How does YouTube SEO work? What are the steps to optimize your YouTube videos for search? The answers to these questions are simpler than you might think.

While it might seem difficult to get any exposure on YouTube, you can implement certain strategies to ensure that the YouTube algorithm favors you in the search results.

In this post, we’ll go over proven YouTube SEO tips that have worked for HubSpot’s YouTube channel and that will work for you, regardless of your channel size. Let’s get started.

How to Rank Videos on YouTube

To get videos to rank on YouTube, we must first understand the YouTube algorithm and YouTube’s ranking factors.

Just like any search engine, YouTube wants to deliver content that answers the searcher’s specific query. For instance, if someone searches for "how to tie a tie," YouTube won’t deliver a video titled "how to tie your shoelaces." Instead, it will serve search results that answer that specific query.

So, as you try your hand at YouTube SEO, think about how you can incorporate terms and phrases that are used by your target audience.

You’ll also need to think about YouTube analytics and engagement. When it ranks videos, YouTube cares about a metric called "watch time" — in other words, how long viewers stay on your video. A long watch time means that you’re delivering valuable content; a short watch time means that your content should likely not rank.

If you want your videos to rank, try to create content that’s optimized for longer watch times. You can, for instance, prompt users to stay until the end of the video by promising a surprise or a giveaway.

Is it worth optimizing videos on YouTube?

Trying to rank videos on YouTube might seem like a lost effort. Only the most well-known influencers and content creators seem to have any luck on the platform.

However, that’s not the case. As a business, you can enjoy views, comments, and likes on your videos — so long as you find the right audience for your content. In fact, finding and targeting the right audience is even more important than creating a "beautiful" video. If you’re actively solving your prospective customers’ problems with your YouTube videos, then you’ve done 90% of the YouTube optimization work.

In addition, ranking videos on YouTube is a key element of your inbound marketing strategy, even if it might not seem that way. As recently as a decade ago, inbound video marketing was a brand new idea. Marketers were learning that they couldn't just publish a high volume of content — it also had to be high-quality and optimized in ways that made it as discoverable as possible through search engines.

That content was once largely limited to the written word. Today, that's no longer the case. Instead, a comprehensive content strategy includes written work like blogs and ebooks, as well as media like podcasts, visual assets, and videos. And with the rise of other content formats comes the need to optimize them for search. One increasingly important place to do that is on YouTube.

If you’re feeling lost, don’t worry. We cover the most important YouTube SEO tips and strategy below so you can effectively optimize your content for YouTube search.

YouTube SEO combines basic SEO practices with YouTube-specific optimization techniques. If you're new to search engine optimization, check out this complete SEO guide.

YouTube Strategy

To be successful on YouTube, you'll need a clear strategy. This strategy has two parts. First, you need to understand how YouTube SEO works. Then, you'll want to use that knowledge as you choose a target audience, develop a plan for your channel, and set goals for growth.

How YouTube SEO Works

YouTube is part of Google and it uses similar search algorithms to show users the videos that best match their search queries.

This algorithm uses different elements in each video post to decide how that video will rank for specific search terms. These elements include:

• Video title
• Video description
• Metadata
• Number of views, comments, and likes
• Watch time

The algorithm also considers the past activity of the person who is searching. This helps search results feel more personalized to that user.

When combined, these signals tell the algorithm how relevant, popular, or engaging your video post is for a user's query.

Choose a Target Audience

For many content creators, audience growth starts with picking a topic, then optimizing YouTube videos. But with growth comes competition. It was once simple to create a YouTube channel for a broad topic like product reviews or tech, but today new YouTube channels need a more specific focus.

As you narrow your target audience, think about who you want to engage with your channel and why. Ask yourself:

• How much do you know about your target audience?
• Why do they spend time on YouTube?
• What other social media platforms does your audience prefer?
• What inspires their interest and loyalty?
• Are there other YouTube channels or creators that you should partner with to connect with this audience?

Develop a Plan

Creating a content plan can seem simple if your YouTube channel centers on a topic you love. But most of the time, the challenge isn't in coming up with ideas, it's about making them happen.

If you want to optimize YouTube for SEO, content planning isn't just about what videos you're making and when to post them. It's a process to figure out what resources you need to improve traffic, conversion, and engagement with your video content.

For example, you may have a great idea for a video about surfing, but where are you getting your footage? If you're not recording yourself or your local community, it may be tough to find high-quality source material for your videos.

Building professional skills or a team with expertise in editing, sound, and animation can also boost the quality of your videos. But if those resources aren't readily available to you, you may need a plan to create great videos without them.

Competitive analysis can also help with planning, whether you're figuring out the right video length or where to promote your videos on other social platforms.

This free content planning template can help you create a solid plan for your YouTube strategy.

Featured Resource: Content Planning Templates

Set Goals for Growth

YouTube offers many helpful metrics that can help you assess whether your team is meeting your strategic goals. Broad metrics can be helpful to track consistency and big shifts in performance, like algorithm changes.

But it's also a good idea to choose focused metrics that align with your goals. For example, if you want to increase your audience, track your subscriber count, impressions, and audience retention. If engagement is your goal, look at likes, comments, shares, and watch time. Driving web traffic? Add links to your video descriptions and annotations, then track those sources on your website.

Tracking the metrics that align with your goals will help you learn how you're growing your audience. You can use that knowledge to create more effective videos for your users and SEO. And that effort will help you keep growing your YouTube channel.

1. Rename your video file using a target keyword.

Just like you would when optimizing written content, you'll use an SEO tool to first identify keywords you'd like your video to focus on (you can browse popular YouTube SEO tools later in this post, or just click this link).

With a keyword identified, the first place to put it is your video file — before you even upload it to YouTube. Why? YouTube can't actually "watch" your video to see how relevant it is to your target keyword, and as you'll learn in the tips below, there are only so many places you can safely insert this keyword on your video's viewing page once it's published. But, YouTube can read your video's file name and all the code that comes with it when it's uploaded.

With that in mind, replace the "business_ad_003FINAL.mov" file name (don't be embarrassed — we've all been there during post-production) with your desired keyword. If your keyword is "house painting tips," for example, your video's file name should be "house-painting-tips" followed by your preferred video file type (MOV, MP4, and WMV are some of the most common that are compatible with YouTube).

2. Insert your keyword naturally in the video title.

When you search for videos, one of the first things that your eyes are drawn to is the title. That's often what decides whether you'll click to watch your video, so the title should not only be compelling, but also clear and concise.

Although your keyword plays a big part in your video title, it also helps if the title closely matches what the viewer is searching for.

It's a good idea to optimize your title for keywords so long as the keyword fits naturally into a title that tells viewers exactly what they're about to see.

Lastly, make sure to keep your title fairly short — HubSpot campaigns manager Alicia Collins recommends limiting it to 60 characters to help keep it from getting cut off in results pages.

3. Optimize your video description.

First things first: According to Google, the official character limit for YouTube video descriptions is 1,000 characters. And while it's okay to use all that space, remember that your viewer most likely came here to watch a video, not to read an essay.

If you do choose to write a longer description, keep in mind that YouTube only displays the first two or three lines of text — that amounts to about 100 characters. After that point, viewers have to click "show more" to see the full description. That's why we suggest front-loading the description with the most important information, like CTAs or crucial links.

As for optimizing the video itself, it’s smart to add a transcript of the video, especially for those who have to watch it without volume.

An optimized description can also help you show up in the suggested videos sidebar, which can be a great source of views.

If you need a high-performing video description, try one of these proven YouTube description templates.

Download These Templates for Free

4. Tag your video with popular keywords that relate to your topic.

YouTube suggests using tags to let viewers know what your video is about. But you're not just informing your viewers — you're also informing YouTube itself. YouTube uses tags to understand the content and context of your video.

That way, YouTube figures out how to associate your video with similar videos, which can broaden your content's reach. But choose your tags wisely. Don't use an irrelevant tag because you think it'll get you more views — in fact, Google might penalize you for that. And like your description, lead with the most important keywords, including a good mix of those that are common and more long-tail (as in, those that answer a question like "how do I?").

Use these simple instructions to add and make the most of tags in your YouTube videos.

5. Categorize your video.

Once you upload a video, you can categorize it under "Advanced settings." Choosing a category is another way to group your video with similar content on YouTube so it winds up in different playlists and gains exposure to more viewers who identify with your audience.

It might not be as simple as it looks. In fact, it's important to go through a comprehensive process to find which category each video belongs in. Answer questions like:

• Who are the top creators within the category? What are they known for and what do they do well?
• Are there any patterns between the audiences of similar channels within a given category?
• Do the videos within a similar category share qualities like production value, length, or format?

6. Upload a custom thumbnail image for your video's result link.

Your video thumbnail is the main image viewers see when scrolling through a list of video results. Along with the video's title, that thumbnail sends a signal to the viewer about the video's content, so it can impact the number of clicks and views your video receives.

While you can always pick one of the thumbnail options auto-generated by YouTube, we highly recommend uploading a custom thumbnail. YouTube recommends using images that are 1280x720 pixels — representing a 16:9 ratio — that are saved as 2MB or smaller .jpg, .gif, .bmp, or .png files. If you follow those parameters, it can help to confirm that your thumbnail appears with equally high quality across multiple viewing platforms.

It's important to note that your YouTube account has to be verified to upload a custom thumbnail image. To do that, visit youtube.com/verify and follow the instructions listed there.

7. Use an SRT File to add subtitles & closed captions.

Like much of the other text we've discussed here, subtitles and closed captions can boost YouTube search optimization by highlighting important keywords.

To add subtitles or closed captions to your video, you'll have to upload a supported text transcript or timed subtitles file. For the former, you can also directly enter transcript text for a video so that it auto-syncs with the video.

Adding subtitles follows a similar process, but you can limit the amount of text you want displayed. For either, head to your video manager then click on "Videos" under "Video Manager." Find the video you want to add subtitles or closed captioning to, and click the drop-down arrow next to the edit button. Then, choose "Subtitles/CC." You can then choose how you'd like to add subtitles or closed captioning.

Find out how to add closed captions to your YouTube video in the video below.

8. Add Cards and End Screens to increase your YouTube channel's viewership.

Cards

When you're watching a video, have you ever seen a small white, circular icon with an "i" in the center appear in the corner, or a translucent bar of text asking you to subscribe? Those are Cards, which YouTube describes as "preformatted notifications that appear on desktop and mobile which you can set up to promote your brand and other videos on your channel."

Image Source

You can add up to five cards to a single video, and there are six types:

1. Channel cards that direct viewers to another channel.
2. Donation cards to encourage fundraising on behalf of U.S. nonprofit organizations.
3. Fan funding to ask your viewers to help support the creation of your video content.
4. Link cards, which direct viewers to an external site, approved crowdfunding platform, or an approved merchandise selling platform.
5. Poll cards, which pose a question to viewers and allow them to vote for a response.
6. Video or playlist cards, which link to other YouTube content of this kind.

For detailed steps on adding a card to your video, follow these official steps from Google, or check out the video below.

End Screens

End screens display similar information as cards, but as you may have guessed, they don't display until a video is over and are a bit more visually detailed in nature. A good example is the overlay with a book image and a visual link to view more on the video below:

Image Source

There are a number of detailed instructions for adding end screens depending on what kind of platform you want to design them for, as well as different types of content allowed for them by YouTube. Google outlines the details for how to optimize for those considerations here.

It's important to note that YouTube is always testing end screens to try to optimize the viewer experience, so there are times when "your end screen, as designated by you, may not appear." Take these factors into account as you decide between using either cards or end screens.

These factors may seem a bit complicated and time-consuming, but remember: The time people spend watching YouTube on their TV has more than doubled year over year. There's an audience to be discovered there, and when you optimize for YouTube, your chances of being discovered increase.

9. Add hashtags to increase reach.

Hashtags are a part of the YouTube user interface that allow you to add related terms to your content, just as you would on LinkedIn or Instagram. Hashtags show up right above your video title for easy clicking and discoverability. You can use your company name, as HubSpot does below, or include related keywords.

We also recommend using hashtags in your YouTube description, but don’t go overboard; the YouTube algorithm constantly checks for spam. Overly hashtagging may get you inadvertently flagged. Instead of using every hashtag you can think of, choose 2-3 that you feel most accurately describe your video.

10. Create a playlist about your video’s general topic.

As you add more and more videos to your content library, group them in keyword-optimized playlists. This won’t only signal to YouTube what your videos are about, but it will also keep viewers clicking from video to video, increasing your view count and, by extension, your rankings.

For example, Yoga with Kassandra grouped all of its short yoga classes in a playlist titled "5-15 min Yoga Classes." Not only is the title short and descriptive, but the playlist description includes related keywords such as "10 minute yoga classes," "10 minute morning yoga stretches," and "bedtime yoga classes."

11. Experiment with video length.

The more time viewers spend watching videos on your channel, the better it is for your SEO. But not every person on YouTube will stick around for 10 minutes or more.

For example, over 70% of watch time on YouTube happens on mobile devices. While some people can watch an hour-long video on a small screen, this figure shows how important it is to know your audience.

To find the right watch time for your audience, try creating videos of varying lengths. Then, do a quick analysis of the watch time, average view duration, and audience retention for each video and adjust your strategy.

12. Use YouTube's autocomplete feature.

This feature makes it simple to find the most popular search terms for your video topic. Just start typing a keyword phrase and see what other keywords and phrases come up. Then, add the most relevant terms to your title, descriptions, and tags.

You can also use this tool to discover top YouTube trends or to figure out which keywords your competitors are targeting. These insights can help you pivot your YouTube SEO strategy for better results.

Check out this post for more useful YouTube features.

13. Try timestamps.

Timestamps mark different sections of your videos. They make it easy for your audience to find the content they're looking for within each video.

Adding a timestamp can improve retention and user experience because it sets expectations. Timestamps give watchers an easy way to jump to what they want to see in a video or a reason to wait for that section to appear on-screen.

Timestamps also improve SEO because they make it easier for YouTube's algorithm to understand your video content. This helps your video appear for search terms within your video, not just the overall theme of your video.

For example, if your video is about baking a cake, your video might include sections on baking equipment or cake trends like geode cakes. If you add timestamps to mark these sections, a user might not find your video when searching for "how to make a cake" because of competition for this keyword, but they could find it searching for "how to make a geode cake."

You can manually add a timestamp or add and edit automatic video chapters with YouTube Studio.

14. Add a call-to-action (CTA) in your video and video description.

Calls-to-action are a powerful way to foster engagement. A CTA that offers value not only encourages likes, subscribes, and shares, it can also improve viewer engagement metrics. This can boost your video's visibility in search results and suggested video features.

For maximum effectiveness, vary your CTAs. On one video you might do a verbal CTA asking viewers to like, subscribe, or share. For another video, ask your audience to bookmark your video or click shared links in your description.

You'll also want to ask your viewers to share comments and feedback. These actions aren't just valuable for user experience. They also give signals to YouTube that your video is engaging and offering value to your viewers. Check out these call-to-action examples for inspiration.

15. Review YouTube search analytics.

While analytics are useful for tracking progress toward your goals, you can also actively use this data to improve your YouTube SEO.

Say you're trying to figure out why traffic suddenly jumped up for one of your videos. It might be that your video is ranking for a popular keyword. Or a popular website recently added your video.

You can dig into the video-specific data and see why that jump happened. Then you can figure out how to optimize other videos with the same tactics.

YouTube analytics can also help you anticipate keywords that are increasing in popularity. Optimizing your videos for those keywords early on gives you a better chance of ranking higher in those search results.

Finally, your analytics can help you better understand your audience. It's not unusual to start a YouTube channel with an intended audience and then see those demographics shift over time. Analyzing the age, location, and interests of your real-time audience can help you make smart changes.

16. Optional: Leave a pinned comment on your own video.

Leaving a comment on your video might seem over the top, but it’s a smart strategy. Not only do more comments improve your video’s rankability, but they can generate high levels of audience engagement. A pinned comment may result in hundreds of replies, like it did for Matt D’Avelia below:

Be sure to leave an engaging comment that furthers the conversation or offers more value for readers. Here at HubSpot, for example, we leave a resource pinned so that viewers can further their knowledge on the topic. Check out this post for more on YouTube comment management.

1. Choose a target keyword for your video. This can be a topic, a question, or a highly specific query. If you’re not sure of the right target keyword, use a keyword research tool, or simply explore YouTube’s existing content library for inspiration.

2. Include the target keyword in the file name. Don’t use spaces between each word, but rather dashes (-) or underscores (_).

3. Include the target keyword in the title. Next up, work the target keyword into the title of your video, but be creative, and be sure to do it naturally. You don’t want the title to simply be "[keyword]." The title is the first thing users will see, so try to create intrigue and interest while promising to help the viewer in some way.

4. Include the keyword, as well as keyword variations, in the video description. The video description is the lifeblood of your YouTube SEO strategy. Write a natural description with 1-2 mentions of your target keyword, as well as variations of this keyword.

5. Add related tags to your video. While most users don’t use tags to find videos, they can help the YouTube algorithm categorize your video and serve it to the appropriate audience. Add around 5-8 industry tags, being sure to not overdo it so that you’re not flagged as spam.

6. Add your video category. While not as specific as tags, categories help users find your video and help the YouTube algorithm understand what your video is about. Categories come into play on the home page, the explore page, and the sidebar menu.

7. Upload a custom video thumbnail. Create a thumbnail that includes either a variation of your keyword or a short phrase that could generate clicks (like "1,000 organic followers, fast!"). As mentioned, you’ll need to verify your YouTube channel to get access to custom thumbnail uploads.

8. Add subtitles and closed captions. Subtitles and closed captions are a much-needed accessibility component of your videos. They also indirectly help you optimize for YouTube search by giving YouTube a text version of your video content.

9. Add cards and end screens that tie into the topic of your video. Cards are equivalent to internal and external linking, and end screens allow you to engage viewers during those critical last few seconds when a viewer might be tempted to click to another piece of content.

10. Add hashtags to your video. Hashtags are different from tags. They show up above your video title and help you increase reach and authority by further signaling what your video is about.

11. Create a playlist about your overarching topic. One of the best ways to optimize YouTube videos is to create playlists. Finding a few related videos and putting them in a playlist will not only attract more viewers, but it will also help the YouTube algorithm understand how your video relates to others in your upload library.

12. Optional: Leave a pinned comment to generate engagement or provide more value. As a brand, you can and should comment on your own videos — not only for replies to your commenters, but to offer more value to readers.

Now, most of the SEO tips above rely on you finding a keyword and promoting your video correctly. And not all of those tips can be carried out through YouTube alone. To get the most bang for your videography buck, consider some of the tools below to optimize your video for search.

1. HubSpot SEO Marketing Software

Our SEO marketing software, developed here at HubSpot, allows you to find popular keywords for creating content and organizing keywords into groupings — what we call "topic clusters." By sorting your content into topic clusters, you can oversee which pieces of content are related to one another, which types of content you have planned, and what you've already created.

While the keywords you discover in HubSpot reflect their popularity in a standard Google search, many of these topics will also produce videos on Google's search engine results pages. In those cases, you can create topic clusters that have both blog and YouTube content belonging to them.

Clustering your content — and linking from videos to blog posts, and vice-versa — can give you more authority in the eyes of Google and YouTube, while giving you more ways to capture traffic from the people searching your topic.

Pro tip: HubSpot integrates with YouTube for useful dashboards and performance tracking.

2. Ahrefs Keywords Explorer

Ahrefs is a comprehensive SEO platform that allows you to monitor a website's ranking, estimate the organic traffic you'd get from each keyword, and research keywords for which you might want to create new content.

One popular feature of Ahrefs is Keywords Explorer, which allows you to look up details related to a keyword you're interested in. And as you can see in the screenshot above, you can filter your keyword results by search engine — including YouTube.

Ahrefs Keywords Explorer gives you a keyword's monthly search volume, how many clicks for videos ranking for that keyword, related keywords, and more.

3. Canva

You might know Canva as a design template for creating all kinds of cards, photos, logos, and more. It just so happens this popular product has a Thumbnail Creator just for YouTube videos.

As stated in the tips above, thumbnail images are critical to promoting your content in YouTube search results and enticing users to click on your video. Using Canva's Thumbnail Creator, you can create the perfect preview image for your video in 1280 x 720 pixels — the thumbnail dimensions YouTube requires.

4. vidIQ Vision

This is a Chrome extension, available through Chrome's web store in the link above, that helps you analyze how and why certain YouTube videos perform so well. This includes the tags a video has been optimized for, its average watch time, and even how quickly that video might be gaining traffic.

The vidIQ tool then gives an SEO "score" you can use to create content that performs (or outperforms) the results you already see on YouTube.

5. TubeBuddy

TubeBuddy is an all-in-one video platform that helps you manage the production, optimization, and promotion of your YouTube content. Its features include an automatic language translator (which helps you rank for non-English keywords), a keyword explorer, tag suggestions, a rank tracker for your published videos, and more.

6. Cyfe

Cyfe is a large software suite that offers, among other things, a YouTube analytics platform. On this platform, you can track performance on YouTube and on your site.

In addition to traffic analytics, Cyfe can show you which keywords you're ranking for and which ones are most popular across various search engines. Sounds a lot like Google Analytics or Moz, right? That's because Cyfe has data from both of those tools, and more, built into it.

Start Optimizing YouTube Videos

Video marketing is crucial for businesses and creators. No matter what SEO tip or tool you start with, a successful YouTube channel begins with good content. Make sure your viewers have something high-quality and relevant to watch when they find you.

Optimizing your YouTube videos can help attract more views and build community — and lead to more conversions and sales. So, start today and watch your YouTube channel grow.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in March 2013 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

source https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/youtube-seo

Whether you’re working for a small agency or a major marketing firm, you’re probably eventually going to need to fill out a Request for Proposal, or RFP.

Your company can’t do everything internally, and when your business needs to purchase a product or service from elsewhere, you might need to shop around. An RFP allows you to collect offers from various vendors and select the vendor that best meets your criteria, both in regards to skill and budget.

Any time you outsource work to a supplier, there's a potential for issues such as miscommunication around the scope of the work and the compensation. What a good RFP does is eliminate gray areas so that both parties understand what needs to be delivered, when, and for how much.

RFP Template

Here, we’ve provided an RFP template you can follow for initial structure, as well as a sample RFP for further inspiration. But it isn’t one-size-fits-all — you’ll need to tailor your RFP to best articulate your company’s needs.

Download a free, editable RFP template.

Not that you’ve seen the template, how do you actually write an RFP? We’ve got you covered.

1. Define your project, scope, and budget.

Before issuing your RFP, take the time to define the project you’re looking to complete, its scope, and how much you can afford to spend. This information provides the framework for your RFP and helps ensure that it strikes a balance between too general and overly detailed. Not only that, but it will help potential vendors understand your priorities and tailor their proposals accordingly.

In this step, try to provide a clear and concise description. Avoid using overly technical language or industry jargon that could be confusing to potential vendors. The difference is subtle, but can make a world of a difference in helping you receive better-fit proposals. Here’s an example:

• Good: "Our company is seeking a CRM system that integrates with our existing marketing automation software and provides real-time reporting. The solution should be easy to use and scalable to accommodate our growing customer base. Our budget for this project is $50,000."
• Not-so-good: "Our company wants to implement a customer relationship management (CRM) system that integrates with our existing marketing automation software and provides real-time reporting capabilities for our sales team to understand customer data more quickly and efficiently. The solution should be scalable and flexible to accommodate our growing customer base, and it should be easy to use for non-technical team members."

You can see how the good version provides a clear and concise description of the services needed, budget, and key requirements, while avoiding overly technical language and jargon that could be confusing. This makes it easier for vendors to understand what is required and craft a proposal that meets your needs.

2. Provide background and introductory information.

With budget and scope in hand, you can start crafting your RFP. While it’s tempting to dive right into the details, it’s a good idea to provide some background and introductory data about your company. This helps set the stage for potential partners by giving them a sense of your current market, business goals, and current challenges.

Here are three tips for adding background and introductory information to your RFP:

• Provide a company overview: Start the RFP by providing a high-level overview of your company, including your history, mission, vision, and current market position. This information helps vendors understand more about your business goals and provides context for the project. Vendors can use this information to tailor their proposals to your organization's values and objectives.
• Highlight current challenges and opportunities: We cover this in detail later, but it bears repeating: List the current challenges you’re facing, along with opportunities you’d like to capitalize on. This information helps vendors understand specific areas of need and provide new or better options for you.
• Provide contact information: Be sure to provide an email address and phone number that vendors can use to submit questions about your RFP.

By providing an overview of your company's history, highlighting current challenges and opportunities, and providing clear contact information, you can help prospective vendors craft a tailored proposal that aligns with your organization's goals.

3. Describe the services you’re looking for.

Now it’s time to get specific about the services you’re looking for to help achieve your goals. For example, if you’re building a website, you might look for a company with both front-end and back-end development experience. If you’re creating a mobile app, highlight the need for specific skills in that area, such as expertise in responsive design and building applications for multiple mobile platforms.

You can take various approaches when describing the services you’re seeking in an RFP, but we always recommend incorporating bullet points or breaking up your information so that it’s easy for vendors to scan. Here are two examples.

RFP for Content Marketing Services: Our company is looking for an agency to develop a unique content marketing strategy tailored specifically to our consumer base. The goal of this project is to attract and engage new customers while retaining current ones. Our ideal vendor:

• Has experience in creating content in various formats such as blog posts, social media, infographics, and videos
• Has experience in SEO optimization, keyword research, and content distribution
• Can leverage data and analytics to improve content performance

RFP for Video Production Services: Our brand’s content team is looking for a video production company to produce a series of videos for our YouTube channel. Our goal is to build brand awareness, drive web traffic, and increase our YouTube marketing ROI. The ideal vendor:

• Has experience in producing high-quality videos across various formats such as live-action, animation, screencast, whiteboard, and educational video
• Can provide a highly responsive, collaborative, and transparent communication process
• Has a clear process from ideation, production, revision, and final delivery

4. Explain any challenges or barriers to success for the project.

During the bidding process, it is crucial to be transparent about your project’s potential barriers to success. By doing so, you give potential partners and vendors the opportunity to offer solutions to these challenges.

Otherwise, partners or vendors may not fully understand the scope of the project and any potential difficulties that may arise. This lack of knowledge could lead to delayed timelines, increased costs, or ultimately, project failure.

Additionally, withholding the barriers to success could result in a lack of trust between your company and the vendor team. This may lead to misaligned expectations and misunderstandings. But by being transparent about the potential barriers to success, you can increase the likelihood of finding the right vendor and completing the project successfully.

5. Detail your selection criteria.

Next up are the selection criteria. Here, you can highlight which skills, services, and market expertise are required for consideration. This is the time to get specific: Clear descriptions of selection criteria will help reduce the risk of sorting through multiple proposals that don’t meet your needs.This will help you make an informed decision when selecting the best vendor for the project.

Specifying the selection criteria early on in the process improves transparency. If vendors don’t meet the criteria, they won’t submit a proposal, or they can optimize their proposals to meet your needs. This eliminates ambiguity, confusion, and frustration on both sides, and avoids unnecessary back and forth.

Plus, evaluating vendors against the selection criteria also ensures that the project is awarded based on objective judgment rather than on subjective opinion.

Some examples of selection criteria that you can specify in an RFP are:

• Experience: The vendor should have extensive experience in delivering projects similar to the one described in your RFP.
• Qualifications: The vendor should be able to demonstrate their expertise in the relevant technology, software, or methodology required to complete your project.
• Cost: The vendor should provide detailed pricing and be able to demonstrate how their proposal fits within your budget.
• References: The vendor should provide references from past clients who have used their services for similar projects.
• Methodology: The vendor should outline their approach to managing your project, including project management processes, resources management, and project delivery timelines.
• Availability: The vendor should provide details of their capacity to take on the project, the availability of their resources, and an expected delivery timeline.
• Team Profiles: The vendor should include detailed profiles of the members of the team assigned to deliver the project, highlighting their experience in relevant areas and their qualifications.
• Technical compatibility: The vendor should be able to ensure compatibility with other technologies or systems used by your organization, such as other software solutions or APIs.

6. Specify your project’s timeline.

It’s also important to be up-front about your timelines. Give potential partners an end date for RFP submission, a date for final selection, and a clear start-to-finish project timeline so companies making a proposal can fine-tune their bid. This will also help you narrow down the pool of potential vendors and ensure that the project is completed on time.

A timeline benefits everyone throughout the bidding process. With a timeline in place, vendors receive clear guidance on when your project must be completed and can plan their resources accordingly, ensuring timely delivery. The vendor can also communicate the necessary deadlines to their team, minimizing the risk of delays and ensuring that your project is delivered successfully.

Here’re an example of what a timeline can look like, but remember that it will vary depending on your RFP’s format, as well as your target vendors’ industries:

“The marketing department at HubSpot is looking to hire a digital marketing agency to help with a new advertising campaign. Proposals must be submitted by August 1st and the campaign launch must occur no later than September 15th, in time for the back-to-school season.”

7. Proofread your RFP and go live.

Last but never least? Proofread your RFP — then proofread it again. Why? Because even small mistakes could derail project timelines. Consider a zero missing in your budget details, or a miscommunication about the dates that proposals are due and selections are made; both could force a restart of the entire RFP process and waste precious time.

Remember that your goal is to invite as many proposals as possible, and to make it simple for vendors to respond. An accidental typo, such as a project name that you forgot to replace or incorrect contact information, can make it that much harder to increase your response rate.

Once you’re satisfied that everything on your RFP is accurate and complete, it’s time to go live. Send out emails and post links on your site to start the process of finding your best-fit provider. To streamline this process, consider proposal software to publish and manage responses to your RFP.

Now that you understand the basics of writing an RFP, you can build your own template and then fill it out so that you can start accepting bids. We'll use a fictitious company, Caroline's Websites, Inc., to illustrate exactly how each section should be executed.

RFP Sample

Project Name or Description: Marketing Services

Company Name: Caroline’s Websites, Inc.

Address: 302 Inbound Ave.

City, State, Zip Code: Boston, MA 29814

Procurement Contact Person: Caroline Forsey

Telephone Number of PCP: 227-124-2481

Email Address of PCP: cforsey@consulting.com

Fax Number: N/A

Next, we'll go into each of the elements of the RFP with information using the same fictitious company.

1. Write your background and introduction.

In your introductory paragraph, you’ll want to include useful background information about your company — who founded it, what product or service your company offers, what sets you apart from competitors, and where you’re located. If any vendor is serious about working with you, they’ll want this information before moving forward.

Example

Caroline’s Websites, Inc. is a web design firm created by Caroline Forsey in 2010. Caroline’s Websites, Inc. prides itself on a team-oriented, solutions-based approach to web design. We provide our clients with web design services including coding, development, and branding. Our staff is located in two offices in Massachusetts.

2. Define your project goals and scope of services.

Next, you’ll want to outline the project you need completed, and the goals you expect to accomplish from the project. It’s important you get as specific as possible — even outlining individual tasks and criteria involved. You’ll want to include phrases such as “The award will be given to X firm,” with the “X” establishing how you’ll determine the best candidate.

Example

Caroline’s Websites, Inc. is seeking the services of a full-service communications and marketing firm to develop and execute a comprehensive integrated marketing plan that increases our SEO presence; attracts more social media followers; and effectively completes a lead generation campaign. The award will be made to a responsive and responsible firm based on the best value and professional capability.

The selected firm will be responsible for the development and implementation of a comprehensive and cost-effective marketing plan.

Tasks include but may not be limited to the following criteria:

• Lead generation campaign
• Paid media strategy
• Production of creative material including collateral and direct mail
• Online marketing campaign
• Website enhancement
• Search engine optimization
• General account management
• Other communications and/or marketing-related assistance as required

3. Detail your anticipated selection schedule.

It’s crucial you include a detailed schedule so vendors know if they can meet your deadlines. You’ll also need to give vendors a window for when they can ask questions regarding your project.

Example

The Request for Proposal timeline is as follows:

Request for RFP: June 1, 20XX

Deadline for Bidders to Submit Questions: July 5, 20XX

[Company Name] Responds to Bidder Questions: July 20, 20XX

Selection of Top Bidders / Notification to Unsuccessful Bidders: July 31, 20XX

Start of Negotiation: August 5, 20XX

Contract Award / Notification to Unsuccessful Bidders: August 31, 20XX

4. Describe the time and place for the submission of proposals.

Similar to paragraph #3, this is important information you’ll want to clearly present, so vendors know how and where to submit themselves for consideration.

Example

The RFP will be posted on our website, Carolinewebsites.com, and can be downloaded from there directly as of 10 a.m. on June 1, 20XX.

Respondents to this RFP must submit one original and five copies of their proposal. Responses must be received no later than July 25, 20XX. Responses should be clearly marked “RFP-MarketingServices” and mailed or delivered to the contact person listed above.

5. Clearly define your timeline.

By including a time frame in your RFP, you’re able to eliminate any vendor who can’t work within your time constraints. If you’re flexible on your time, you can write something like, “Our company hopes to finish the project within six months, but we’re open to negotiation for the right candidate.”

Example

Caroline’s Websites, Inc. needs the project completed within 8 months.

6. Specify the key elements of a proposal.

If you don’t outline clearly and specifically what you expect bidders to include in their proposal, you can’t necessarily fault them if they don’t include it. It’s critical you outline a checklist so vendors know which elements you’re expecting to receive. It’s also a good test for who’s capable of handling your demands — if a vendor can’t complete all elements of your proposal, you probably can’t trust them to finish your project, either.

Example

A submission must, at a minimum, include the following elements:

• Description of the firm that includes a general overview, names and credentials of creative team, number of full-time employees.
• A one-page narrative outlining the firm’s strengths and distinguishing skills or capabilities as they might relate to Caroline’s Websites, Inc.
• A representative selection of social media ads, direct response material, collateral, and website development created for current and past clients.

7. Make your evaluation criteria clear.

Outlining your expectations will help eliminate vendors who don’t meet them. For this section, you’ll want to do some brainstorming with your team to come up with a mandatory list of items you feel are the best indicators of impressive candidates. Your list could include samples of past work, a proven success record with companies in similar industries, the expertise and technical skills to meet your demands, and a cost of services within your price range.

Example

The successful respondent will have:

• Experience working as a marketing agency for a minimum of 24 months and possess full-service, in-house capabilities for marketing, creative services, production, media planning and placement, direct response, and research.
• The education, experience, knowledge, skills, and qualifications of the firm and the individuals who will be available to provide these services.
• The competitive cost of services.
• The expertise of the firm in working with similar customers.

8. Describe any possible roadblocks.

Here, you’ll want to outline any roadblocks, such as limited resources or a custom website, that might prevent certain vendors from successfully completing the project. This allows you to eliminate unsatisfactory bidders, and it will also help you determine which vendors have the skills and expertise to tackle those challenges.

Example

At this time, Caroline’s Websites, Inc. currently has custom coding on our website, of which bidders should be aware.

9. State your budget for the project.

Any vendor needs to know how much you’re able to pay them for their services before they’ll move forward with their bid.

Example

Caroline’s Websites, Inc.’s budget for the project is $8,750.00.

These elements were written in a way to clarify the scope of the project that Caroline's Websites, Inc. wants completed so that suppliers know whether or not to make a bid. Defining the project allows the bidder to determine if they're a good fit and how much they'd likely charge. Being as transparent as possible serves to benefit (and even protect) both parties in the long run.

Tips for Writing an RFP

There are several key actions that you can take to increase the likelihood of a vendor responding to your RFP. At the same time, certain factors can cause a vendor to be less likely to respond.

Here are some tips to help you optimize your RFPs to achieve a high response rate from vendors.

1. Provide open lines of communication.

If you establish open communication lines with vendors during the bidding process, you’re more likely to see a higher response rate. Why? Providing access to a point of contact — or establishing a schedule for conference calls or in-person meetings — can show that your company is invested in the vendor response process.

We also recommend purposefully asking your prospective vendors to seek clarification. Encourage them to ask questions about the RFP and the project itself. The more they understand your needs, the better their proposals will be, and the easier it will be for you to make an informed decision.

2. Don’t skimp on project details, but keep it brief and scannable.

Vendors are less likely to respond to RFPs if the project details are insufficient or unclear. If you don’t provide detailed instructions and requirements for your project, vendors may interpret the project scope differently, causing them to submit proposals that do not specifically address your needs.

Conversely, vendors are more likely to respond to RFPs that provide well-defined project goals and timelines, because that allows them to better evaluate their abilities and provide informed proposals.

That said, you want to keep your information as scannable as possible. Take advantage of formatting options such as bullet points and headings. A vendor is likely flipping through many RFPs in a day, so you want them to get the information they need after a brief scan of your document.

3. Establish a competitive budget and ample deadline.

Vendors are more likely to be interested in responding to your RFP if they feel that their pricing is competitive, and if they feel that your deadline and timeline is reasonable for the project’s specifications.

On the other hand, vendors may be hesitant to send you a proposal if there is a short deadline, or if the timeline is particularly compressed. This could indicate that your company is not allowing enough time for vendors to conduct research and submit accurate proposals.

4. Research your target vendor’s industry and marketplace.

Have you ever bought a piece of software that you know nothing about? Us, either, and we wouldn’t recommend you do the same when considering submitted proposals to your RFPs.

Researching the vendor marketplace beforehand can help you develop more realistic budgets, timelines, and goals. You can create highly specific selection criteria and better identify which vendors will most likely meet your budget and time constraints. 

With insufficient knowledge about the market, you could accidentally underestimate the resources required for your project, or set unrealistic timelines and expectations. This miscommunication can misguide vendors, leading them to either submit a proposal that is not a good fit or entirely opt out of bidding.

As the name makes clear, RFIs are about collecting information. They’re used by companies to get a sense of what solutions are on the market and how the companies that offer these solutions could help solve a key problem or complete a key task. RFIs ask companies to submit data about what they do, what they offer, and how they can help achieve specific goals.

RFPs, meanwhile, follow RFIs. Using the information obtained from RFIs, companies build RFPs that detail exactly what they’re looking for, how much they’re planning to spend, and how vendors will be selected. In effect, RFIs help narrow the scope of RFPs to help streamline the selection process.

Worth noting? There’s also another option if you know exactly what product or service you’re looking for: Request for quote (RFQ). Unlike an RFP, which asks potential partners to submit a proposal based on their expertise and experience, an RFQ is about cost: You’re asking a specific vendor what it would cost to deliver “X” service or solution in “Y” timeframe under “Z” conditions.

Realizing Best Results for Your RFP

Your RFP sets the stage for companies to bid on projects that are outside the scope of your internal expertise — but are still critical for your business to succeed.

As a result, it’s worth making sure your RFP is clear, concise, and captures the key details about your needs to help find the best-fit partner for your project. Not sure where to start? Grab a copy of HubSpot’s free RFP template, follow the steps above, and get your projects underway.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in June 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

source https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/rfp-template

Finding a good Instagram caption is a challenge, especially if you run the Instagram profile of a business. Why? Because if you want to build a consistent brand on Instagram, it’s important to maintain a distinctive voice on every post, video, or reel. That’s harder than it sounds.

If you’re tired of writing captions from scratch, there’s no need to keep searching. We’ve compiled the best Instagram captions for every type of brand and for every type of post.

Whether you want to sound cool, make a funny quip, or come across as cute, you can incorporate many of these captions into an Instagram business strategy. Just make sure your audience would find your caption funny, clever, or the right amount of sassy.

Click one of the following links to jump through some of our best IG captions:

• Instagram Captions for Business
• Personal Instagram Captions

Next time you're contemplating a witty line of text to go with your Instagram photo, take a look at our complete list of captions that suit any mood or occasion you’ll be sharing with the world. You can also customize these captions to make them perfect for your feed. First, we recommend saving some time by downloading our kit of additional IG caption examples, which you can use to inspire your caption creation process.

Instagram Captions for Business

Your Instagram business account is one of the best places to showcase your brand personality while still delivering business updates in an engaging way. You can use the captions below for most social media content ideas, but feel free to customize them depending on your specific post.

Skip to the list of Instagram captions you’re most interested in:

• Business Instagram Captions
• Small Business Captions
• Coming Soon Captions for Instagram
• Catchy Instagram Captions for Business
• Business Meeting Captions for Instagram
• Quote Instagram Captions

Business Instagram Captions

If you’re running a business account, you should use your captioning to humanize your business more than your average paid ad.

Your business Instagram captions are an opportunity to give your brand some personality while getting the word out about your product or service offering. Here are some of our go-to captions that prospects and customers will love.

Image Source

1. Good evening, [city]! We're in town for [event] at Booth [#]. Stop by and say hi!

2. "If you're offered a seat on a rocket ship, don't ask what seat. Just get on." -Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook

3. Our [#]-person squad completed the [road race name]! And we did it all for the post-run sneaker selfie. 👟

4. We got product in the pipeline ... check back for an exciting announcement on [date]!

5. Diversity isn't a recruitment metric — it's an ingredient for success. At [company], we thrive on the unique backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives of our people.

6. Spot the CEO. 😉

7. Keep going.

8. At [company name], our best asset is our people.

9. We had a great time with our customers at [meeting/event]! @[client/partner], you guys rock.

10. Thrilled to have [customer] at our office today! Come back any time. 😊

11. [Company name] is off for [holiday]! We hope you all have a safe long weekend.

12. Big things have small beginnings. [Company]'s HQ began right here.

13. "It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation." -Herman Melville

14. How many [company name] employees does it take to spell "TEAM"?

15. Want to work with these awesome people, working on a lot of awesome things? We're hiring! Click the link in our bio to see our current openings.

16. Check, check, one, two ... is this thing on? [Company name] is now on Instagram! Follow us to learn about our culture, product, and (awesome) people.

17. Tired of [customer pain point]? We’ve got good news. Click the link in our bio to learn about [product]’s latest feature.

18. [Company] presents our latest product — made with love just for you. ❤️ Link in bio to learn more.

19. Stop wasting time with [customer pain point]. Our [product] will help you achieve [X] more efficiently — just ask our current customers. Check out our latest case study here: [Link]

20. Handmade in [location] and delivered to your door. That’s the [Company] promise.

21. When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. When [company name] gives you [type of product], you make money.

Small Business Captions

Running a small business? You can use a friendlier, more personable tone in your Instagram posts, emphasizing your products’ better quality and advertising the benefits of purchasing from local or small businesses. We love the captions below for businesses that focus on handmade or locally sourced products.

1. "Made with love and care in [city]. Order yours online.”

2. "Every order and customer means the world to us — thank you for your support!"

3. "The best things start small and simple. Learn about our process at the link in bio.”

4. “We put our heart and soul into every product we create, and we hope you can taste the difference."

5. "Join our revolution — we promise it's worth the buzz."

6. "Shop small, save big."

7. "Passion fuels our business, creativity drives our journey."

8. "Small business, big heart."

9. "From our small business to your doorstep, delivered with ♥.”

10. "Handcrafted perfection."

11. "Shop small, support your local economy."

12. "Shop local, feel good.”

13. "Quality > quantity.”

14. "Treat yourself with a [product/service] made just for you.”

15. "Create connections and spread joy. Come in today to experience the [business name] difference.”

Coming Soon Captions for Instagram

If you have something new coming down the line, why not generate some buzz with a series of Instagram posts? Here are some captions to get the conversation going and increase anticipation for new products, releases, or business expansions.

1. "Mark your calendars. Something amazing is coming your way on [date]."

2. "The countdown is on.”

3. "Stay tuned for something special.”

4. "Join us on our mission to make a difference starting from [date].”

5. "You won't want to miss this. We partnered with [company] to bring you the latest in [industry].”

6. "Get ready to meet our latest creation.”

7. "The wait is almost over. Launching on [date].”

8. "We've got something incredible in the works, and we can’t wait to share more with you.”

9. "No need for binoculars. Something big is on the horizon.”

10."We're brewing up something exciting, and we can't wait for you to be a part of it."

11. “Something special is in the works — can you guess what it is?”

12. "We've been keeping a little secret from you… Stay tuned.”

13. "A new adventure is about to begin. New [city] location opening on [date].”

14. “Keep your eyes peeled for our big announcement on [date].”

15. "Can't wait to share our latest project with you. Sign up on our website for updates.”

Catchy Instagram Captions for Business

Showcase your brand personality a little more with a catchy caption or saying. A catchy caption can convey your brand ethos, your entrepreneurial spirit, or your company values. The below options can effectively be used for business updates or news.

1. "We’re here to make a difference, not just a profit."

2. "No matter how small, every success counts."

3. "Good things come to those who hustle."

4. "Expect the unexpected.”

5. "Small business, big heart."

6. "Keeping it simple with our latest launch."

7. "Service is not just a transaction, it's an experience."

8. "It's never too late to start — just do it."

9. "Believe in your dreams, and the rest will fall into place."

10. "Make waves in your business, or get lost in the sea of competition."

11. "Whatever you do, do it with all your heart."

12. "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it's the courage to continue that counts."

13. "Creating experiences, one [product] at a time.”

14. "Small things can make a big difference in a business."

15. "Find your happy place here.”

Business Meeting Captions for Instagram

Feel like a business meeting isn’t Instagram-worthy? Think again. Not only can posting about your meeting show your company culture, but it can also show your followers that you’re hard at work trying to make better products and services for them. Here are a few of our favorite business meeting captions that you can customize.

1. "Generating our next big idea with the brightest minds we know. P.S. We’re hiring!”

2. "When we come together, we achieve great things."

3. "Collaboration is the key to success."

4. "The only way to do great work is to love what you do."

5. "Meetings that matter, for a purpose that counts."

6. "In the right company, your ideas will flourish."

7. "Everything is possible when you have the right people in the room."

8. "There's no substitute for hard work and determination."

9. "When passion meets purpose, great things happen."

10. "We believe there are no bad ideas. We love facing challenges head-on.”

11. "The best ideas come to life in a room full of great minds."

12. "Surround yourself with positive people who lift you higher."

13. "We may have different perspectives, but we're working towards a common goal."

14. "Even a ten-minute business meeting can be the key to unlocking limitless possibilities."

15. "We work hard, we play hard, and we achieve great things together."

Quote Instagram Captions

If you can’t find the words yourself, there’s a quote out there to help you convey that idea.

Using quotes for your Instagram caption is a great way to evoke and share your emotions. Quotes can propel people to think more open-mindedly, and optimistically — or even motivate them to do something great. Below is a list of some of our favorites.

1. “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” -Nelson Mandela

2. "Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else." -Margaret Mead

3. “You change the world by being yourself.” -Yoko Ono

4. "In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." -Abraham Lincoln

5. "What I know for sure is that speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we all have." - Oprah Winfrey

6. "The purpose of our lives is to be happy." -Dalai Lama

7. "You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough." -Mae West

8. "Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

9. "I would rather die of passion than of boredom." -Vincent van Gogh

10. “Success isn’t about the end result, it’s about what you learn along the way.” -Vera Wang

11. "It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop." -Confucius

12. "Everything you've ever wanted is on the other side of fear." -George Addair

13. "You become what you believe." -Oprah Winfrey

14. "Believe you can and you're halfway there." -Theodore Roosevelt

15. “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing." -Walt Disney

16. "Love the life you live. Live the life you love." -Bob Marley

17. "My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style." -Maya Angelou

18. "Embrace what makes you unique, even if it makes others uncomfortable.” - Janelle Monae

19. “Success is a collection of problems solved.” - I.M. Pei

20. “To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.” -Thich Nhat Hanh

21. “In a gentle way, you can shake the world.” -Gandhi

22. “I dream. Sometimes I think that’s the only right thing to do.” -Haruki Murakami

23. “We become what we think about.” -Earl Nightingale

24. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” -Winston Churchill

25. “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” -C.S. Lewis

26. “If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the present.” -Lao Tzu

27. “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” -Albert Einstein

28. “If you are working on something that you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you.” -Steve Jobs

29. “Security is mostly a superstition. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” – Helen Keller

30. “Stay true to yourself and never let what somebody else says distract you from your goals.” -Michelle Obama

Personal Captions for Instagram

If you’re looking for Instagram captions for your personal Instagram profile, we’ve got you covered. The good news? The captions below are also a great option for businesses with a more casual or personable brand voice.

Skip to the Instagram captions you’re most interested in:

• Short Instagram Captions
• Funny Instagram Captions
• Clever Instagram Captions
• Cute Instagram Captions
• Wedding Instagram Captions
• Couple Instagram Captions
• Friends Instagram Captions
• Sassy Instagram Captions
• Song Lyrics for Instagram Captions
• Holiday Instagram Captions
• Seasonal Instagram Captions
• Selfie Instagram Captions
• Baddie Instagram Captions
• Travel & Vacation Instagram Captions
• Beach Instagram Captions
• Birthday Instagram Captions
• Prom Instagram Captions
• Graduation Instagram Captions
• Food Instagram Captions
• Pet & Dog Instagram Captions

Short Instagram Captions

Image Source

A picture is already worth a thousand words — there’s no need to go on and on in your captions. Let the photo or video speak for itself and keep it brief. Take the captions below and change them to suit your exact post. It may be enough to tag someone who’s in the photo, give credit if you’re reposting, or prompt people to check out your bio.

1. @[account]

2. Credit: @[account]

3. This week’s photo dump.

4. Photo dump sacrifice for the algorithm god.

5. Scroll →

6. More info in bio.

7. Link in bio.

8. Sneak peek →

9. [Product] in production at our factories.

10. @[account] x @[account]. Coming soon.

11. Loading…

12. [The most dominant color in your post, ie “Red,” “Blue,” etc]

13. [Hashtag relevant to your post]

14. [Emoji relevant to your post]

15. [Relevant word 1] + [Relevant word 2]

16. Happy [weekday]! [hashtag]

17. Happy [holiday of the day]! [hashtag]

    Image Source

18. You can find me at [place you most often frequent].

19. In [place where the photo was taken].

20. An ode to [item in the image or video].

21. Thinking about [relevant word].

22. Weekend.

23. [Month].

24. 2:38 pm. [Or time when the photo was taken]

25. Time passing.

26. From the archives.

27. Mentally here.

28. Couldn’t pick one.

29. That’s all for now.

30. I can’t. I simply cannot. [Emoji]

31. Sunset.

32. Spring.

33. Summer.

34. Winter.

35. Fall.

36. Midnight.

37. Immediately yes.

38. Immediately no.

39. Say more.

40. Say less.

41. Mood.

    Image Source

42. My go-to.

43. My favorite hour.

44. Taking it slow.

45. Grateful.

46. Once upon a time…

47. We/I/You/@[account] know(s) what’s up.

48. The only thing stopping you is you.

49. Good food, good mood.

50. And the boredom award goes to…

51. My life, my rules. At least 62% of the time.

52. We’re all still healing.

53. Be the type of person you want to meet.

54. It starts with you.

55. Call it what you want.

56. I’ve never been a fan of change, but I’d follow you anywhere.

Funny Instagram Captions

Image Source

We don’t always have to take social media so seriously, so explore some funny Instagram captions for your upcoming posts.

Instagram can be a tool to convey aesthetic picture taking or stoic model shoots, it can also be a fun place to share a laugh or lighthearted content, too. Sharing a funny caption can boost your page’s personality, and potentially brighten someone else’s day. We hope the following captions make you crack a smile.

1. Glitch in the matrix.

2. My favorite exercise is a cross between a lunge and a crunch ... I call it lunch.

3. I need a six-month holiday, twice a year.

4. We tried to be normal once. Worst two minutes of our lives!

5. There are 16-year-olds competing at the Olympics and some of us (me) still push on "pull" doors.

6. That awkward moment when you're wearing Nike's and you can't do it.

7. I'm just a girl, standing in front of a salad, asking it to be a cupcake.

8. What if we told you ... you can eat without posting it on Instagram?

9. I know the voices in my head aren't real, but sometimes their ideas are just too good to ignore.

10. We don't know what's tighter: Our jeans or our company culture.

11. Friday ... Our second-favorite F word.

12. We don't care what people think of us. Unless they're our customers. We definitely care what customers think of us.

13. All you need is love ... and investors. All you need is love and investors.

14. Hi, we're [company name]. We build amazing apps and eat amazing apps.

15. They say "Do what you love and money will come to you." Let’s see what happens, I just ordered tamales.

16. My favorite subject in school was recess.

17. No thoughts brain empty just tacos and cats.

18. [Food item] so good it’s got me weak in the knees.

19. The best part about waking up is going to sleep eighteen hours later.

    Image Source

20. For legal reasons, this is not a joke.

21. The older you get, the better you get, unless you’re a banana.

22. Bring the alcohol! Because no great story started with someone eating a salad.

23. Don't worry if plan A fails. There are 25 more letters in the alphabet.

24. If you’re not supposed to eat at night, why is there a light bulb in the refrigerator?

25. First rule of Sundays: If you can’t reach it from your couch, you don’t need it.

26. If you fall, I will be there. Signed, Floor.

27. The first thing I do after coming to work is logging off.

28. I used to think I was indecisive, but now I am not so sure.

29. Friends buy you lunch. Best friends eat your lunch.

30. Darn it, just accidentally had another thought again.

31. My goal this weekend is to move… just enough so people don’t think I’m dead.

32. You think nothing is impossible? Try getting me out of bed before 12 PM.

33. Looking at these pictures won't fix all your problems, but it's a good start.

34. My sauce is too hot that's why you'll never ketchup.

35. Google Maps said it's MY TURN.

36. I got my haters seasick, they see me and get sick.

37. If there would be an award for being lazy, I would send someone to pick it up for me.

Clever Instagram Captions

Trying to come up with some clever IG captions on your own can be a lot of work, so we’ve done it for you. Below we’ve compiled a list of our favorite clever Instagram captions for all your witty caption needs.

1. Patience — what you have when there are too many witnesses.

2. Maybe she's born with it, maybe it's the Clarendon filter.

3. "Life is short." False — it's the longest thing you do.

4. Happy Sunday! There may be no excuse for laziness, but I’m still looking.

5. Rejection is just redirection.

6. Better an "oops" than a "what if."

7. Anyone looking for a heart? Selling mine for $2. (Used, good condition)

8. The world is changed by your example, not your opinion.

9. Seven billion smiles and these are my favorite.

10. Stop working hard and start working smart.

11. I found your nose. It was in my business.

12. Imposter complex is just a byproduct of success.

13. Life is simple. It's just not easy.

    Image Source

14. There's a big difference between being alive and living.

15. The best times begin at the end of your comfort zone. So you can catch me on the opposite end of the end of my comfort zone.

16. When nothing goes right, go left.

17. “Success is making those who believed in you look brilliant.” -Dharmesh Shah

18. “If you can’t convince them, confuse them.” -Harry Truman

19. The world changes by your example, not your opinion. So get acting right.

20. It’s always a good idea to be on the right side of history.

21. When you learn, teach. When you get, give.

22. Don’t quit your daydream.

23. Legend has it that if you look hard enough you’ll see the weekend approaching!

24. It’s time to make new memories. But first, five tequila shots.

25. I’m on a seafood diet. I see food, I eat it.

26. Sorry I didn’t get back to your text. I was too busy converting oxygen into CO2.

27. Living on Earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun.

28. “Arguing with a fool proves there are two.” -Doris M. Smith

29. Well, enough about me. Let’s talk about you. What do you think about me?

30. We’re all one more minute closer to dying. What’s one more shot going to do?

31. There’s a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. If you find it, let me know so I can get some.

Cute Instagram Captions

If there’s one thing people on the internet love to see — it’s anything and everything that falls into the category of cute. Whether you’re posting your adorable pet, your significant other, or a picnic by the park, we’ve got all the cute Instagram captions that you need to complement them.

Image Source

1. Through all seasons and through all time.

2. Don’t give up on your dreams. Keep sleeping.

3. My fave sound is you snoring next to me.

4. Here’s to a hundred more years with you.

5. Happiness is watching you do what you love 💗 Hopefully that’s me.

6. I like you more than [food]. And I looove [food].

7. Wearing a onesie to bed just in case my SO steals the covers again.

8. Cuddle time with the pup 💞

9. Just showing off my [item] a little. Be jealous.

10. Always wear cute pajamas to bed; you never know who you’ll meet in your dreams.

11. You got me like 🥴️

12. I’d move to [state] for you. And I hate [state].

13. 🥺️👉👈

14. I have no idea what I was doing before you came around. Sleeping, probably.

15. No one can touch my books or my tacos 😤

16. Not me standing there like🧍‍

17. Don’t mind me while I drink my tea 🍵

18. Did someone say [something you like]? 🏃💨

19. They say elephants have a perfect memory. So do I when it comes to you.

20. My pup is the salsa to my whole enchilada.

21. I hate it when I’m singing a song and the artist gets the words wrong.

    Image Source

22. MY HEART

23. Being an adult is like folding a fitted sheet. No one really knows how.

24. Here’s a🥇for being the cutest human to walk this earth.

25. Me before you:🌱 Me after you: 🌻

26. 🤟

27. Just got that Friday feeling.

28. Are you a timekeeper? ‘Cause time slows down when I’m with you.

29. I can’t see heaven being much better than this.

30. I'm not lazy, I'm on energy-saving mode.

31. My pillow is my best friend (sorry, [best friend’s name])

32. A day doing [activity] is a day well-spent.

33. I don't know who's cuter, me or my reflection?

34. Being a full-time angel is so exhausting.

35. With you, everything is twice the fun and half the trouble.

36. Sweeter than a cupcake.

37. Put me on your wishlist.

Wedding Instagram Captions

If you’re getting married, congratulations! Now, it’s time to post your gorgeous wedding photos, but what do you put in the caption? Here are a few ideas to help you get started.

1. "The start of forever."

2. "Worth the wait.”

3. "Finally found my happily ever after."

4. "You’re my best friend — here’s to many, many more years."

5. "I never want to stop making memories with you."

6. "I promise to love, honor, and cherish you forever."

7. "I never knew true happiness until I met you."

8. "Forever and always, I choose you."

9. "Our beginning.”

10. "Life is an adventure, and I can't wait to embark on this one with you."

11. "And so the adventure begins..."

12. "Together is a wonderful place to be."

13. "Today I marry my soulmate, my partner in life, and my best friend."

14. "From this moment on, everything changes."

15. "All I need is you (and some cake). Here’s to forever.”

Couple Instagram Captions

If you’ve yet to tie the knot with your partner, you should still share all the love. Here are some of our favorite couple Instagram captions to pair with the perfect picture.

1. "Forever and always."

2. 💞💞💞

3. "Together we make the perfect team."

4. "Two hearts. One tray of tacos.”

5. "I never want to stop making memories with you."

6. "You stole my heart, but I'll let you keep it."

7. "You're my favorite notification."

8. "The good things in life are even better with you."

9. "Billions of humans and you’re my favorite.”

10. "Some things just get better with age. Like us."

11. "It's not about finding the person you can live with, it's about finding the person you can't live without."

12. "The exception to every rule.”

13. "After all these years, it’s still you.”

14. "I don't need a filter when I'm with you."

15. "Tried and true.”

Friends Instagram Captions

Posting a photo or reel with friends? Pair it with the perfect caption to express your love for your closest confidantes.

1. "Good friends, great memories."

2. "Besties.”

3. "Friends who laugh together, stay together."

4. "Friendship isn't a big thing, it's a million little things."

5. "In the cookie of life, friends are the chocolate chips."

6. "My sunshine on a rainy day."

7. "Friends are the family we choose for ourselves."

8. "Laughter is the sound of friendship."

9. "Together we can conquer anything."

10. "The three musketeers.”

11. "Sun? What sun? You guys make every day a little brighter."

12. "You bring out the best in me. 💞"

13. "Making life a little sweeter with my girls."

14. "Like we were never apart.”

15. "Inseparable.”

Sassy Instagram Captions

Your Instagram posts are your way to express yourself, so if you’re bold, sassy, and not afraid to show it — let your caption do the talking.

For those that want to give their Instagram posts some more pizzazz, try throwing in one of these sassy captions.

Image Source

1. Alexa, let them know I don't give a —

2. What's a queen without her king? Historically speaking, more powerful.

3. Be a little more you, and a lot less them.

4. We're an acquired taste. If you don't like us, acquire some taste.

5. Well-behaved people don't make it into history books.

6. Be sunshine mixed with a little hurricane.

7. We got 99 problems, but an awesome marketing team ain't one.

8. Sometimes you just need to do a thing called "what you want."

9. You can't do epic stuff with bad people. And we got the best in the biz.

10. It's not called being bossy, it's called having leadership skills.

11. You did not wake up today to be mediocre.

    Image Source

12. You're italic, I'm in bold.

13. A bad attitude is like a flat tire. You can’t go anywhere until you change it.

14. We’re entrepreneurs. They call us dreamers, but we’re the ones who never sleep.

15. All of us have the capacity to light up a room. Some when they enter, others when they leave it.

16. Brains are awesome. I wish everybody would have one.

17. Common sense is like deodorant. The people who need it most never use it.

18. You see that? That’s my patience leaving.

19. I’ll have you know, I’ve completed plenty of marathons. [Show 1], [Show 2], and [Show 3], to name a few.

20. Everyone has that one annoying friend. If you don’t have one, then it’s probably you.

21. Above: A photo of me pretending to be listening.

22. Oh, you sent me an email? Expect a response in approximately never.

23. Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but some abuse the privilege.

24. If you like me, raise your hand. If not, then raise your standard.

25. If you don’t succeed the first time, then burn all the evidence you tried.

26. Underestimate me. That'll be fun.

27. I like my coffee how I like myself: Dark, bitter and too hot for you.

    Image Source

28. We move regardless.

29. People say I act like I don't care. It's not an act.

30. They say good things take time ... that's why I'm always late.

31. Focused. Intelligent. Motivated. Oh, and cute.

32. “The question isn’t who is going to let me: it’s who is going to stop me.” -Ayn Rand

33. It's okay if you don't like me. Not everyone has good taste.

34. I'm a work of art, showing you the art or working.

35. I only show up wearing my best and you shouldn't expect less.

36. You couldn't even outshine my shadow.

37. Please don't call me, I'm out of your range.

38. If you're sleeping on me I hope you're tossing and turning.

Song Lyrics for Instagram Captions

People of all different backgrounds can relate to music. Beyond the different chords and melodies are lyrics that tell a story, echo a feeling, or inspire others.

To convey the message or emotion you want in your Instagram caption, use one of these iconic song lyrics.

1. "I'm gonna live like tomorrow doesn't exist." — Sia, "Chandelier"

2. "I live for the nights that I can't remember, with the people that I won't forget." — Drake, "Show Me a Good Time"

3. "I hope you never lose your sense of wonder." — Lee Ann Womack, "I Hope You Dance"

4. "You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one." — John Lennon, "Imagine"

5. "If you give, you begin to live." — Dave Matthews Band, “You Might Die Trying”

6. "Outlining my findings, using life as a stencil." — Kero One, "In All the Wrong Places"

7. "Feeling good living better." — Drake, "Over My Dead Body"

8. "Say oh, got this feeling that you can't fight, like this city is on fire tonight." — OneRepublic, "Good Life"

9. "Time makes you bolder." — Fleetwood Mac, "Landslide"

10. "If I fail, if I succeed, at least I'll live as I believe." — Whitney Houston, "The Greatest Love of All"

11. "The rest of the world was in black and white, but we were in screaming color." — Taylor Swift, "Out of the Woods"

12. "Lightning strikes every time she moves." — Calvin Harris, "This Is What You Came For"

13. "We aren't ever getting older." — Chainsmokers, "Closer"

14. "Sing with me, sing for the years, sing for the laughter, sing for the tears." — Aerosmith, "Dream On"

15. “Life is good.” — Future & Drake, “Life is Good”

16. “Life without dreaming is a life without meaning.” – Wale, “Aston Martin Music”

17. “But like the sun, know you know I find my way back ‘round.” — J. Cole, “Crooked Smile”

18. “I will overcome any hurdle or obstacle that’s in my path." — OutKast, “Knowing”

19. "I'm way up, I feel blessed." — Drake, "Blessings"

20. "Eat, sleep, and breathe it. Rehearse and repeat it." — Dua Lipa, "New Rules"

21. "I'd rather be dry but at least I'm alive. Rain on me." — Lady Gaga, "Rain On Me"

22. "And I know that I gotta be above it now. And I know that I can't let them bring me down." — Tame Impala, "Be Above It"

23. "I'm on the pursuit of happiness and I know everything that shine ain't always gonna be gold, hey, I'll be fine once I get it, yeah, I'll be good." — Kid Cudi, "Pursuit of Happiness (Nightmare)"

24. "There’s much more to life than dyin’ over your past mistakes and people who threw dirt on your name." — Lil Nas X, "Sun Goes Down"

25. "They say the loudest in the room is weak, that's what they assume, but I disagree." — Tyler the Creator, "911/Mr. Lonely"

26. "You don't have to be like everybody else, you don't have to fit into the norm, you are not here to conform." — Marina, "Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land"

27. "Throw me in the fire, baby, I'll survive." — BROCKHAMPTON, "RENTAL"

28. "When you being real, you ain't worried 'bout who fake." —Megan Thee Stallion, "Money Good"

29. "We're so young, boy, we ain't got nothin' to lose." -Doja Cat, "Kiss Me More"

30. "If someone talked to you the way you do to you, I'd put their teeth through. Love Yourself!" -IDLES, "Television"

Holiday Instagram Captions

Around the holidays, you want to post and share the memories you’ve made throughout the years. For whichever one you’re celebrating, take some inspiration from our favorite Instagram captions and spread some holiday cheer.

Image Source

New Year's Instagram Captions

1. "Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other." — Abraham Lincoln

2. Didn't make it to midnight.

3. Resolutions are made to be broken.

4. Ringing in the new year — like a bell.

5. "Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365-page book. Write a good one." — Brad Paisley

6. New year, same me.

7. Time to show off my bubbly personality.

8. Any excuse to wear glitter.

9. Starting off the year on the right foot.

10. There are 12 months ahead of us to make a difference.

11. Day 1 of 365

12. Sip, sip, hooray!

13. All you need is a fresh start.

14. Save water, drink champagne.

15. The best has yet to come.

Valentine's Day Instagram Captions

1. Roses are red. Violets are blue. Consider this post my Valentine to you.

2. Don't tell me you love me. Tell me you're outside with pizza.

3. All I need is you. (And maybe wine + chocolate too.)

4. Cupid called, he wants his arrow back.

5. 99% of my socks are single, and you don't see them crying about it.

6. I will do anything for love. Except that. And that. Or that. Or...

7. I followed my heart and it led me to the fridge.

8. Look at us. Hey. Look at us. Who woulda thought? Not me!

9. In love with my best friend.

10. I’m better when I’m with you.

Halloween Instagram Captions

1. Creepin’ it real.

2. I brake for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

3. Oh my gourd, Becky, look at her bat.

4. You're just my (blood) type.

5. How to eat candy corn: don't.

6. #squadghouls

7. Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

8. Driving me batty.

9. “Scary hours.” — Drake

10. Resting Witch Face

Thanksgiving

1. I'm wearing my elastic pants.

2. "For those of you who cannot be with family this Thanksgiving, please resist the urge to brag." — Andy Borowitz

3. On a veggie diet this Thanksgiving: Carrot cake and pumpkin pie.

4. "Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough." — Oprah Winfrey

5. I think, therefore I cran.

6. Bad day to be a turkey.

7. Need fuel for Black Friday.

8. "Okay, guys. I have exactly 28 minutes before I have to baste again." — Monica

9. Grateful. Thankful. Blessed.

10. Who made the potato salad?

11. There’s always something to be thankful for.

12. To-do list: eat, drink, nap.

13. I only have pies for you.

14. Gobble 'til you wobble.

15. Love at first bite.

Christmas & Hannukah Instagram Captions

1. You sleigh me.

2. Fa la la la llama.

3. "O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree, your ornaments are history." — The Cat

4. "It's not what's under the Christmas tree that matters. It's who's around it." — Charles M. Schulz

5. Dear Santa, let's not talk about this.

6. Rebel Without a Claus

7. Doesn't Santa have anything better to do than watch us while we're sleeping?

8. All I want for Christmas is you (and wine would be nice).

9. Say it ain't snow.

10. Drop it like a top.

11. Wishing you a latke love this Hanukkah.

12. I want to eat 8 latkes for the calories of one.

13. One little candle can light up an entire room.

14. Keep calm and spin that dreidel.

15. Deck the halls with matzo balls!

16. It’s Christmas time and I’m the gift.

17. The best gift is to be present with the ones you love.

18. Baby, it's cold outside.

19. Merry everything and happy always.

20. Treat yo elf.

Seasonal Instagram Captions

As the seasons come and go, why not share your joy for the next one on your Instagram? Whether you love the sunshine in the Summer, or snowfall in the winter, you can share that excitement with others.

Ring in the new season with some of these witty, seasonal captions.

Spring Instagram Captions

1. Hello, spring!

2. "And I think to myself, what a wonderful world." — Louis Armstrong

3. April showers bring May flowers.

4. I think I just experienced all the seasons in a single day.

5. I love allergy season, said no one ever.

6. Currently soaking up the sun and smelling the roses. Please leave a message after the beep.

7. I owe a lot to the inventor of flip-flops.

8. "Here comes the sun, and I say... It's all right." — The Beatles

9. “Warm winds in the springtime.” — SZA, “Warm Winds”

10. Springing into the new season.

Summer Instagram Captions

1. "Live in the sunshine. Swim in the sea. Drink in the wild air." — Ralph Waldo Emerson

2. Life's a beach.

3. School's out, sun's out, guns out.

4. "A little bit of summer is what the whole year is all about." — John Mayer

5. 90% happy, 10% burnt.

6. Girls just want to have sun.

7. "Summer lovin' had me a blast, summer lovin' happened so fast." — Grease

8. Happiness is a cold popsicle.

9. Life is better by the pool.

10. “Summertime and the livin' is easy.” — Ella Fitzgerald, “Summertime”

11. "Here comes the sun, and I say... It's all right." — The Beatles, "Here Comes the Sun"

12. Tans, tans, tans across the board.

Fall Instagram Captions

1. My favorite color is October.

2. "Wild is the music of autumnal winds amongst the faded woods." — William Wordsworth

3. My favorite kind of weather.

4. It's never too early for pumpkin spice.

5. Meet me in the corn maze.

6. Crisp air. Apple cider. Flaming foliage.

7. Pumpkin spice and everything nice.

8. "Anyone who thinks fallen leaves are dead has never watched them dancing on a windy day." — Shira Tamir

9. Leaves are falling, and autumn is calling.

10. “Days in the sun and nights in the rain. Summer is over, simple and plain.” — Drake & Majid Jordan, "Summer’s Over"

11. Falling never felt so good.

12. Painted in the colors of fall.

13. Sweater weather.

14. Even the leaves fall for you.

15. Channel the flannel.

Winter Instagram Captions

1. "In the depths of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer." — Albert Camus

2. If it's snowing, I'm not going.

3. Cozy nights. Good books. Hot chocolate.

4. Do you want to build a snowman?

5. Running on caffeine and holiday cheer.

6. "Winter is not a season; it's a celebration." — Anamika Mishra

7. Merry and brrrrrrright.

8. Having snow much fun.

9. ‘Tis the season to be freezin’.

10. “Timb' laces get tighter and parka hoods flip up.” — Drake, “Come Winter”

Selfie Instagram Captions

Image Source

Selfies are a celebration of something unique, beautiful, and full of life — you! So when you share your next selfie, complement it with one of our favorite selfie Instagram captions.

1. Golden hour.

2. Me, myself, and I.

3. Be yourself, there’s no one better.

4. It’s the happiness for me.

5. Smile! The happiness is right under your nose.

6. My favorite filter is reality.

7. Self-care selfie!

8. Conquer the world one smile at a time.

9. It’s a great day to have a great day.

10. The greatest gift you can give someone is a smile.

11. Self-love is the best love.

    Image Source

12. The only rose that blooms in winter.

13. “But she looked powerful. She wore the sun like a shiny pin on the side of her hair.” -Lilian Li

14. I don't need a hairstylist. My pillow gives me a new hairstyle every morning.

15. All-natural.

16. No filter.

17. Morning hair, don't care.

18. Quick #OOTD

19. Anything but basic.

    Image Source

20. Welcome [age]!

21. Hard to be down to earth when you look out of this world.

22. Looking like I don't know how to lose.

23. Beautiful from halo to toe.

24. I'm ready for my close-up.

    

Baddie Instagram Captions

That OOTD or travel photo with the beautiful lighting, impeccable attire, and je ne se quois makes a great addition to your Instagram feed. Here are some captions to convey “baddie” energy.

1. "She who dares, wins."

2. "Don't let anyone dim your shine."

3. "Stay focused, stay fierce."

4. "I'm not bossy, I'm the boss."

5. "I'm not always right, but I'm never wrong."

6. "Chasing my dreams in Chanel.”

7. "Not afraid to break the rules.”

8. "Be the girl that decided to go for it."

9. "I refuse to be anything less."

10. "Confidence isn't walking into a room thinking you're better than anyone, it's just walking in and not having to compare yourself to anyone at all."

11. "A perfect work-in-progress.”

12. “Improvement is a journey.”

13. "My standards are high because I know my worth."

14. "Some girls are just born with glitter in their veins."

15. "I am not a one in a million kind of girl. I am a once in a lifetime kind of woman."

Travel & Vacation Instagram Captions

When you want to treat yourself, a vacation is always a great reward.

It’s a chance to experience different cultures, food, music and scenery. When you’re out exploring the world, share some of your favorite travel moments with these awesome Instagram captions.

Image Source

1. Majestic moments in [place].

2. A chance to get away from the everyday.

3. Work. Save. Travel. Repeat.

4. Staycation loading…

5. Collect the moments, not the materials.

6. Another destination off the bucket list.

7. An adventure to fill the soul.

8. The scenic route is always better.

9. I need a six-month vacation, twice a year.

10. Be back never.

11. Catch flights, not feelings.

12. Always take the scenic route.

13. I've never met a vacation I didn't like.

14. An adventure a day keeps the doctor away.

15. Travel is an investment in yourself.

16. Some call it vacation, I call it heaven.

17. "I hate traveling." said no traveler ever.

18. If you need me, call me on my shell phone.

19. I can sea clearly now.

20. Happiness comes in waves.

21. A change in latitude helps my attitude.

Beach Instagram Captions

1. "Enjoying the waves."

2. "Sandy toes, sun-kissed nose."

3. "Pure, sunburned happiness."

4. "Life’s a 🏖️."

5. "No worries. No thoughts."

6. "There’s nothing more healing than the sound of the ocean."

7. "My happy place."

8. "Time at the beach is never wasted."

9. "Live in the sunshine, swim in the sea, drink in the wild air."

10. "See ya when I’m back on earth. ✌️”

11. "The beach is always a good idea."

12. "Paradise found."

13. "Agenda today: Do nothing. Get sunburnt.”

14. "The beach: where doing absolutely nothing, is doing everything."

15. "Life is too short, go on that beach vacation.”

Birthday Instagram Captions

1. "Another year wiser.”

2. "A whole year older and still young at heart."

3. "[Age].”

4. "Celebrating another spin around the sun."

5. "A new year of life, a new chapter to write."

6. "Growing old is mandatory, but growing up is optional."

7. "Here’s to one more year of blessings and adventures.”

8. "Happy day of emergence to me.”

9. "Here's to another year of making memories together."

10. "Age is just a number, it's the memories that count."

11. "Another year to shine bright.”

12. "Celebrating a day filled with love, laughter, and of course, cake!"

13. "[Previous age], you were good to me. Now it’s time for another year of shenanigans."

14. "Cheers to one more year on this planet called Earth.”

15. "Another year more grateful."

Prom Instagram Captions

1. "A night to remember.”

2. "Dancing the night away with my favorite people."

3. "Memories to last a lifetime."

4. "Tonight, we're young."

5. "Ready to have the time of our lives."

6. "Prom photo dump.”

7. "Prom [current year].”

8. "Let prom night begin!"

9. "The night is young and so are we."

10. "Feeling like a prince/princess tonight.”

11. "Started from the bottom, now we're all fancy and stuff."

12. "Prom ✨”

13. "Here’s to a night of memories we'll cherish forever."

14. "Who needs a limo?”

15. "Let the party begin!”

Graduation Instagram Captions

1. "The tassel was worth the hassle."

2. "The beginning of a new adventure."

3. "Today is the first day of the rest of our lives."

4. "I feel like I was in ninth grade JUST yesterday?”

5. "Keeping it on 💯”

6. "Onward and upward."

7. "Class of [year], can’t believe we did it!”

8. "It's not the end, it's just the beginning."

9. "[Class year] is the best class, no 🧢”

10. "Cheers to new beginnings, and to ending what we started."

11. "The future belongs to those who believe."

12. "The best is yet to come.”

13. "Ready to seize the world."

14. "Look back on your accomplishments with pride, and look forward to the future with excitement."

15. "We did it — it's time to celebrate!"

Food Instagram Captions

1. "Good food, good life."

2. "Eating may be a necessity, but cooking is an art."

3. "Life is short, eat dessert first."

4. "Food is not just fuel, it's information. It talks to your DNA and tells it what to do. So… you’d better bet I’m gonna eat."

5. "Food is love made visible."

6. "Good food with even better people."

7. "Eating my favorite with my favorites.”

8. "The only thing better than talking about food is eating it."

9. "@[restaurant]"

10. "A night of [food item]: the ultimate stress reliever."

11. "Nothing more romantic than eating [food item] and [food item] in sweatpants with crumbs on our chests.”

12. "My favorite hole-in-the wall place.”

13. "Good food equals good mood."

14. "A party without cake is just a meeting."

15. "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food. Anyway, who wants fries?"

Pet & Dog Instagram Captions

1. "My heart is full of paw prints."

2. "Who needs a therapist when you have a dog?"

3. "Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole."

4. "Life is too short to not have a dog."

5. "#1 family member (sorry, mom)."

6. "I woof you more than words can express."

7. "Every day is an adventure with my four-legged buddy."

8. "The best kind of love."

9. "Adopt, don’t shop.”

10. “Everything’s better with your little paws by my side.”

11. "My [pet] is the king/queen of my heart."

12. "The only thing better than coming home after a long day is being greeted by you.”

13. "My dog is smarter than most politicians."

14. "The best things in life are furry and have four legs."

15. "I didn't choose the dog life, the dog life chose me."

Features of Good Instagram Captions

Want to write a caption from scratch? I totally get it. If you're anything like me, you take about four minutes choosing a filter for your Instagram photo, and about four hours deciding on a caption.

Worst of all, after much creative effort and advice from friends, I'm usually barely able to write a caption that goes beyond, "Had a fun day with friends!" And I’m a writer — go figure.

The point is, writing a good caption is hard. Whether you create one from scratch or choose a pre-written one, it should fulfill a few requirements.

1. Your caption is on-brand.

Image Source

Whether your Instagram page is personal or for your business, your captions should be on-brand, or reflective of your brand identity.

This encapsulates the nature of your Instagram's branding and tone of voice. For example, if your page is based on self-love, you should use captions that are friendly in tone, and use inclusive language to make people feel good when they scroll through your Instagram profile.

2. Your caption is simple.

Instagram captions can fit up to 2,200 characters, but you don't have to use all of them for your caption to be considered a good one. You ideally want to keep your captions clear, short, and simple for easy readability. You also want to keep your audience's attention enough to read it to finish.

The exception to this is if you're making posts that champion storytelling or other lengthy formats. Ultimately, it comes down to what your audience is looking for.

3. Your caption is memorable.

While your Instagram caption doesn't have to be a profound piece of literature, you can make it memorable in a number of ways. Depending on the type of post you're sharing, you can make it hilarious, thought-provoking, inspiring, or anything you want it to be.

Want more inspiration? Check out our Instagram page to see how we incorporate fun, witty, and engaging captions into our social media content. The captions often complement the post itself and prompt engagement from users. Instagram Insights metrics such as comments, likes, and saves show you how well you’re engaging users and whether your captions are effective in prompting likes and comments.

Here’s one example from HubSpot with the caption “You can’t spell ‘CRM’ without ‘R’”:

Don’t underestimate the power of a good caption. They can help you generate more engagement and turn your followers into customers.

How to Make Engaging IG Captions

Instagram captions can actually be used strategically, and in many cases help personal or business pages to increase engagement on the platform — and here’s how.

1. Ask your followers questions.

If you’re looking to entice your followers to interact or like your posts more, you could ask them for their opinion, recommendations, or even personal stories to make your page more interactive.

For example, if you’re running an Instagram page for fashion, ask your followers to comment under your newest post about their favorite designers, collections, or trends buzzing in the industry.

Or if you’re promoting a product or service, ask your followers to chime in on what they’d like to see, a problem they need solved, or even ask for a product review or testimonial on how your business has positively impacted them.

2. Add a CTA.

If you advertise your business, product, or free resource, add a clear and enticing call to action.

It doesn’t have to be the entire IG caption, but including it on the tail end of your post’s description can lead your followers from simply liking your post to visiting your online storefront or website.

3. Incorporate relevant hashtags.

Image Source

You can use up to a maximum of 30 hashtags on a typical Instagram post, these give you a lot of possibilities to attract viewers based on your topic, location, industry, product, or service. Though, you shouldn’t feel pressured to use that many, just choose the ones you find essential, or even come up with your own personally branded one.

Capture the Feeling with an Instagram Caption

Even though an image is worth 1,000 words, a well-written caption couldn’t hurt. These days, the caption can make just as much of a statement as the image! For all of the occasions that are worthy of a post to your feed, use one of the quotes from this list and customize it to make it your own.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in June 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

source https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/instagram-captions