Gone are the days of short captions on social media. There's no more room for those who just right 'We've got a sale' or 'Happy Friday!'. Writing captions on social media in 2020 has been all about the long form caption. It's being used as a captivating way of drawing your audience in, building trust with them, and creating engagement on your posts.
Instagram has well and truly become a destination for storytelling, and in doing this, longer captions have now cemented their place as the norm for sharing content on the platform. With influencers using them as a way to write micro-blogs, even brands are now sharing their behind-the-scenes and company values in lengthy Instagram captions But just how much are Instagram captions growing? And what’s the optimal Instagram caption length for engagement in 2021? Let's take a look...
Why Instagram Captions Matter.
Photos and videos have always come first on Instagram but, oftentimes, it’s the caption that makes or breaks a post. That’s because the “story” you tell on Instagram is just as important as the images and videos you share – it provides context, adds personality, and can even inspire your followers to take any action with your business. Captions are a powerful tool that can be used to encourage likes, comments, and even visits to your website. And if your post gets enough engagement, it might even end up on the Explore page!
What’s more, captions are a huge opportunity to build a stronger relationship with your audience.
Lengthy captions that champion story-telling and authenticity are also driving great results. These kinds of long-form captions are great because they allow your audience to learn more about you, your brand, and your key messaging. Of course, what you put in your caption (including how much you write) really depends on the content you’re sharing, the occasion, and your brand. In any case, you can’t afford to leave your captions as an afterthought!
While creating beautiful content for your feed is ultra important, if you want to get more engagement on your posts, and maybe even reach new audiences, writing good Instagram captions that drive engagement is a great strategy.
What's the best caption length for Instagram in 2020?
One of the biggest trends to hit Instagram in 2020 was creators and brands tapping into the power of long-form captions to engage and connect with their followers – and we only expect this trend to continue in 2021!
But just how much are Instagram captions growing?
Well, according to research by Fohr, the average caption length has more than doubled since 2016.
And by 2021, our feeds will be filled with an average caption length of 405 characters — which averages out to be 65-70 words!
Remember too, the more engagement a post gets, the more likely it will appear on the Explore page or higher up in your followers’ feeds. So writing longer captions could be the trick to not only building a deeper affinity with your audience but also for generating a better ROI on your posts. From here, you can decide if you want to write more or less, but what’s important is that you tell more of your story in your Instagram captions in 2021.
Of course, we aren’t saying that every caption needs to be a novel. Sometimes, a short caption is all you need – it really depends on your brand and the content you’re sharing.
Here are some fun ideas for sharing long captions:
Share your business story
Shares your goals and plans for 2021 in your business.
Show your support for your community
Share tips and tricks relevant to your business
Share a story relevant to what you do
At the end of the day, what’s most important is that your audience is engaging with your content!
We recommend giving the long-form caption trend a try. If you start to see engagement improve, you know you’re onto a recipe for success. If not, at least you’ll know that short and snappy captions resonate with your audience better.