The subtle difference between a double tap and a scroll-through could lie in the caption. Instagram is full of well-lit, pretty images, but it’s the caption that anchors the image to your audience’s life
Using the right voice
The voice is the personality behind the account. The trick to achieving the right pitch is by establishing who your target audience is and mixing that with the nature of your business. You need to establish your own voice and Instagram is a social platform, so be social!
Consistency in format (both photos and choice of language)
Look at big companies like @generalelectric, you’d notice that there is a strong consistency in how the photos are all professionally shot. More importantly, there is consistency in how the captions are crafted. In the case of GE, their Instagram is all about inspiring people and sharing their research work to the world.
Ask the right questions
Look at @Sharpie’s instagram. There is a lot of art, which is great because it shows what the product can do – but the captions are conversational and show a personality behind both the brand and the images.
Here’s an example:
The picture is not great, and well that filter should be reserved for a Lana Del Ray music video, but the caption opens up the creativity of the reader and it follows the most important branding lesson we learned this year: advertising is about your audience not you.
Using the right lingo and hashtags
No matter who your audience is, Instagram is about getting people talking. There is a ton of Instagram lingo out there, and we don’t know where it comes from (either Reddit or the Kardashians) but it goes viral quickly, with short life cycles. Here are a couple we came across just looking today:
- #transformationtuesday: self-explanatory. Used for weightloss but you could get creative with it for companies if you have a new product update.
- #smh: shake my head
- #fam: your peoples, someone you would consider family member
- #wyd?: what would you do? Hypotheticals used to create conversation
- #squadgoals: aspirations with your crew
- #af: as heck
By now you should be speaking Instagram perfectly. If you’re a business that needs help speaking this foreign language get in touch with us at [email protected].
