How to Write Effective Social Media Captions for Marketing your Service-based Business
So what makes a social media caption effective? What is the difference between a fluff-filled caption, a mini-blog post and a caption that actually stops someone from scrolling? That’s what I will explore in this blog post.
What makes a caption effective depends on the platform
Depending on the platform you're on, you have a different amount of space for your caption. Twitter, for example, is a very interesting copywriting challenge because you have such a limited number of characters to use. You’ve got to get your point across and maybe one or two sentences. Your content needs to be very short, very snappy - you trim all of the fluff out of it and keep it as simple as you can.
Whatever platform you're on, you need to know where the fold is. This is a term that you may or may not be familiar with and it basically refers to how much of a caption you can see before having to scroll or click “see more”. For your website, that's usually your headline and maybe a little sliver of space just below it. On LinkedIn, it's the first three lines of a caption and Instagram, it's the first line.
You only have a short space of time to really grab someone's attention and inspire them to click “see more” so they can read the rest of that caption. We call this the headline. This needs to be really, really effective. You want to make it very specific, cut all the fluff and just get right to the point. Think about what you want someone to know about this caption. What is going to inspire them to read more?
It's really easy to grab someone's attention using numbers, strong emotions or emojis, humor, or you can lead them in with “how to…”.
Social media captions should be short and sweet
Once you've got their attention, you have time to say a bit more - to embellish and add some depth to what you're trying to say.
Note the use of the term “depth” - you don't want fluff. If it doesn't need to be there, don't put it there.
I want you to think carefully about what words you're using. Are the words helping your audience to feel connected to the content? To create a picture in their minds? To enhance what you're saying? Or are the words there to fill space and make you sound a little better.
Social media captions have a character count for a reason. Keep it to the point. This is not an essay, no one's grading you on it. It's not a CV or cover letter or a formal email. It's a social media caption, so keep it casual. You don't have to worry about proper punctuation or grammar. You can use lists and bullet points. If an emoji would say it better than a sentence, use that emoji.
My best advice is to just get down what's going on in your head as if you were going to say it to a friend or a peer in your industry. Write it down first and then go back and see what you can take out, see what you can trim away so that it is lean, mean and to the point.
Then I want you to think about what your audience is feeling. Are you using jargon that they won't necessarily understand? Explain yourself in as clear and uncomplicated language as you can. That's the kindest thing you could do for your audience and it's what's going to make your audience feel like you actually know them.
The all important Call To Action
Last but not least, always have a call to action (CTA). This can be as simple as, “if you like this, hit the heart button,” “save it for later” or “share it with someone.”
It can be a question,
“Does this resonate with you? Tell me in the comments”
“Do you feel this or this? Drop an emoji in the comments”.
Your CTA can also be more sales focused, “click the link in my bio to sign up,” “let's book a call,” or “send me a DM.”
You always want to have a call to action because, otherwise, it's a waste of energy. You've got your audience’s attention, you've got them to stop scrolling, you've got them to click “See More”, they've read to the end of your caption... and then you leave them hanging. That's just rude.
Don't expect your audience to know what you want them to do, they're not psychic. Be kind and tell them what you need them to do.
Would you like to learn more about writing effective social media captions? (See, there’s my CTA!!) Check out our social media copy packs with scripts ready for you to fill in the blanks!
