The numbers you are working with
Instagram sets hard limits on captions. Knowing them changes how you write.
Most people never tap "more". So the first line is not part of your caption. It is the whole caption, as far as the feed is concerned. Write it that way and treat the rest as a bonus for the people who cared enough to expand it.
How to generate an Instagram caption
Using the tool at the top of this page takes under a minute.
- 1Say what the post is
One line. "Golden retriever puppy asleep in a laundry basket" gives the tool plenty to work with.
- 2Choose a tone
Funny reads very differently from aesthetic. Pick the one that matches the photo.
- 3Generate and skim
You get a list of ideas. Read the first line of each and ignore the rest.
- 4Make it yours
Copy the closest one and rewrite a few words in your own voice before posting.
Where the hook goes
A hook is the reason someone stops scrolling and reads. It has to sit in the visible line, before the cut-off.
The easy mistake is warming up first. "So I have been meaning to post this for ages, but anyway..." burns your entire visible line on nothing. Start at the interesting bit and let the context follow.
Hook first
- "I finished. Four hours, nine minutes."
- "This recipe cost me $3 and took 10 minutes."
- "Nobody warned me about week two."
- The point is clear before "more" appears
Warm-up first
- "Hey everyone! Long time no post..."
- "So I have been thinking a lot lately about..."
- "Happy Monday! Hope you all had a great weekend..."
- The point is hidden behind a tap nobody makes
Ask a question to get comments
Comments take effort. Most people will not write one unless you give them something easy to answer.
The trick is to keep the question small. "What do you think?" is too open and gets ignored. "Pancakes or waffles?" gets answered because it takes one word and no thought.
- Give two options and ask people to choose one.
- Ask for a recommendation. People love giving those.
- Ask them to finish a sentence you started.
- Ask something only your regulars would know the answer to.
Put the question on its own line at the end. Buried in a paragraph, it reads like part of the story instead of an invitation.
Where hashtags belong
Hashtags help people find the post. They do nothing for the person already reading it, so keep them out of the way.
| Placement | How it looks | Worth it? |
|---|---|---|
| End of the caption | Tidy if you add line breaks above them | Yes |
| First comment | Invisible in the caption, still indexed | Yes |
| Mixed into sentences | Hard to read, looks spammy | No |
| All 30, every post | Reads like a keyword dump | No |
Five to ten specific hashtags usually beat thirty broad ones. #sourdoughbaking finds a smaller crowd than #food, but it finds the right crowd.
Before you hit post
- The first sentence works on its own, with no context.
- The caption sounds like something you would say out loud.
- There is one clear question or nudge at the end.
- Hashtags are at the bottom or in the first comment.
- Nothing in it is a phrase a machine would write and a person would not.
That last one matters most. A generated caption gets you past the blank box, and that is worth a lot on a busy day. It still needs your voice on top before it goes out.