What’s The Best Social Media Caption Generator? And Why You Need It

A great social media image isn’t enough. You’ll need a great caption to go with it, and there’s no easier way to create one than with a caption generator.

Most social media platforms have a slot open for copy of some kind to accompany the image. While it’s not necessarily mandatory to use that space, it’s virtually insane not to use it. Aside from the visual content, your caption is the best opportunity to move your audience to action.

The problem is that most people struggle with what to put there. Either it’s too bland, too catchy, or not goal-oriented. 

In those situations, a caption generator can be a lifesaver.

In a hurry?

You can't go wrong with Jasper. It has a photo caption template that you can use to create captions at scale. And its output can match the tone and personality you're going for!

Why Do I Need to Generate Captions?

Simply put, you need catchy captions in your social media posts because those posts will perform much better (for instance, you can try out the best TikTok captions). Sometimes, a blank post outperforms a post with a caption, but those are rare. It’s akin to a viral social media post — you can’t predict it, so you can’t bank on them.

One study found that social media posts with captions had more than a 50% increase in likes and over 125% increase in comments. Those numbers are huge in a world where marketers are trying to squeeze an additional percentage point out of each stage of the marketing funnel. 

Beyond the numbers, though, Instagram captions create a unique opportunity for you to engage your audience. They can help with brand awareness, provide links to blog posts, or provide a call-to-action.

They can even make your content go viral with relevant hashtags by hitching a ride on emerging trends.

As stated earlier, you don’t need to generate captions. If you choose not to, though, it should be a very intentional and calculated decision as to why not.

Why Do I Need an Instagram Caption Generator?

With so much importance placed on catchy captions for social media posts, crafting the perfect one can be daunting. An Instagram caption generator tool can be useful for several reasons.

To Inspire Yourself

No matter how creative of a person you are, eventually, those creative juices will eventually run dry. And when that happens, you’ll need to have something to get your motor running.

Most marketers use a “swipe file” to collect items that inspire them. This can be other Instagram captions, blog posts, subject lines, email headings, or even website designs. Anything that helps kickstart the left side of your brain.

An Instagram caption generator — even an imperfect one — can be used the same way. By punching in a few key notes about your picture, a generator will spit out a proposed caption. Keep it, tweak it, or discard it entirely — the choice is yours.

Once you have an example of something that could work, you’ll at least have something to work off of.

Truthfully, you shouldn’t use an artificial intelligence writer exclusively, anyway. There are specific limitations to AI, but it’s extremely valuable as a prompt.

To Save Time

If you’re a solopreneur managing a single brand, an AI-based Instagram caption generator can be a very helpful tool to leave your brain power for other things. And a caption generator tool can be a lifesaver if you're an agency that runs multiple websites and exponentially more social media handles.

As mentioned above, they’re not flawless, but an Instagram caption generator can create a lot of text in a short amount of time. This allows a copywriter to go back through and modify the content before it’s scheduled. Not only will you save time, but you’ll save overhead by not paying a writer for as many hours of labor.

To Become International

As hard as it is to write Instagram captions, it’s nearly impossible to have them translated.

The challenges with translation extend beyond simply changing the words — you have to take the meaning into account as well. 

A good Instagram caption generator helps by automatically creating copy in various languages. You’ll still have to go back and have an actual writer check them, but it helps to scale your reach dramatically.

If you’re serious about your business, international translation is an area that you can’t afford to ignore. Digital marketing was already becoming more global before Covid-19. Since the pandemic, that number has only grown even further.

How Does an Instagram Caption Generator Work?

Each SaaS program is different, but most Instagram caption generators work in a very similar way.

First, you’ll input a few details about the social media post itself. This could be what the post is about, a product you want to promote, or a question you want to ask. Some Instagram caption generators will ask you to pick a tone — happy, insightful, bold, or adventurous are a few common options.

Next, the generator will spit out a list of options for you to choose from. You can select some you like, save them to a dashboard, or copy them to a clipboard for your social media. Some generators will include emojis; if not, feel free to include ones that are appropriate.

If you’ve found what you’re looking for, you can close out the program, or you can generate more ideas. Machine learning will continue to create caption suggestions for you based on your feedback. The more information you give, the better it’ll know what kind of Instagram captions you’re looking for.

Best Practices for Great Social Media Captions

Even if you do decide to use an Instagram caption generator to do most of the heavy lifting, you should still have an idea of the process. 

The best approach is to marry automation with a distinctly human touch. Despite how much software you use in your business, the audience should always feel like a human is behind it. 

The tips below will help you create Instagram captions that resonate with your audience.

Aim for Different Goals

Think of your social media posts as a lifecycle (or a customer journey, if you prefer). Each stage of the cycle has a different goal, so your Instagram posts should reflect that.

Typically, the journey starts with awareness and moves towards decision. There will be a few engagements along the way, alongside some entertainment posts too.

The problem with adapting that process to a social media platform is that not everyone starts from stage zero. Nearly everyone will be made aware of your brand in the middle of a typical cycle, so your Instagram posts need to address a new audience as well as those who are already familiar with you (and you can quickly get attention by learning how to add music to your Instagram posts).

To accomplish this:

1. Sprinkle different types of posts across your profiles.
2. Develop a healthy amount of brand awareness posts, engaging posts, and CTA’s.
3. Keep any promotion to a minimum.

Sometimes, you can even reuse the same caption for your pictures. Here are some commonly used Instagram captions that you can adapt or even steal to achieve various purposes:

• “From the Archives” (if you’re sharing a blog post)
• “Thinking about…” (to establish a relevant mood)
• “More info in bio” (for products or promotional offers)
• “Thrilled to have ___ in the office!” (when doing a cross-promotion with another brand)

Obviously, your captions could (and usually will be) much longer than that. But those give you an idea of some basic, foundational phrases you can use to create different captions.

Avoid the Wall of Text

This is a huge no-no. 

Social media is designed to be light-hearted, interactive, and most importantly, brief. No one — and I mean no one — wants to sit and read a 5,000 word Facebook post.

Your captions that exist on Instagram, Youtube, Pinterest, or wherever else you plan on using them should reflect this usage. Say what you need to say and get out.

This is another reason why using an Instagram caption generator is so important. If you can’t think of ways to shorten your caption, chunk the details in a generator and see what it says. Even if it creates something that talks about your “toast” instead of your “boats,” it’ll still be better than a wall of text. At least that one will be read.

Show Your Personality

The one downfall with machine learning is it’s not very good at showing a lighter side. Thankfully, machines haven’t yet figured out how to convincingly replicate human emotions to confuse people, so this might be where you put in the most amount of legwork.

One way to create the best of both worlds is by letting the generator make a caption and rewrite it in your own voice. If you have a brand guide to go with your company, have your writers use it when recreating what the generator made for you.

Regardless, your Instagram captions should come across as naturally as possible. Make sure it sounds authentic to who your brand is. Use story-telling as much as possible. Put your audience in your shoes and help them feel what you’re trying to say.

Include a Call To Action

No matter how mundane the post is, every Instagram caption should at least have some CTA.

Maybe that call-to-action is nothing more than a “read this blog post” or “be entertained.” If that’s the case, then drive the copy to that end.

You’ll often find yourself inserting a CTA that moves your audience toward your business goals. That could be signing up for a mailing list or making a micro-purchase, but regardless, every post needs a purpose.

Best Caption Generators

AI-generated writers are having a moment right now, and it feels like every SaaS company on the planet is trying to get in on the game.

Let’s be clear: Many Instagram caption generators on the market today are vying for your time and money. Nearly all of them are a waste of your resources.

Machine writing is very difficult to get right, so make sure you look through as many options as you can and find the one that is right for you.

Jasper

Without a doubt, Jasper is the resident Instagram caption generator juggernaut on the block.

That comes, in part, due to its financial backing. Jasper has received hundreds of millions of dollars in venture capital money, which is uber important when it comes to a technological arms race. In this arena, those who have the most money usually come out on top.

Another factor working in Jasper’s backing is its versatility. Not only can you use Jasper.ai to create Instagram captions, but you can also use to to create blog content as well. 

Initially, the results were mixed, but our own experiment leading up to our Jasper review found it to be surprisingly effective. It’s not perfect, but it’s far and away one of the best AI content generators on the market.

It’s also relatively affordable. 20k words will only set you back about $24 per month, and the cost goes down proportionally past that. It’s a great deal, and has a really. Impressive team at its back.

CaptionPlus

With over 30,000,000 installs, CaptionPlus is an increasingly popular Intstagram caption generator.

Why? For starters, it’s completely mobile. There’s no desktop version, which makes sense if you’re trying to create Instagram captions on the fly. (But not great for agencies.)

CaptionPlus also has various categories for you to choose from, such as “nature” or “quotes.” It has a deep database of content ideas already installed, so you don’t have to scrounge around for that perfect Instagram caption.

Not sure what you want to say? CaptionPlus will also help you brainstorm different caption ideas and has tools that can streamline the whole content creation process. 

And it’s not just Instagram-dependent. CaptionPlus will also help you with your Facebook, Pinterest, and Youtube captions.

Unfortunately, at this time, CaptionPlus is only available on Android devices. No word yet on whether or not it will eventually be available on IOS.

TagWag

TagWag is a simple app with a funny name. Its no frills, direct interface is appealing for people who want to write great Instagram captions in just a few clicks. 

It’s app-based (available on both iOS and Android), so once you download it, you start by uploading a picture. Look through the various hashtags and captions that it has available, and choose which ones are relevant. Select the ones you want, and you’re done.

Results for TagWag are mixed, but many find that it’s a decent hashtag generator. As long as you can avoid going down the rabbit hole to find irrelevant content, it could be a useful tool.

WriteCream

If the only price you know at this point is “free,” then WriteCream is for you.

To get started using their suite of tools (blog content, emails, and Instagram captions, among others), you just need an account. No credit card is required; you can be up and going in minutes.

Actually generating captions is extremely straightforward, as well. All you need to do is input a few details about your post and your brand name, and WriteCream will create a list of cool captions for you to choose from (check out our full Writecream review here).

Admittedly, of all the options on this list, the results from WriteCream are underwhelming, to say the least. But that doesn’t mean it can’t help you out in a pinch, or create something for you to work off of.

And again, it’s hard to beat free.

Do You Need Help With Your Instagram Captions?

Even Hemingway needed help with his writing from time to time. The most creative people on the planet aren’t just gifted with a limitless amount of inspiration, they’ve also developed tools to cultivate that knowledge (and you may be interested in these great gifts for creative people).

Copywriting is the same way. Using an Instagram caption generator isn’t cheating, it’s availing yourself of useful tools to increase the quality of your brand. While you shouldn’t rely completely on it (yet), the technology is certainly at a point where it can be a valuable help. 

And for that, we recommend going with Jasper. You'll thank us later!

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