How Long Should My Instagram Caption Be?
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Determining how long your Instagram caption should be is an age-old dilemma. Okay, Instagram has only existed for eleven years, so maybe not quite “age-old.” Nonetheless, one of the most common concerns I hear from clients is, “How do I write a good caption? How long should my caption be?” People are stumped by the art of the caption! Today on the blog I’m breaking down Instagram caption length.
Learn the Limits
For starters, it’s important to know the limits on Instagram captions! The maximum caption length is 2,200 characters (which is pretty darn long!). You can also use up to 30 hashtags. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should, though, which we’ll get to later.
So what’s the ideal caption length?
Remember, most people have short attention spans these days. A study by Microsoft showed that the average human attention span is just eight seconds. Eight seconds to capture someone’s attention on Instagram? That’s not much time at all! Typically the image attracts the person in the first place, and then their interest level dictates if they read the whole caption or not.
A short and sweet caption from Ugly Duck Coffee that resonates with their coffee-loving followers
People typically will read the first three lines of a caption that appear. Anything longer than that, you’ll need to hit the “more” button, and many people don’t. To ensure your caption can be read without clicking the “more” button, aim for 125 characters or fewer. Yes, that’s even shorter than a tweet (which is now 280 characters rather than 140)! Sprout Social cites the sweet spot for Instagram captions as 138-150 characters.
On the flip side, recent trends show that average Instagram caption lengths are going up. Data projects that by this year, the average caption will be 405 characters, which is about 70 words. Some influencers’ captions clock in at 100 words or more! Long captions often work well for beauty or parenting bloggers, travel guides, or educational content. If the long caption truly adds value for your followers, then go for it! A caption should never be long simply for the sake of being long.
In many cases, longer captions result in increased engagement. This is particularly true if the caption has a confessional tone that prompts followers to reveal something in turn, sparking a conversation. The more comments, the better, as Instagram will boost how you rank in the algorithm based on that increased engagement. That helps your account be more discoverable to others.
Bless the Messy (the above example) knows her audience extraordinarily well and writes excellent captions that resonate with her followers.
If you choose to write long form captions, you need to know your audience well. A long caption that doesn’t resonate with your followers will receive little engagement. Before committing to long-form captions, make sure you’ve examined what types of posts your audience enjoys most and least. Analyze your Instagram Insights and see if you can spot any trends. It’s a good idea to experiment with both longer and shorter captions to see how each performs. That can help you determine the best strategy to use moving forward.
It’s also helpful to incorporate variety in your approach to captions. For example, if you share four posts a week, perhaps three have shorter captions and one has a longer caption. This encourages your audience to take the time to read the long caption, because if you’re including a caption that long among the usual shorter ones, it must be important!
The National Park Service has a post that can be read in short or long form: “Do you wanna build a bison…” is a great caption on its own, but you can also learn more about bisons if you read the full caption!
Another good option is to try it both ways in one post. Write a short version that’s 125 characters or fewer, so the reader does not need to click “more.” But, if you have more to say, continue on for another 100-300 characters (or however much space you need)! That way, folks who are more invested can continue and read the full caption, and those with shorter attention spans are satiated by the short version before the “more” button. You’re delivering your audience the best of both worlds!
Hashtags
Last but not least, let’s talk about hashtags. Often, people perceive hashtags as clutter that distract from the substance of their Instagram caption. In that case, you may want to hide your captions under a series of periods and line breaks. You can do this by hitting the return key, adding a period, return key, period, and so on. I commonly see people using three to five returns/periods before entering their hashtags.
While Instagram allows 30 hashtags, that can look borderline spammy. Research from TrackMaven has shown that the ideal number of hashtags to include in an Instagram post is nine. Less is more! Make sure they’re relevant to your target audience. Try to include a handful of bigger, more general hashtags and some that are more niche and specific.
Do you prefer reading shorter or longer captions on Instagram? Which one have you found works better for your brand? I’d love to hear your thoughts--tweet me at @servemethesky!
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