Mastering the Art of the Caption: Telling Small Stories for Big Results
Social media management may seem simple enough, but a nuanced and tactical approach is necessary to successfully grow your following, gain new leads, and truly appeal to your audience. There is no "if you build it they will come," and definitely no "set it and forget it" when it comes to social media growth. You have to work for the social media engagement and the followers you seek.
Sharing social media content without a strategy can have ill effects on your engagement rates, not to mention create a confusing an incoherent brand experience for your fans. Social media marketers must be precise about their social media plays. Consider not only the type of content you want to publish, but how to maintain visual aesthetics to present a cohesive theme, who exactly you are trying to reach with each post, and what times are best to post at for optimal engagement among other things when designing your social strategy.
But what is arguably the make-it-or-break-it, most crucial component of a social post?
The caption.
The words that accompany your visual content can weaken or strengthen your brand message, so choose them wisely!
Great captions can explain the purpose for a post or the meaning behind the visual content, encourage your customers to take action, increase the shareability of the post, and help build a loyal following with your fans. Captions should never be low priority—they’re the perfect tool for inspiring engagement and interactions with your followers.
Another hallmark of a great caption is that it features a call to action. If you create a narrative in your post, keep the user experience interesting. Ask your followers to participate by prompting your followers to answer a question or tag a friend. You can even keep it simple with a phrase such as, “double-tap if you agree.” The possibilities are endless, and with each call to action comes a new way to increase your post’s share potential, successfully engaging followers along the way.