Let’s be honest: how often do you find yourself writing an effortless business Instagram caption?
As a fellow writer, I know how difficult it can be to come up with a clever and attention-grabbing caption for an Instagram photo or video.

Alex, one of my students, came to me with a question like this not so long ago: “How do I write captions for posts when I suck at storytelling?”
If this sounds like you, and you’re having trouble writing Instagram captions for business that don’t take forever but still get a response from people, you’ve come to the right place, because in this article, I’ll share my caption writing system that will make it easy for you to write captions for your business on Instagram.
First, I’ll explain what copywriting is and why it’s important before I get into the specifics of how to create captions.

Now, let’s define copywriting.

To put it simply, copywriting is the art of producing persuasive prose.

The purpose of copywriting is to persuade the reader to do something, be it to click, purchase, sign up, interact, remark, or share.

With Instagram, you can convey a story through a combination of words and pictures, but it’s easy to become distracted by the latter.

When we finally get to the words, we’re usually exhausted.

However, when it comes to Instagram for business, a stunning image is not enough.

Your point is further strengthened by the caption.

Writing Professional Instagram Posts

Instagram captions are best written in bulk

The best way I’ve found to save time while posting is to compose many captions at once.

I realise this is easier said than done; I’ve been known to scribble out a caption when inspiration strikes.

However, I am at my most efficient when I write captions in bulk.

On Monday afternoons, I’ll sit down and compose the three captions that will accompany my three postings during the week.

Make sure your Instagram caption is helpful to your followers

Your marketing efforts, Instagram captions included, will benefit from a deeper understanding of how you can add value for your target demographic.
As a business owner, there are three ways that Instagram may help your company:

Tips and tutorials provide information; sharing an aspirational lifestyle and exemplifying the desired outcome provides inspiration;
If your post makes someone giggle while they’re mindlessly reading through their page, you’ve just made their day.
Knowing which of these three ways of adding value you excel at is crucial for writing a strong caption since it will convey that strength to your audience.

Is it meant to teach, motivate, or amuse?

Captions can fall into any of these three categories, but chances are your audience will recognise you best for one.

It’s all about knowledge for me. Knowing that my readers appreciate and like informative captions, I frequently include them in my posts.

When I can’t think of anything to say, I usually just tell someone something.

First-Line Bleeding

Yup. Did I manage to interest you?

This is why the phrase “bleed in the first line” is so fantastic.

That means making the first line of your text the most interesting one.

This is a time-honored method of storytelling that allows readers to plunge directly into the action.

Instagram users will only read the first few of lines of your caption as they scroll through their feed, so it’s crucial that you get to the point quickly.

Don’t squander this prime piece of real land.

Be sure you go right to the blood and guts of the action in the very first sentence.

Your reader will pause, click through to read the rest of your caption because of this hook.
Make sure your caption is appropriate for your target market.

Provide an explanation to your readers

Make it absolutely, positively obvious in your Instagram posts why your readers should care.

In their hectic lives, people often ask themselves invisibly, “What’s in it for me?”

Include captions that directly address the question, “What’s in it for me?”

Use of the term “so that” is one of my go-tos for making sure I’ve addressed the “why” question.

The word “so that” is a fantastic transition from the information you’re presenting to the significance of it.

Make sure your caption has a distinct call to action.

Humans have incredibly short attention spans.

Make it very obvious in your caption what it is you want the reader to do.

Be specific and ask exactly one thing of your readers.

If we keep pushing individuals to take action, we risk losing them.

Don’t leave folks guessing or paralysed by too many choices; else, you’ll go nowhere.

This is an example of a call to action that I find effective:

If you think the people who follow you would like reading this, please share it with them.

You need to be very clear if you’re in the midst of a sales closing season (maybe you’ve just opened your programme, your cart, or your launch).
When anything upsets me or annoys me, I try to remember if it was because of my lover.

Oftentimes, the best stories have their genesis in moments of conflict, so it could be useful to think back to those.

This concludes my lecture on the art of commercial Instagram caption writing.

What did you find to be the most helpful of these suggestions? Please share which of these suggestions you plan to use in your next Instagram comment.