The best copywriting quotes act not only to inspire, but to teach. If you are an Anyword user, then you probably know how much we love quotes – they appear as our AI copywriting engine turns out multiple versions of high conversion copy. 

So, in the same spirit, we’ve put together some of the most functional copywriting quotes that the Internet has to offer. They give us valuable lessons about another one of our professional areas of interest: Instagram captions.  

Are Instagram Captions Essential?

“The mind thinks in pictures, you know. One good illustration is worth a thousand words. But one clear picture built up in the reader’s mind by your words is worth a thousand drawings, for the reader colors that picture with his own imagination, which is more potent than all the brushes of all the world’s artists.” – Robert Collier

First the picture, then the caption. That’s basically how it works. Instagram users tend to thumb scroll through image after image, and when one catches their eye, they move immediately to the text. 

This is a fact not all marketers keep in mind – because many of them are Instagram users as well, and focused on the picture. So they post great, high-quality product images; stick to a regular schedule for uploading stories; include all the right product tags and hashtags; use influencers; and go crazy over the way their feed looks. 

Such an approach is not the best one to take. The number of Instagram users is surging, and even advertising experts are revising their projections upward. Guess what will make the difference in an Instagram universe that is full of phenomenal photos…

Will Good Captions Give Me a Competitive Edge?

“A big reason so many businesses compete on price is because they can’t prove what value they offer, so they’re stuck with the one selling point that’s a breeze to communicate: cheapness.” – Mish Slade

Copywriting will make a huge difference to your Instagram success rate. It’s no secret that hitting the sweet spot with optimal copy is a tough job, and that’s exactly why great writing gives brands an edge.  

Moreover, quality captions are becoming more important to Instagram’s algorithm. Recent changes to the algorithm place a premium on engagement: the more users interact with your post, the better grading you’ll get. So making sure to inspire conversations, shares, comments, and likes is more vital than ever. At the heart of these engagements is copy that creates curiosity, purchases, entertainment, and so on.

How Long Should a Caption Be?

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” - Leonardo Da Vinci

Getting a simple and easily understood message across to the audience should be the objective of every copywriter. And, as every copywriter knows, simple means short. Yet Instagram in particular is merciless when it comes to attention span because there is so much to look at. 

An additional factor that copywriters need to consider for many social media channels is character number restrictions. Sure, Instagram seems generous with an allowance of 2,200 characters per caption. But you only get about 125 characters before the dreaded “More” button appears. This adds up to two lines of copy for mobile phones and three for desktops. So put your best stuff right at the beginning, and if it’s good enough, the user will willingly take a few additional seconds and get more educated.  

What Should the Caption Be About?

“Copy cannot create desire for a product. It can only take the hopes, dreams, fears and desires that already exist in the hearts of millions of people, and focus those already existing desires onto a particular product. This is the copywriter’s task: not to create this mass desire – but to channel and direct it.” – Eugene Schwartz   

One challenge that copywriters face is to put themselves in the shoes of the audience. Being insiders at whatever company employs them, a copywriter can get fixated on features. But the distracted Instagram user has no patience to read details before they know if it’s worth their while. 

Instead, Instagram users want one question answered for them: ‘What’s in it for me?’ Whatever your product does, your Instagram caption must get to this point immediately, and in an interesting yet straightforward manner.  

What Writing Style Should I Use?

“The secret of all effective advertising is not the creation of new and tricky words and pictures, but one of putting familiar words and pictures into new relationships.” – Leo Burnett

The Instagram audience is not looking for Shakespeare. They enjoy all the slang, catch phrases, and abbreviations that they use themselves as they tap along. 

At the same time, however, they want to see something relatively professional from a brand that they might try on for size. Therefore, step number one is to absolutely eliminate typos and grammar mistakes from copy, unless they are obviously intentional. 

Step number two is finding the right voice. This will be determined by the demographics of your target audience and your existing messaging. Hopefully, you’ve got some quality copy from your website that’s ready to go. Adapting it to the Instagram crowd (typically under age 35, and basically split between males and females) might take some A/B testing. The objective is to formulate something brand-oriented and recognizable, but still in the groove (if that’s even an expression anymore).  

Are CTAs Important? 

“What I am doing here is taking the reader by the hand and leading him exactly where I want him to go. It seems like a small point and, maybe it is, but is the little touches like this that keeps the letter flowing, the reader moving along, and, it relieves him of the burden of trying to figure out what he is supposed to do when he finishes reading a particular page.” – Gary Halbert

An Instagram post without a CTA is like a door without a key – it leaves the audience without any idea of how they can continue their journey. This is true for most online advertising, but with Instagram, it gets a bit more complicated. 

Instagram does not allow clickable links to appear in organic posts; however, they are permitted in the bio section. In this case, the first challenge of your caption and CTA will be to get the audience to take two more steps so that they can visit your website. 

Still, it’s not always vital, or even wise, to push the audience towards making a purchase. A secondary CTA goal can be to inspire likes, comments, and sharing (tagging others), which will do wonders for your algorithm ranking. 

Here’s a Quote – “Help Me with Instagram Captions!”

Let’s put it all together. Getting the most out of Instagram means building copy for captions and CTAs. Texts must be short while immediately explaining the value of your product to the potential customer. For best results, you should use a consistent, brand-specific tone of voice that captivates users. 

Now, add all of these essentials to the mass of other writing and marketing tasks on your list. Insert “eye-rolling emoji” here.   

Or Insert Thumbs-Up Emoji Here

Anyword to the rescue. We’ve got a dedicated platform that creates Instagram posts and CTAs, not to mention all sorts of other time-saving copywriting projects, each driven by AI. Just insert some basic info about your industry and post, and Anyword does the rest – line after line of captivating Instagram captions just ready to be pasted. 

Our artificial intelligence engine even scores the posts that it generates according to its potential to convert. We leverage $250 million dollars’ worth of existing ad spots to understand what language inspires conversion, and apply that knowledge to the Predictive Performance Score. 

And what about that “brand-specific tone of voice”? Anyword’s Power Mode actually builds one for you. Insert some examples of a language style that represents the feel that you want to achieve, and Anyword will imitate it for every line of copy. Sound interesting? Find out how easy it is, and in less time than it takes to scroll through your Instagram feed. Anyword offers a 7-day free trial so that you can check out how our unique platform, technology, and features make the life of a marketer so much easier.