Try These 4 Instagram Caption Formulas
While Instagram started as a picture account displaying the beautiful parts of peoples’ lives in small squares, it’s become more of a blog.
Now, people expect more than a pretty picture - they expect to find value in the captions on your page. Failing to provide value in your captions is lowering the overall quality of your account and ultimately disappointing your followers.
What’s the real purpose of an Instagram caption?
While your photo is meant to grab attention, the purpose of your Instagram caption is to give something to people. You could deliver this value in several forms:
Help people. Provide something useful - like well-researched information, a tutorial, or an inspirational message.
Boost relatability. People get a buzz from reading something they identify with, especially if they didn’t know others felt the same way. Post something vulnerable or relatable to create an emotional connection with followers.
Foster community. Get people to communicate with you and each other in comments. Better still - a caption that sparks discussion and deeper thinking will get you some free word of mouth (and bonus points with the algorithm).
If you meet two out of these three in a single post, you can consider your caption a winner! Here are some formulas to get there.
Follow these 4 formulas to create winning Instagram captions.
1. Write about pain points you experience that your following also experiences
Your following might be experiencing pain points that they don’t even notice, and hearing you voice them can be reassuring. Bonus points if you provide a solution to the problem.
Example: On my @_contentland Instagram, I’ve done a few posts about pains that I know other content marketers are feeling.
This one talks about common issues I’ve faced in my career around personas, goals, and organization.
Here are some other examples of issues your followers face (that they might not even realize) and how you can flip it into an engaging caption:
Issue: Clutter in the house leads to bad moods. Talk about the principles of organization and how anyone can achieve these. Clutter creates frustration. Organize your closet by putting the most frequently used items in the front, so you don’t have to dig through a mess everyday.
Issue: Cooking feels like a heavier lift than it should. Give some simple cooking hacks. For me, it’s to always have good dressings on hand. Sauces tend to require the most ingredients, but adding pre-made sauce/dressing to meat, vegetables, and rice is extremely simple.
Dig deep! Providing followers with the tools they need to combat pain provides immense value and emotional connectivity.
2. Talk about something everyone else is saying that you disagree with
Controversy can be a fine line to walk; but if find ways to make a splash in neutral topics, you can spark discussion. Do you hate animal print and morning routines? Do you eat dessert for breakfast?
People are sick of reading the same captions over and over again on their feed, and they will be happy to see someone mix it up. They’ll also be more likely to comment!
3. Learn to be tastefully vulnerable
Oversharing might be seen as “cringeworthy” in some cases, but following a simple rule of thumb will prevent this.
The trick to sharing personal information without begging for attention is to follow up with a solution. Here are some examples of popular attention grabs and how to flip the script.
Financial information
Attention Grab: “I make $2,000 of ad revenue/month on Youtube.”
Tasteful Overshare: “Let’s talk about my top 3 techniques to make $2,000 of monthly ad revenue on Youtube.”
Anxiety and depression
Attention Grab: “I’m just like you - some days I struggle with depression. Here’s a picture of me crying on a bad day.”
Tasteful Overshare: “If you suffer through phases of crippling depression like me, try testing out some new diets. Cutting out gluten and dairy changed my life.”
Health issues
Attention Grab: “My cramps hurt so bad I couldn’t get out of bed today. I had to eat tons of chocolate and chips to feel better.”
Tasteful Overshare: “My cramps are crippling, but here’s a supplement I’m trying to reduce the pain.”
4. Provide humor or another form of entertainment
Everyone loves to be entertained! They’re usually scrolling through their social media feeds out of boredom. You could try sharing a funny story from your week or tell a joke here and there.
Today, most people provide entertainment through skits, memes, and stunts. This niche might be hard to compete without natural ability - so feel free to skip over entertaining posts if it’s not your strong suit. The worst thing you can do is come across as forced.
Avoid tired topics in your Instagram captions
Of course, you should always avoid stale topics. Here are some examples of run-of-the-mill Instagram captions we need to put to bed:
Captions about taking breaks and shutting off the phone to mentally recharge.
“Look at me” posts - an outfit or selfie with a caption like “felt cute”.
Vulnerable posts about weathering a hard time, without saying what the hard time actually is.
Detailing weekend plans and asking followers what their plans are.
Additional tips for writing Instagram captions
Now that you know what you’re writing about, here’s some advice for how to write.
Avoid creating a large block of text by adding a break every 1-2 sentences. But also, don’t be scared of length! It’s completely acceptable for your captions to read as a mini blog post.
Write as if you’re talking to one person, and call them “you.” For instance, instead of saying “These are my new favorite jeans!” write “You’ll love these jeans.”
Include a CTA - ask a question to be answered in comments, suggest they find further details from a bio link, or tell them to save for later.
Make your first 10 words count! People aren’t going to read past the first sentence if they don’t find it appealing,
Choose 5-15 hashtags of varying popularity.
Don’t take yourself too seriously!
I once reached out to a few influencers for some advice on how they grew their accounts. My favorite takeaway was a small influencer telling me: “Don’t take yourself seriously - have fun with it!” She went on to say how being “overly meaningful” or over thinking it would come across as stiff and inauthentic.
This is why it’s great to have a running list of caption ideas instead of forcing it as you post a photo. Content planning goes a long way.
Have fun with your Instagram captions and speak from your heart!
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