Using Instagram Captions to Grow Your Engagement

 

Having an Instagram account is a great way to grow your customer base. But posting content on Instagram is just a stop on the way to success. In this blog post, I will cover how captions impact your social media performance and offer advice for crafting your own creative captions.

 

Understanding How Captions Affect the Algorithm

When you are in the process of creating a caption or social copy, you want it to be compelling. Without compelling text, your posts will likely receive less engagement. As you may know, engagement rates are an important metric in Instagram’s algorithm. The higher the engagement on your posts, the more likely they are to be seen.

Strong captions shape your brand’s personality and tell a story. Without a caption, a picture is just a picture. But when you add in copy, you give your content a whole new meaning. Followers are able to understand what you are saying. With this added context, your followers are more likely to engage with the post and give it a like or a comment. More engagement equals higher success.

Instagram’s algorithm has many moving parts. One crucial component is how it determines the order in which posts are shown. When you engage with a post or an account, Instagram follows that data. Once it starts understanding a pattern and notices more engagement with a certain account those posts will display first. This is why getting your audience to engage with your post is crucial for your practice’s social media success.

Tips for Writing Good Captions

The first thing you should always do when working on your social media presence is to outline primary goals. You want to make sure that whatever you are trying to achieve through your goals, the end result is driving followers and potential patients to book appointments. 

The most important part of the caption is the first sentence. It grabs the attention and, after a certain number of characters, Instagram captions are shortened and hidden. This means that it’s likely your first sentence will be the only one that is seen. Lead with a hook!

Each post should have a purpose and intention. Leading with a call to action can help define your goals. With a call to action, you can create dialogue and conversation among your audience. When you encourage them to “click the link in your bio,” “leave a comment,” “answer the question,” or “tag a friend below,” you are engaging them with your post and increasing your chances of being seen.

Adding value, personalizing, and humanizing captions are great ways to increase engagement. When your followers see that you are not a robot trying to get likes, they are more likely to want to learn about what you are trying to convey to them. Authenticity matters most. 

 

At the end of the day understand what you want in a post and in a caption and implement that into your own content. And don’t forget that engagement = success!

 

—Marie Dubray, Social Media Specialist, Sesame Communications