Stellar Instagram Captions in 5 EASY STEPS!
Do you have the perfect picture or graphic to post on Instagram, but when it comes to the caption, you freeze? What do you write? How do you start? Do you make it short and sweet, or blog post style? Will my audience even read it?
Follow this 5-step FORMULA to writing STELLAR captions that HOOK and ENGAGE your audience!
Full transcription available at the bottom of this blog post
Before you go, I’d love to connect with you and give you some gifts to help you grow your online presence!
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Full Transcription:
Hey, welcome back! Today we’re diving into Instagram captions because I know they can be debilitating, but first, I want to remind you that I’m a Coach! I can help you get consistent and confident on Instagram and GROW your presence authentically and organically!
No more feeling overwhelmed with Instagram! No more mimicking what others are doing. You’ll FINALLY have CLARITY on your brand messaging, and we’ll map out a content strategy so you can get in and get out of the platform so you can get back to the things that REALLY matter in your life and biz!
Book your strategy call at bit.ly/igmethod
Okay, so let’s get into Captions!
First, you need a HOOK or HEADLINE – the goal is to get your audience to “stop the scroll” with a hook or headline that pulls them in wanting more.
Ex: The 3 biggest mistakes when creating a landing page…or Has this ever happened to you?
- STORY TIME – you want to immediately resonate with your audience. You want to keep their attention after your hook. Start with a story to build on the “know, like and trust!”
- EMOTIONS – This is a big one! To keep your audience reading, hit their pain points, then transition into the transformation they can get from you or your offering. You want your audience to react and say, “yeah, she get’s me or she knows how it feels.” An emotional connection to your audience is KEY!
- CAPTIVATING SEGUE – shoutout to my friend, Brenna McGowan who taught me this! you want a seamless transition between the story and the opportunity or lesson. Segues are a perfect way to transition from one topic to another without confusing your audience. You can use common segues like, “Why am I telling you this?” or “the point of this story is.” And then you transition into your pitch, lesson or opportunity. Next time you watch commercials, start listening for segues. Public speakers use segues all the time!
- CALL TO ACTION – Tell your audience what to do! Ask a clear and direct question. For example, “which mistake resonates with you?” If you want your audience to leave a comment, click on a link, or download a freebie—you need to tell them to do it. When people are on any social media platform, they’re on at high speed, scrolling quickly. If you don’t have a call-to-action, your audience won’t do anything!
Tips:
Long vs. short captions – I say mix them up. I’m the type of person who likes to read shorter captions, so having long, blog-post type captions is fine, but I wouldn’t do it all the time!
Next, Write the caption first, then go back to add the HEADLINE.
When it comes to evoking emotions, such as pain points, it’s important to move your audience from negative emotions to positive emotions. You don’t want to leave your audience feeling frustrated, annoyed, unhappy or uncomfortable. Always showcase the transformation if you’re going to talk about any pain points. We want our audience to feel motivated and take action in the end.
NOT every caption needs to follow this formula! 80/20 rule. 80% of your posts should HOOK your audience. 20% can be fun and entertaining!
And finally, this formula can also be applied to your email campaigns, podcast episodes, videos and blog posts!
Hook them!
Share a story.
Evoke emotions.
Transition with a segue.
And have a call-to-action.
That’s it! Okay, so I want to hear from you, connect with me on Instagram @allisonscholes, send me a dM and share your thoughts on this easy-to-follow formula! Until next time.
