Instagram is a really powerful social media tool for handmade sellers, and when used well it can make a big difference in the success of your handmade shop. . . but you need to know how to write captions that engage your readers and get them to like or share your post!
If your captions are flat or worse… boring… they’re not going to do anything for you.
So today I want to talk to you about how to write Instagram captions that actually help you sell your handmade products.
We’re going to talk about why Instagram captions matter, the 6 rules of an engaging caption, and the 4 key components that every caption needs.
Well written captions will grow your Instagram account, generate increased traffic to your shop, and increase your product sales—, so it’s well worth your time to write the best possible captions when you post!
Let’s dive in.
Because Instagram is a visual platform, it’s easy to think that what’s most important are the pictures that you post.
And it’s true that having appealing images are what make people stop scrolling —but if you don’t have an engaging caption below that image the most you’re going to get is a random “like”— and I am sure you’ve heard it before: you can’t take likes to the bank!
So how do you write an engaging caption?
I have 6 rules that will take your captions from average to amazing!
The first rule of writing an engaging caption is don’t sell your products!
The goal of your caption is to inspire, to entertain, or teach people something valuable.
What do I mean by that?
You want to respect the 80/20 rule that we talked about in my article setting up your Instagram account that says that 80% of your posts should really be there to boost your engagement . . and only 20% of your posts should be there to promote or sell your products.
And even in the 20% of captions that you want to use to generate sales, you don’t want to approach those captions by saying something like “I have a new product! Buy this product by clicking the link in my bio”— because that’s a bit boring and it’s certainly not engaging.
Instead, for those captions your goal is to sell an emotion, a feeling, a lifestyle, or a solution.
For example, if you are selling a soap with a fragrance called “fresh rain,” you don’t want to say “Hey, I have a new soap fragrance called “fresh rain.” Click the link in my bio to buy it.”
Instead you could say:
THIS FREE PLANNER WILL HELP YOU CREATE A SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN FOR YOUR HANDMADE SHOP. KNOW WHAT TO POST, WHEN TO POST IT, AND WHAT TOOLS TO USE!
There is nothing quite like the smell after a new rainfall, when the flowers glisten with raindrops and the air is full of their fragrance mixed with the smell of freshly damp soil. If, like us, you love the smell of damp soil – you’re not alone! People like us are exactly who we created our “Fresh Rain” soap for!
It will transport you to a meadow after a rainfall, with the air full of the fragrances of the field and the sunlight glistening on every leaf. Refreshing and energizing 🌼 This is a limited batch, so make sure to grab yours via the link in our bio!
So as you can see here, yes, of course we’re selling the soap. But we’re doing it in a way that’s got me wanting this soap in my kitchen so I can feel refreshed and energized each time I wash my hands, because as I’m reading the caption I’m remembering the mornings when I wake up to a gentle rain and when I go outside the world smells so wonderful and fresh.
This caption has invoked memories that I have now attached to the soap product I’m reading about.
So don’t sell your products, sell a feeling, an inspiration, or a solution.
Rule #2 is don’t use formal language— you want to write your caption just as you would speak it.
One of the best ways to do this is, every time you write a caption, read it out loud.
Is there any sentence that you had to read a second time because you couldn’t read it properly the first time? That may mean it’s too long, or maybe it’s too formal, and it doesn’t feel like someone is speaking to you.
So really do that little test, write your caption and then speak it out loud. And if you’re struggling with it, or it feels a bit off when you say it out loud, then rewrite that part of the caption.
For example, if you read the following caption out loud, it sounds a bit awkward, like you are reading the label out loud:
“Our 24 carat gold pierced earrings have three main features. 1) They are handmade, 2) they are white gold, and 3) they are made in Charleston, North Carolina.”
Now, if you were telling your friend about these earrings you wouldn’t say it that way, right? You might say something more like
“Look at these beautiful earrings, they are handmade in North Carolina by a person who only uses 24 carat white gold so that all of her earrings are stunning and really catch everyone’s eye!”
So your caption might become:
‘These beautiful earrings are handmade in North Carolina by me, Emily! (If you’re new around here, hi 👋 and welcome!). I used 24 white carat gold for this stunning pair, and a timeless design you can easily wear every day – making it a great add to your forever collection – link to shop is my bio 🌼”
The next rule of Instagram captions is don’t be factual.
Instead, ask yourself, “why would they actually care about this fact?”
Another way to think about it is instead of naming the feature of your product, talk about the benefits that the product provides.
So if we continue our earring example, instead of saying the earrings are 24 carat gold and handmade, you could say:
“These earrings will never lose that like-new look—each is made of stunning 24 carat white gold. And if you have allergies to cheaper metals you will love how these earrings feel; there is nothing that will make your skin react or become itchy and swollen.
And better yet, each earring is an original design – handmade and unique so that no one will ever have the same earring as you! Each unique design will catch people’s attention and add a splash of eye-catching fashion to your outfit.”
That description told the reader many benefits of buying the earrings, and created a picture in their head of being stylish and unique when they wear them.
Now we move to rule #4, which is don’t ever let your reader look at your post and think “OK, cool!”
What I mean by that is that you want your caption to prompt interaction, not an “OK, cool!” response.
This illustrates something I see so much in the handmade community – captions that simply describe the pictures.
For example, let’s say you make scented essential oil mixes, and you have a lovely evergreen scented holiday essential oil fragrance.
If you post a picture of the bottle of oil with a caption that says “Cozy Christmas Essential Oil Blend” your reader will perhaps pause, look at the picture, read the caption, and think “OK cool!” and continue scrolling.
There is nothing that prompts me to engage— there’s no story, there’s nothing that makes me want to like or comment or share that with a friend.
But . . . what if you post a picture of a cozy living room all decorated for the holidays with a fire burning in the fireplace and a Christmas tree decorated with twinkling lights . . . or a styled shot of your essential oil blend on a table surrounded by fresh cut evergreens and cinnamon sticks or holly berries with a caption saying:
“One of my favorite smells during the holidays is the smell of a freshly cut Christmas tree filling my house – each time I smell it I smile and think of how much fun it is when all of our family is together, laughing and so happy to see each other again. What is your favorite scent during the holiday season? Comment below and let me know!”
This caption has a story, and it tells me the inspiration behind your new Christmas Essential Oil Blend, and makes me connect with you, the maker.
And more important yet, it invites me to interact by posting my favorite holiday scent.
And interaction is a great way to connect with your followers.
Rule number 5 builds on the rule we just talked about, I like to describe it as “Don’t expect, DO tell them!”
What this means is, you don’t want to expect that people are going to want to comment on or like the pictures, you want to tell them to do so.
So this is pretty self explanatory, you are going to want to add a sentence that prompts them to comment, like, or share the post – don’t expect that they will think about doing it themselves.
It can be simple, just an “if you like this too share this with your friends!” or “comment below and tell me what your favorite flavor is!”
And finally, the last rule is don’t make it hard to read.
By that I mean break down your caption into paragraphs; you want your Instagram caption layout to be easy to read.
And for your paragraphs, remember that in Instagram, paragraph length is something you need to be mindful of as you write.
Make sure there are line breaks, make sure there are spaces, and use highlighted words and emojis to guide the reader’s eye and make it more fun to read.
If your Instagram caption layout has no space or line breaks, you end up with a big paragraph of text that people won’t commit to reading.
Which leads us to the next topic, the anatomy of a great caption.
A perfect engaging caption is made up of 4 key components.
Let’s briefly talk about each one.
Your hook is very important, because as you might know, Instagram doesn’t actually show you the entire caption when you’re scrolling in your feed, it only shows a couple of lines.
This means that those few lines that you see at the beginning have to be really engaging so that people want to click on the “more” button so that they can actually read the rest of your caption.
So you might want to think of this as a title or an email subject line— it’s really important that it engages your readers so that they click to read the rest of the message.
The body is where you really connect with your ideal customers and followers.
You want to always ask yourself “is this inspiring, educating, or entertaining my readers?” Because – remember – that’s why people are on Instagram, they want to be inspired, entertained, or they want to discover new and valuable information.
Next is your call to action. And in this case, it’s simply those couple of lines at the bottom of the post that say “double tap if you agree!” or “click the link in my bio to see more earrings like these!” or “What are you grateful for today? Enter it in the comments below.”
The hashtags are not something your reader is really going to read, but they will help your post show up in searches.
Place the hashtags after the caption, and visually separate them from the caption so it looks nicer.
So let’s look at a few examples of what we just talked about.
In this Instagram caption by Phoebeganderart, she hooks the reader by asking them which of her paintings is their favorite—the reader will be curious and swipe through the different painting options in the photos above.
Next she uses the body to tell them what she was experimenting with, and the reader now wants to enter their “vote” in the comment section (and probably scroll through the comments to see what other people voted for).
Then she adds a nice selection of hashtags to help her post show up in searches.
Next let’s look at a caption by Prachisbohemianart.
First she hooks her reader by asking them an intriguing question (I clicked “more” because I was wondering what she was going to say next!), then she has a short body section to answer the question and talk a bit about different “favorite” morning drinks, and finishes with question CTA asking if we prefer coffee or tea.
Take note of her Instagram caption layout also; it is broken up into small readable parts and sprinkled with cute emojis.
And of course she has a nice selection of hashtags separated out from the body to improve searchability.
As you get used to this system, writing your captions will become much simpler and much more effective—just follow those simple steps.
If you are feeling a bit overwhelmed about setting up and running your Instagram account, head on over to the Tizzit HQ course library where we have a full step-by-step Instagram course waiting for you – Instagram Marketing For Handmade Or Etsy Shops!
GET THE Instagram for makers CoURSE
GROW YOUR AUDIENCE AND START MAKING SALES for your shop USING INSTAGRAM
Thanks for reading, and until next time, au revoir!
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