• Send me a DM if you have any questions / for the link etc.
   

If you liked this blog and are looking for more tips like this, why not take a look at my Content Planning & Strategy online course. You’ll learn my 4-step process to use content in a more impactful way and get better results with social media.