Writing Instagram Captions That Resonate (4 Quick Tips)

Originally posted by Planoly.

While captions like “mood,” “self-care Sundays,” or “anyone relate?” are commonplace among Instagram devotees, the truth is, they don’t say as much as you would think. 

Although your image might be the first thing someone sees when they come across your post, your caption is what gives that post a voice. 

Instagram captions aren’t just written companions to your photos, they are a verbal guide to your brand ethos. For influencers and brands alike, it’s essential to take the time to craft original captions to accompany your visual content.

We’re sharing what we know to be a winning content combination for crafting engaging captions that will resonate with your audience. Let’s dive in!

Use Your Voice

While using your voice tends to mean speaking your mind, it also has a lot to do with your tone. Do you speak with irreverence? Is there a lively spirit in your voice? Or do you lead with your sense of humor? 

Without a tone of voice, it’s easy to sound similar to your peers and that’s when your audience puts you in a box. So find your signature tone and implement it wherever your words are present.

For example, here, Aurora James, designer and founder of Brother Vellies and the 15% Percent Pledge, waxes poetic about having her portrait captured by an incredible photographer. Her tone is friendly and humble. She keeps her sentences short and stays consistent with her sign off, which is, ‘I love you.’

Show Your Personality & Go Deep

Although your personality is what sets you apart, getting personal gives you an edge! We believe in getting a little bit vulnerable or sharing a piece of your personal life to build engagement with your community. 

Talk about your mental health, share some of the highlights of your week, reveal your frustrations and learnings, and declare your goals along with how you plan to reach them. Honesty is always the best policy. Yes, even when it comes to social media.

In Sophia Roe’s post on fungus, she shares her knowledge of the organism. But she doesn’t do it from a place of expertise; she does it from a place of experience. Sophia speaks with confidence and writes the same way. Her tone here is fearless, subtly irreverent, and personable.

Image Coordination

It may seem like a common practice, but it’s critical for your image on Instagram to match your caption. So when you’re planning out your feed or posting off the cuff, make sure there is alignment between your photo and the written word.  

It can be perfectly aligned or obscure, but give it context. Make sure it means something. So if the content is vulnerable, humorous, educational, or just plain silly, make sure that’s felt both in the image and the caption.

In this example, we shared the quote in the image and kept it consistent with the caption, both of which are ethereal and soft-spoken.

Keep It Tight

It’s hard to capture your followers' attention when you’ve written a novel in your caption. Keep your sentences tight, digestible, and streamlined. It’s not about dumbing down your copy or keeping it short and sweet, but simply making every word count. 

Creating compelling Instagram captions not only expands your reach but it creates the perfect picture of your brand voice. Following the steps above will help your words resonate with your social community. 

This Instagram post from Crown Affair is a great example of keeping it tight while still sharing the benefits of their new product launch. Here, they get a little cheeky and clever with their language.