11 tips to improve the copywriting in your Instagram posts
Before starting with the tips, we want to review the definition of copywriting, in order to guide readers who are just beginning to understand this concept.
Copywriting is a technique that consists of writing texts in an attractive and persuasive way for websites, landing pages, newsletters, social networks and other traditional advertising media, with the intention of getting your ideal client to mobilize and take a certain action. It is, nothing more and nothing less, the writing that converts.
Many times we care more about the photo that we are going to publish on Instagram than about the text that we include . Other times we spend hours thinking about what to write and end up using a couple of emojis or a short phrase without much content. This is not correct. Learning copywriting to the fullest is essential to generate powerful and valuable pieces for our target audience. Next, we give you a guide with 11 secrets and formulas so that you can improve the copywriting of your posts on Instagram:
1 – Instagram Algorithm
As we know, the Instagram algorithm is constantly changing, but… How does the new Instagram algorithm work in 2020? Easy, rewarding the publications that we spend the most time seeing. Therefore, putting together a good copy can help our audience spend more time on our posts and consequently have a greater reach.
Although there is a fine line between a long and interesting social media copy, in which users are hooked and read, and a boring copy or one that does not generate value and causes readers to abandon the post before taking any action. And this brings us to the next point to highlight.
2 – Relevance test: What about me? (So what?)
How do I know if my content is going to interest my audience? How to write a copywriting to sell? One way to know if my content is going to interest my audience is to submit it to the relevance test. And what about me? (“So what?” in English).
This consists of putting myself in the place of the reader and seeing if at the end of seeing our post there are possibilities that he will say or think, what about me? (in the sense that he is not interested). This would mean that they do not see the reward or the value that we are giving them, so our content would have to be adapted until they can pass the test.
3 – Batch Writing (block writing)
Achieving good copywriting can be hard work. This recommendation is related to efficiency and time management when thinking about your posts. And basically it consists of writing many photo captions on the same day, and not every time you upload a photo. This will make your task much easier, doing it more efficiently and avoiding blocking.
If you don’t have the photos ready yet, it doesn’t matter! Just as there are image banks, you can create your own copy bank to later join them with an image. Writing content that you know will interest your users and that is related to your industry.
There are image banks like Unsplash.com , can you imagine if there were copy banks? I leave you that idea for free in case anyone wants to innovate.
4 – Plan the copies first and then the image
This is related to the previous tip and is to put together a plan with the types of copy that I will want to publish each date, such as: a case of a client, tip, interesting information about the industry, an educational, inspirational text, etc.
Once you have the planning armed with the copies, it will be much easier for you to choose an image that suits each copy . And not the other way around like most do!
5 – Write like you speak
Many times we try to sound like experts or professionals, but in general, on Instagram the most effective copy is the one that is written in a natural way. This is so because they are easier to understand, entertaining and generate a feeling of closeness with the reader.
How to write an unstructured copywriting?
Grab your cell phone and record yourself explaining in a natural way as if you were talking to anyone about the topic you want to write about. Then listen to it and I transcribed what you recorded.
(You can also look for an app that automatically converts a recording to a text)
6 – “Chunking”: Separate the information properly
Chunking refers to the way in which we process information, and how we can better memorize and understand a text if the information is divided efficiently.
Chunking was first identified by George A. Miller in the book ” The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information “.
The bars help us break down information into smaller pieces of information which makes it easier to understand (in this case it’s a date) and remember.
With this we do not tell them that they have to separate their dates with bars, only that it is a good practice to separate the information in your posts with spaces, lists, short paragraphs, separating phrases , etc. In this way, your text will be easier to read and remember
7 – Use Emojis
Instagram is a visual network in which content is consumed at high speed. Using emojis can not only help you emphasize some part of your post, add color or add personality, but it can also help you make your post easier to read and add emotions to it. Emojis are the best ally for the creative copywriter.
And if you have doubts about how many emojis to use, you have to know that it will depend on who your audience is, but here we leave you an example of our Instagram in case it helps you😊
8- Start with a phrase that attracts attention
In Instagram posts you have a certain number of characters before the “more” button appears. That is why you have 2 options to avoid losing your reader:
1 – Include the most important information at the beginning
2 – Generate intrigue/suspense in the first sentence (it can be a conflict or problem that people identify with, something dramatic, etc.)
9 – Highlight your call to action (CTA)
The main objective of a Copy is to lead the reader to perform an action, whether it is to leave a comment, leave an email, go to our website, etc. Therefore, it is super important to highlight what action you must perform and what reward you will get. I included 1 unique CTA at the end of the post that is well differentiated and I included verbs that call for action, Examples:
- Tag a friend who needs this
- Enter our website and take advantage of the discounts
- Do you want more information? Leave us your email and we will send you
Taking into account the CTA is key in creative copywriting for entrepreneurs.
Hashtags are a good way to give your posts visibility, but they are also an opportunity for the reader to click on them and leave your profile. That is why it is recommended that you include them at the end or in the middle of the post but that they are not more than 2 or 3.
Tips:
- Create some of your own Hashtags and join other more popular ones
- You can see the hashtags that already exist in the lupita
11 – Include copy for Instagram stories
Many people watch the stories without sound!
Therefore, it is the public that we are losing if we do not leave a brief description of the video or an intriguing phrase for the reader to activate the sound.
we hope that these tips will help you and that you can apply them to do your own emotional copywriting, improving your ads and social media posts.