Captioning an image well is like having a discussion with your pals. Your followers are your friends, and you use the platform to have brief, visual conversations with them.

Including a call to action, hashtags in the caption, questions, emoticons, and more are all strategies frequently recommended by “how to” articles. But, these are only strategies, and they are insufficient. Know your purpose for writing ahead of time, decide how you want to communicate it, and consider what will interest your readers.

1. Have a clear goal in mind.

Go back on a time when you and a friend were chatting aimlessly, only for you to realise after you parted ways that the whole thing had been a waste of time: “The sun is shining. I’m all caffeinated up now. Do you have an umbrella with you?

Captions are subject to the same rules. Are you making up a caption for the heck of it? What do you hope your friends learn from the media you share with them when you post a photo or video?

Having an objective in mind may provide a rough outline for your caption, making the task much more manageable. Your goal is probably one of these three things:

Presenting information to your readers

Refreshes to the store.
The newest products.
Sales.
Behind-the-scenes.
Create something new.
Current information on the event.
Documents issued by the media as a whole.

Having hoped they would do something,

Click like and leave your thoughts below.
Tell us a little bit about yourself or something you’ve done.
Put the message aside for later.
I’m tagging a pal.
You’ll be sent to the website immediately.
Invest in something.
Give to a good cause.
Pose a query.

Currently Engaged in Conversation

Learn about you (audience).
Please enlighten me with a suggestion.
Narrate something you remember hearing.
Consult with others.
Were you aware of that?
The founder should be familiarised with.

The lists provided are intended to be indicative and not exhaustive. They can also overlap and be merged into a single caption if necessary.

2. Choose a form

After you’ve decided what it is you want to convey, you may pick the best approach. Need a quick read that won’t bore you? What about a lengthier, more meaningful caption instead?

The reach of your business might be expanded by mentioning influential persons in your captions.

3. You need to draw in an audience.

You should, as you’ve probably heard before, find a way to interest your readers. Keep your readers engaged in reading, swiping, and/or commenting for at least the first 125 characters. It’s especially crucial for lengthy captions, as it determines whether or not the reader will click “more” to continue. But what ought to go in the first two lines? IKEA, however, is aware of this fact and excels at it.

IKEA has successfully promoted its product, given the reader something new to think about, and made them smile all within the space of one caption. Know the interesting fact isn’t the selling point? What follows is a sentence. The last “You’re welcome” adds a dash of sarcastic humour to the whole message. Thanks to whoever wrote their copy.

Do not overemphasise the usage of hashtags, though. Make up some hashtags that are exclusive to your company, and include some popular ones as well.

In a second, more customer-focused piece, the author uses the first 125 characters to establish credibility and establish why he or she is worth following. IKEA not only recognises a widespread issue, but also seeks to address it head-on by providing a workable answer in the form of its product.

Another option is to start with the most crucial details.

Announcing the conclusion of the sale. There are still special deals available. These facts are crucial yet hazy. Unless you click “more” and continue on, you won’t find out when the sale ends or what kind of deals Uniqlo is offering. Witty.

Photographs lack context and vitality without captions. That being said, it is equally crucial to have high-quality images and video. Your followers are more inclined to read the captions if they find the photos appealing or interesting. Try out some of these suggestions and see which ones help your company the most.

We recognise the effort that goes into research, development, and production of content. It’s a never-ending cycle of brainstorming, shooting, editing, planning, writing, captioning, and posting. Confetto, our digital social media assistant, can help ease some of that pressure. It’s all you need to create, schedule, and post content for your social media accounts. (Spoiler alert: we can also programmatically caption your videos.)