Honestly, I’m surprised at how simple it is, and yet I see it over and over again. I’m still a new freelance writer and I’ve only worked for a handful of different companies writing their social media posts for them. Still, I’ve seen this pop up repeatedly when I’m doing research for whatever niche I’m diving into for a client.
Lots of small businesses run their own social media and here’s what many of them do: They post a photo on Instagram or Facebook without a caption.
No captions? It absolutely baffles me.
When I was looking up beauty salons in my city to get ideas and inspiration on what to write for a client, I noticed something odd. After scrolling through the Facebook and Instagram pages for 3 different companies, I realized that every single business was posting pictures with no captions.
Sure, some had written hashtags or a one-word description, but that’s not nearly enough! Yes, a picture is worth a thousand words, but a caption is still crucial to communicating with your readers.
While a picture might get people to look at something, it’s the words that will get someone to actually engage with it.
Many people think that social media is a simple post with a picture and hashtag, but it’s actually a lot more than that. A good social media post has lots of components (after all, copywriting is a full-time job). If your business doesn’t have time to hire one, don’t worry! Here are three things to get you started if you’re managing your own social media and have no idea what to write.
1. A Good Hook
You’ll want to engage your customers. That can be with a question, a quote, a problem, anything! Hook them in with something that makes them want to read more.
2. Something Relatable
Personally, my specialty is humour. As such, I like to include a pun or a joke to stand out from the crowd. Sometimes this isn’t a good option depending on the content of your post, so be sure that whatever it is your writing is relevant to what you’re promoting.
3. Call To Action
Also known as a CTA, this tells your customer what to do next. That’s something a picture can’t do on its own. Use some action words to guide your reader to book an appointment, comment, share, and so on.
Hopefully, this short article can help you start improving the experience for your followers and even fine some news ones. Even a bad caption is better than nothing!
Victoria Fraser 