Having a strong presence on digital platforms is an excellent way to increase brand awareness, drive conversations and build a following. However, it is equally essential to remember that every social media platform is unique. It requires writing using different approaches (post formats, demographics, requirements, and trends) for social media captions along with a pinch of your own personality. To make digital marketing easier, we have compiled some quick tips and tricks relevant to major social channels. Read on to learn how to write captions on social media.
LinkedIn
LinkedIn aims to help you create a strong network by connecting you to working professionals worldwide. Because of this, the social media channel has an entirely different writing style and audience compared to Instagram and Facebook. However, when it comes to social media captions, LinkedIn follows in the footsteps of many other platforms; less is more. Since it is more formal, your writing should be professional, and everything should be posted with the intent to build business connections. You can share credible articles to drive engagement, boost retention and customer acquisition and establish your expertise.
Number of Characters: The character limit on LinkedIn posts is 700. However, because of the “see more” button, your social media caption will be truncated at a 140 character mark. Therefore, it is advised to keep your caption below the limit. If you want to post a long-form piece, opt for sharing a publishing article on your profile.
Emojis: Emojis create a sense of informality; hence they are discouraged on this social media platform. However, feel free to incorporate images and GIFS to make your post standout.
Hashtags: For maximum exposure, incorporate at most three hashtags at the end of your social media caption. Any more than this can make your LinkedIn post look spammy.
Audience: Even though the audience is pretty evenly split, most of the users are male.
CTA: LinkedIn allows inline linking, making crafting CTAs relatively easier.
Instagram
Instagram, as you might already know, is driven by visuals. Therefore, it’s best to keep the social media captions for this platform as sweet and short as possible. The primary goal of your social media caption should be to provide context for the video or image, providing an accurate call-to-action that encourages viewers to engage with the content. Note that most users on Instagram aren’t looking for in-depth reading, thereby keeping your content concise and direct.
Number of Characters: Even though the character limit is 2,200 characters, we advise you not to write more than three lines for your social media caption. It has been observed that posts between 50 and 70 characters perform the best on the channel. While writing the caption for your Instagram post, keep in mind that it will be truncated at 125 characters, after which the audience will need to click “more” to read the remaining content.
Emojis: Opt for impactful and relevant emojis to accompany your social media caption.
Hashtags: They play a significant role in improving your visibility, searchability and boosting digital platform engagement. You are allowed to add approximately 30 hashtags to your Instagram post. This doesn’t mean you should use them all. Adding too many hashtags will make your social media caption look unappealing and spammy. Therefore, try to use 11 hashtags at most.
CTA: Because Instagram doesn’t allow inline linking, crafting CTAs for social media captions can be challenging. However, most Instagram influencers use their description link as the CTA. The Instagram users are well-versed with the CTA “follow the link given in the bio.”
Facebook
Similar to Instagram, Facebook also has a conversational tone.
This social media channel is all about getting more and more people to interact with your posts. To make your social media caption engaging, include a call-to-action, ask open-ended questions, get the user to share their comments, and refer your post/brand to their friends. Content like videos, reports, images, and blogs are an excellent way to promote your brand on Facebook as people look for content that’s easy to read.
Number of Characters: The character limit on Facebook is 63,000 per social media caption. However, posts with 80 characters or less receive the most engagement. Therefore, make sure to keep the content less than 120 characters.
Emojis: You have the freedom to choose emojis on Facebook. To make your social media caption more appealing, we advise you to incorporate emojis at the end of each sentence.
Hashtags: This social media platform encourages the use of hashtags. You should ideally include not more than two hashtags. Also, test your digital marketing strategy by posting content with or without hashtags and opt for the one which suits you best.
Audience: Facebook has the most number of users globally, over 65years old. According to research, 69% of adults use Facebook, out of which the majority are females.
CTA: Like other platforms, Facebook also allows inline linking, making it relatively easier to include hashtags in your social media captions. In case your CTA link isn’t attractive, try using a link-shortening app.
Wrapping It Up!
Having a tailored social media strategy with posts designed according to the needs of every digital channel can boost your brand's reach and engagement to get you more leads. Wondering how to write captions on social media? Implement the aforementioned steps to create a streamlined yet efficient social media management strategy.
