Caption This

This week’s reading included Chapter 11: How to Optimize for Individual Platforms from the book "The Art of Social Media". Guy Kawaski listed tips about using different social media platforms to their potential. Out of the platforms he mentioned I am most familiar with Instagram. I agree with several of his points, one of them being the following.

Tip 115 says to “keep it simple”. Instagram captions should be short and witty. If there is a post on Instagram that has “more” at the end of the caption line and a user can choose to tap it to look at the entire caption, then Guy Kawaski would most likely say that it is too long.

I found a really effective post on Instagram from @amctheatres that followed this technique. The caption is short, sweet and easy to read since it only takes up the first line. It reads, “Bo’s Back. And we’re here for it.” It has a pink bow emoji and the hashtags #ToyStory4, #BoPeep and #GoGirl. The picture is very simple. At the top is June 2019 in white letters and the rest of the image is a tan background with Bo Peep on the right third of the picture. Bo Peep is standing in a way that allows the viewer to see her trademark pink bow on her head.

On a side note, this post could easily be reposted on fan accounts because of its simplicity. The picture itself has no trace of an AMC logo. The post is not directly advertising AMC Theatres. Rather, it is reminding viewers that there is an exciting new Toy Story sequel coming out and you can catch it at AMC.

I agree with the short caption strategy for some brands on Instagram but definitely not all of them. One of the most consistent rule-breakers is NASA.

NASA has a huge following on Instagram with over 38 million followers. NASA posts space related pictures and sometimes they are of stars or galaxies. In their Instagram posts, NASA sometimes includes extensive captions with information about the subject of the photo or of the telescope that was used to take it. In this post NASA's caption has a scroll bar that must be used if a viewer wants to read the entire caption.

It makes sense for NASA to keep these captions just as they are because they are a scientific organization and they are providing factual information about their work. Not all viewers may read the entire caption and I do not believe this long of a caption is hurting NASA's Instagram page.

The "keep it simple" tip works for most brands most of the time but not all of the time. Your best judgement should be used depending on the situation.