Better Posts start with Better Captions

You’ve taken a great photo or you’ve recorded the perfect video and you’re ready to post it to social media. Now, you’ve got to come up with a caption before you can hit post.
You’re scrambling and your thumbs are hovering over the keyboard.
“What could I type here?”, you think.
You type something generic just so you can hit post and you go on about your day.

Does this sound like something you’ve done before?
I’ll admit, I’ve done it more times than I can count.

I’ve recently changed my outlook on captions, though.

Here’s why you should, too.

Think about your caption like a pick up line

I’m not talking about some cheesy pickup line, but what is a pick up line?
It’s the first thing you say to someone that you hope to have a deeper connection with.

This pickup line might make or break you.

Your caption is the same way, but with your social media post.

Your caption, and more importantly the first line of the caption is the most important part of your post.
This is your chance to say something to your viewer that will make them want to hit the “see more” to read the rest of your post.
When you provide enough intrigue to hook your viewer, encourage them to read more, and interact with your post, that’s when you’ve started to create a deeper connection with your audience.

What can you do to create better captions?
There are several ways that you can improve your captions, but I like to follow this general format for our captions.

- Hook

- Deeper explanation of the information in the hook

- A P.S. or Call to Action for your viewer

1. The Hook: This is the first line. This first line is your chance to encourage the viewer to stick around for more.

• This can be in the form of a question. Think of a pain point that your customers experience

• This can be a statement of fact. “Never deal with clogged gutters again” - If you’re a company who installs gutters.

BONUS TIP: Create some space between your hook and your next line. Let that first line breathe and stand alone. This is easier for skim readers.

2. VALUE: Now you get to show the viewer more information and expound on the topic within your hook. This is an opportunity to educate a viewer and showcase your expertise on the matter. This is where you can really provide the most value to your viewer.

3. The Call to Action: You don’t have to use P.S., but it’s an accepted method by most readers and it helps differentiate your first 2 points from your call to action. This can be something along the lines of: asking them to comment their answer on the post or share with a friend. This is your chance to ask the viewer to do something that you would like for them to do.

If you’re waiting until just before you hit post to think of your caption, you’re missing a great opportunity to create a deeper connection with your audience. You don’t necessarily have to have the full caption typed out before you take the photo, but you should start thinking about it once you take the photo or record the video.
Ask yourself: “How can I bring value to my audience with this photo through my caption?”

P.S.

Another BONUS TIP: Be mindful of your formatting when you type your captions out.
Think about it: If you type a full paragraph, viewers are going to immediately see it and realize they don’t have the time to read it.
However, if you add spaces/lines between your sentences, the viewer can easily skim read the same amount of words, but because of the formatting, they actually make it to your Call To Action.