Writing for Instagram: Professional Tips for Bios, Posts, Stories and Reels | Ruth Clowes | Skillshare
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Writing for Instagram: Professional Tips for Bios, Posts, Stories and Reels

teacher avatar Ruth Clowes, Professional Copywriter

Watch this class and thousands more

Get unlimited access to every class
Taught by industry leaders & working professionals
Topics include illustration, design, photography, and more

Watch this class and thousands more

Get unlimited access to every class
Taught by industry leaders & working professionals
Topics include illustration, design, photography, and more

Lessons in This Class

    • 1.

      Introduction

      1:44

    • 2.

      Class and Project Overview

      2:22

    • 3.

      Master the Basics

      4:40

    • 4.

      Optimise Your Bio

      3:45

    • 5.

      Write Persuasive Posts

      4:37

    • 6.

      Engage with Stories

      4:21

    • 7.

      Use Hashtags Effectively

      3:49

    • 8.

      Create Authentic Reels

      4:10

    • 9.

      Understand Threads

      4:07

    • 10.

      Connect with Comments

      4:35

    • 11.

      Evolve and Grow

      4:19

    • 12.

      Next Steps

      2:12

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About This Class

Unlock the secrets to compelling Instagram content with this dynamic, hands-on class that will revolutionise your social media copywriting. Turn your followers into loyal customers with the power of persuasive copy!

By the end of this class, you’ll know how to craft irresistible Instagram bios, posts, stories, and reels, designed to elevate your brand and drive real results.

What you’ll learn

  • Optimise Your Bio: Create a killer introduction that showcases your brand’s unique value and hooks new followers instantly.
  • Write Persuasive Posts: Craft engaging posts that ignite conversations, create buzz, and boost conversions.
  • Engage with Stories: Discover storytelling techniques that captivate viewers and keep them coming back for more.
  • Use Hashtags Effectively: Learn how to explode your reach and connect with thousands of new fans.
  • Create Authentic Reels: Harness the magic of short-form videos to make your content go viral.
  • Connect with Comments: Master the art of building meaningful relationships through comments and DMs.
  • Understand Threads: Get ahead with Instagram’s newest feature and integrate it seamlessly into your strategy.
  • Evolve and Grow: Stay on the cutting edge with strategies to keep your content fresh, relevant, and ahead of the competition.

Why take this class?

Instagram is the ultimate platform for brand growth, with engagement rates that outperform all other social media channels.

I’ve distilled decades of social media copywriting expertise into actionable, easy-to-follow techniques that you can start using right away. You’ll learn to create compelling content that not only increases engagement but also turns followers into customers.

With my experience as a professional copywriter, I’ll guide you step-by-step, ensuring you gain practical skills that deliver real, measurable results.

Who this class is for

  • Ambitious entrepreneurs and business owners ready to skyrocket their brand’s Instagram presence.
  • Content creators and influencers eager to engage and grow their audience with irresistible copy.
  • Marketing professionals aiming to refine their Instagram strategy and become social media wizards.
  • Instagram newcomers looking to establish a strong, persuasive presence right from the start.
  • Experienced social media managers wanting to stay ahead of the game with the latest tips and trends.

What you’ll need

You don’t need any special skills or experience. Just bring your enthusiasm for mastering Instagram copywriting and get ready to transform your written content.

Take a look at my Example Project to see the techniques in action and get inspiration for your own Instagram content series.

Hit play now and join me on this exciting journey to Instagram success. Your brand’s next big breakthrough is just a click away.

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Links to Instagram accounts and online tools and resources mentioned in the class

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Ready to learn more copywriting skills?

Social Media Copywriting Masterclass: Professional Tips for Profiles and Posts (58m) - Broaden your knowledge with this class covering all the major social media platforms - this is the social media writing toolkit you've been looking for.

Copywriting for Beginners: Essential Skills for Persuasive Marketing (33m) – The perfect starting point for anyone new to copywriting or wanting a refresh of the essential principles and techniques.

Copywriting for Creative Professionals: Write Authentic Brand Copy (1h) - This niche copywriting class is just for creative entrepreneurs. Learn simple techniques to improve your marketing copy, so you have more time to spend doing what you love.

Meet Your Teacher

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Ruth Clowes

Professional Copywriter

Top Teacher

I'm a full-time professional copywriter and copywriting trainer with over two decades experience in marketing and communications roles.

My job is to write promotional copy that increases sales, builds customer engagement and achieves marketing goals. So I know what works - online, on social media and in print.

I've been teaching on Skillshare since 2019. My mission is to demystify marketing copy and make powerful copywriting techniques accessible to everyone.

I'm a member of ProCopywriters and I trained with the Chartered Institute of Marketing and the Andy Maslen Copywriting Academy. Further training in SEO, Google AdWords and Google Analytics means I know how to write copy that sounds great and gets results.

See full profile

Level: Beginner

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Transcripts

1. Introduction: Instagram is the hottest social media platform for turbo-charged brand growth. And while visuals create great aesthetics, it's captivating copy that seals the deal. In this class, you'll learn how to turn likes into leads, and followers into customers with persuasive Instagram copy from the first word. Hello, I'm Ruth. I'm a professional copywriter and copywriting trainer. I'm a member of Pro Copywriters, and I've trained with the Chartered Institute of Marketing and Google. I'm paid to write compelling online content for businesses. The sort of content that increases engagement, grows followers, and enhances brand presence online. So I know what works. In this class, I've condensed decades of social media copywriting experience into a toolkit of actionable techniques. Straightaway, you'll be able to craft engaging and effective content for your Instagram bios, posts, stories, and reels. Instagram has the highest engagement rates of any social media platform. I've helped big brands maximise their engagement and conversions on Instagram, and I'm excited to help you unlock its potential for your brand. You might write for your own business, for your personal brand, to promote a product or service, or to raise awareness of a cause. This class will help you tell your story and inspire action. For your class project, you'll put what you've learned into practice by creating a mini Instagram content series. It will include a post, a story, and a reel, all centred around a common theme or style that represents your personal or brand identity. What I'm about to teach you will take your Instagram presence to the next level. Let's get started. 2. Class and Project Overview: When it comes to effective copywriting, preparation is the key to success. By the end of this lesson, you'll have all you need to squeeze every bit of value from this class. Let's run through what we're going to learn before finding out more about how the lessons are organised, your worksheet, and the class project. We'll start with the essentials of Instagram writing - the core principles that apply across the platform. Before moving on to crafting your Instagram bio - the compact introduction on your Instagram profile page that tells your story. From there, we'll explore how to leverage the strengths and unique features of Instagram's two longest running formats; posts, which provide a permanent showcase, and stories, which are time limited, but full of potential for building authenticity and trust. We'll then talk about hashtags - why they're so important on Instagram and how to use them. Before zooming in on reels, which deliver dynamic short form video content that's easily discoverable. We'll touch on threads next, before looking at how to use comments and direct messages to build strong customer relationships. We'll finish up by taking a longer term view. You'll learn how to evolve and grow to stay ahead of competitors by experimenting and anticipating new features and trends. Each lesson includes examples from real life brands. I'll also show techniques live by writing Instagram posts for a fictional client, Jim. He owns Echo Wear; a shop that sells vintage and upcycled clothes online and in a London store. Jim wants to promote his business on Instagram, and I'll be helping him, just like I do with my real life clients. Download this worksheet from the class description or resources tab. You'll use it to complete your project, and I'm going to work through an example project during this class so you can see it in action. For your class project, you'll create a mini Instagram content series that includes a post, a story, and a reel. Use your worksheet to stay organised, and use the techniques you learn in this class to make your series audience focused, engaging, and reflective of your brand's identity. When you're done, upload your content series as a project. I've uploaded my own example project to inspire you. Now you've got everything you need to get started. We're going to set a strong foundation with some Instagram writing essentials. 3. Master the Basics: With every Instagram, bio, post, story, or reel, you're a few words away from making someone stop, think, and engage. In this lesson, you'll learn the fundamentals of Instagram writing; The core principles that apply across the platform. This will give you a solid foundation from which to explore the specifics of each format. On Instagram, every word counts. You've got less than a second to grab attention before your audience scrolls away. This means your message needs to be brief and clear; our first two basic principles for Instagram copywriting. Look at this example from Echo Wear. The first version uses complex language and lengthy phrases. These might overwhelm the reader and lose their attention. In the revised caption, we simplify the message. See how the long-winded phrase "Echo Wear is excited to announce the introduction of" changes to "New drop", making it quicker and easier to read and understand. The invitation to shop is direct using conversational language that invites action, "Shop now", and "Swing by Echo Wear". This straightforward approach makes the message clearer and more engaging. Writing clearly using everyday words also makes your copy more accessible for non-native speakers and those with visual impairments. This inclusivity isn't just ethically sound. It means more followers and customers. Our next basic copywriting principle is make it engaging. That means not broadcasting your message at your audience, but instead having a conversation with them. Check out Later Media's Instagram feed for a masterclass on engagement techniques. See how they've used questions, calls to action, humour, and trending phrases to engage their audience. We're going to explore each of these techniques during this class. Our next basic copywriting principle is be consistent, especially when it comes to brand voice. Finding and maintaining a consistent voice makes your content feel authentic and trustworthy. Your tone can change depending on the context, a playful story might not sound the same as an informative tutorial, but your underlying voice should always be recognisably you. In these examples, Echo Wear has veered dramatically from a casual, streetwise tone to a more formal and sophisticated one. Both are fine. It's the inconsistency that's the problem. It risks alienating parts of the audience or confusing them about what the brand stands for. Always aim to keep the core brand voice recognisable, adjusting the tone subtly as needed for different types of content. Your words and visuals are a team. They need to support each other. That's why balanced is the last of our five basic Instagram copywriting principles. Your text and visuals should compliment each other, adding depth and context to the story you're telling. Don't sell your visual short by slapping on a weak caption. Equally, don't spend ages crafting the perfect message, then serve it up alongside a weak or irrelevant image. It's surprising how often on Instagram, you see images with a caption or overlaid text that's either unrelated or contradictory. It's like the copy and the images have been picked by different people. Then stuck together at the last minute. This story's visual is eye catching and gets Echo Wear's message across brilliantly, but it's undermined by the irrelevant overlay text that Jim has put on over the top. What we shouldn't do is replace this text with copy that repeats what we can already see. A better plan would be to either remove the overlay text altogether or replace it with copy that reinforces and builds on the message. Let's take a closer look at Later Media's feed. One thing that's particularly effective is the way the images and captions work together. The images themselves often include copy, which gets your attention and creates a sense of intrigue prompting you to read the caption. Look at this post. Putting a question on the post image immediately grabs my attention and has me thinking of my own answer to it. It also encourages me to start reading the caption, which has a lighthearted and friendly approach that keeps me engaged. And I'm not the only one who liked it because it got over 90 replies in a few days. In this lesson, we've explored key strategies to sharpen your Instagram copywriting skills from maintaining consistency in your brand voice to balancing your words with compelling visuals. Now think about how you can apply these principles to your own Instagram content. Which techniques will you use first to give your Insta copy a boost? Keep these basics in mind as we move on to explore how they apply across different formats on Instagram. 4. Optimise Your Bio: Your bio is the 150- word introduction on your Instagram profile page. By the end of this lesson, you'll know how to succinctly express your unique value, personality, and brand in your bio, in a way that compels viewers to hit follow. Whether you're looking to refresh your digital identity or establish one that resonates from the get go, you're in the right place. You can build your bio quite easily by asking yourself five simple questions. Begin your Instagram bio with a clear and concise introduction of who you are and what you do. For Echo Wear, this means stating the business name, followed by a brief description that captures the essence of the brand. This not only tells new visitors immediately what Echo Wear offers, but also embeds the brand's unique identity right from the start. Next, highlight your value proposition in a compelling way. Why should someone follow you? This is less about what you do as a business and more about what a follower can expect to get out of following you on Instagram. For Echo Wear, I've chosen a line that promises a transformation in style with unique history- rich clothing. Your bio should motivate action. How do you want people to interact with you? Include a clear call to action, whether it's visiting your website, checking out your latest post or using your hashtag. Make it easy and enticing for followers to take the next step. For Echo Wear, we invite them to explore our collection with a link to the online store. Finally, where are you? If your location is important to your brand, you want to include where you're based in your bio too. For Echo Wear, noting that it's based in London with an option for worldwide shipping broadens its appeal both locally and globally. Once you have the basic structure of your bio in place, you can optimise it to make it more discoverable, characterful, and visually appealing. Using relevant keywords and hashtags in your bio means it will show up when people search for those words. This applies not just on Instagram, but on search engines, too. Including relevant hashtags and keywords increases Echo Wear's bio's visibility. Format these at the end of the bio for neatness and searchability. Make the bio more visually appealing and easy to read using emojis and line breaks. Emojis add a visual punch and personality, while line breaks help separate different pieces of information, making the bio easier to scan. In my work with clients, I've noticed a shift in how brands manage their Instagram bios. It used to be common for brands to frequently update their bios for new campaigns. Now, they generally prefer to keep their bio consistent to maintain stable branding. Instead of changing the bio, we use Instagram stories and highlights to engage users and spotlight promotions, which keeps their branding clear and consistent without constant updates. Using a 'link in bio' tool like Tap Bio or Linktree is another way of packing more value into your bio without having to update it often. It allows you to create a page with multiple links. The not for profit Charity Water have used Tap Bio to brilliant effect on their profile. They've linked to a series of pages that add extra value and offer followers a choice of onward journeys. These include donating, signing up to their newsletter, and connecting on other platforms. Now that you've learned how to perfect your Instagram bio, it's time to put these insights into action. How might you rewrite your bio to reflect the best of what you offer? Think about the unique value you bring to your followers and how you can express this in a few words. Keep this focus on your brand and your audience as we begin to explore Instagram's different formats. 5. Write Persuasive Posts: A single persuasive Instagram caption can transform a casual browser into an excited buyer turning your feed into a gold mine. Instagram posts are the permanent visuals and captions on your profile page and your followers feed. In this lesson, you'll learn how to write post copy that inspires conversation, buzz, and conversions. Because they're permanent, posts are an ideal platform for evergreen content. For example, this carousel post for Echo Wear highlights a range of vintage women's shirts. It invites users to "swipe through our carousel", enhancing engagement and adding to the brand's online catalogue. Another tactic is to share user generated content to build community and trust. These posts show real people using your product or services, providing social proof. Similarly, customer testimonials and reviews build credibility with your audience. By inducing these into your feed, you're leveraging the permanence of posts to serve as ongoing endorsements. Here's an example from Echo Wear. The image is eye-catching, and the testimonial serves as a personal endorsement. It provides social proof that real people not only buy their products, but love and feel comfortable in them. Educational content also works well in posts. This could be in the form of videos, infographics, or carousels that inform your audience about your niche or products, think tips and tricks, hacks, and insider secrets. The Fairy Housekeeper is a cleaning company. Their feed alternates between promoting their services and offering home cleaning tips. Maintaining that balance between promotion and education keeps their followers engaged. It also encourages sharing, expanding their reach, and building a loyal customer base. Let's get down to the business of crafting your post captions. You can simplify the writing of any post by following the ABC formula. This involves breaking your message down into three key components, the attention grabber, the body, and the call to action or CTA. First the attention grabber or hook. This is your opening line, the bait that grabs your audience's attention. It could be a question, a bold statement, or a relatable quote. For example, Echo Wear could pose a reflective question that connects the vintage aspects of the shoes to the stories they might hold. This not only intrigues followers, but also highlights the unique appeal of vintage fashion. The body text is where you tell your story, share your insight or convey your message. As ever, clarity and brevity are your friends. Use simple, direct language to express your thoughts, so your audience understands and feels your message. The body of Echo Wear's post focuses on the unique characteristics of the vintage and upcycled shoes. It emphasises that each pair has its own history and aesthetic, appealing to those who value both fashion and stories of the past. Finally, the call to action. What do you want your audience to do after reading your post? Leave a comment, perhaps, share their opinion or check out your website. A clear CTA guides them on to the next step, encouraging interaction and engagement. This CTA invites followers to continue the legacy of these vintage shoes by bringing them into their own lives. It encourages action, making it personal by suggesting that they start their own story with a pair of shoes from the collection. In the previous lesson, we talked about the role of clear concise copy in accessibility. Another way to make your content accessible is to include alt text for images. This means that people who use screen readers can understand your visual content. When you upload a photo, you'll find the option to add alt text in the advanced settings at the bottom of the screen where you write your caption. Tap on "Write alt text" and enter your description there. If you're writing alt text for a lot of images, you might find using an old text generator like this one speeds up the process. Tweak the auto-generated text to suit your brand, then copy it over to your post. Alt text on Instagram posts doesn't effect traditional SEO like it does on websites, but it does contribute to the success of your strategy by enhancing accessibility and engagement. Reflect on how you can apply the strategies you've learned in this lesson to your own posts. How can you use the ABC formula to craft posts that speak to your followers' needs? Keep what you've already learned in mind as we move on to explore another element of the Instagram ecosystem. 6. Engage with Stories: In the fleeting world of Instagram stories, you've got seconds to hook viewers. Razor sharp copy and powerful storytelling are your secret weapons against disappearing content. By the end of this lesson, you'll know how to write Instagram stories that spark curiosity in the first frame and keep viewers swiping for more. Instagram stories are snapshots of content that appear at the top of follower feeds and your profile for just 24 hours. You can use still images, videos, talk to camera, record a voiceover, and integrate text directly into the visuals through text overlays. You can also use interactive elements like polls, questions, and hashtags. This makes stories a versatile tool for engaging with your audience. Storytelling is a powerful marketing technique because it helps people connect emotionally with a message, making it more memorable and persuasive. Unsurprisingly, Instagram stories are ideal for flexing your storytelling skills. Don't worry if storytelling seems daunting. Using simple templates can make it manageable and effective by guiding you to create impactful content step-by-step. The Quest-Triumph-Reward storytelling template is a straightforward structure. It's easy to follow and effective for engaging your audience quickly. Here's how it works. Start by stating a quest or problem that your audience can relate to. This sets up the context and hooks viewers interest. In this case, Echo Wear is addressing the common issue of struggling to stand out in a world saturated with generic clothing. Introduce your product service or idea as a triumphant solution to the quest. Show it in action or explain how it addresses the issue. Here, Echo Wear is positioning their unique items as an antidote to fast fashion. End by highlighting the rewards or benefits of the triumph. Focus on how it improves the situation or adds value to the viewer's life. Potential Echo Wear customers can imagine themselves feeling confident and stylish in their new clothes. Let's talk about content types for Instagram stories. Their temporary nature is their biggest strength. It makes them perfect for more casual behind- the-scene style glimpses into the life of your brand. From working closely with brands, I've found that sharing personal anecdotes or mistakes really makes content relatable and genuine. I once advised a client to be more open about their missteps on social media. We started with a post where they shared a small but honest mistake, and the response was overwhelmingly positive. It turned out that showing their human side helped build a stronger connection with their audience. Look at this post by Sugar and Sloth founder Anita Perry. She's used a minor error in one of her keyrings to build empathy and show the love and attention that goes into creating her products. It's a great example of turning a challenge into an opportunity. Interactive features like polls, quizzes, and questions can engage your audience and give you an insight into what they like. This story slide is a win-win for both Echo Wear and their audience. The brand get valuable feedback on customer preferences, and followers get their opinion listened to by the brand. Since stories are temporary, they're ideal for time- sensitive offers like flash sales and promotions. Their disappearing nature helps you create a sense of urgency to act quickly. And it sounds cheesy, but, you know, so called copywriting power words and phrases like "buy now", "don't miss out", and "today only"? They're tried and tested and really do encourage people to act, so don't be afraid to use them. Finally, regular tips or challenges. These provide daily engagement that keeps your audience coming back for more, and including this type of content into your story stops it from cluttering your main feed. This challenge-themed post encourages followers to join in by tagging Echo Wear in their own styled posts. The possibility of getting featured on a businesses page like this can be very motivating. What stories do you want to tell about your brand? Reflect on how stories can help you connect with your audience by encouraging them to interact with your brand daily. Your next story could be the key to unlocking deeper engagement. 7. Use Hashtags Effectively: Hashtags do a lot of heavy lifting on Instagram by linking your posts to global conversations and communities. In this lesson, you'll learn how to use hashtags to dramatically increase your reach and connect your content with thousands of new viewers. A hashtag is a word or phrase preceded by the hash symbol used on social media to identify and categorise content around specific topics. Hashtags are particularly important on Instagram. They're the main way people who don't follow you will discover your content. When you add a hashtag to your bio post, story or reel, it links your content to a page with other posts that use the same hashtag. This means if someone searches for that hashtag or clicks on it, they might see your post. It's a great way to join in on conversations and topics on Instagram and help more people find what you're sharing. Also, Instagram likes content that people interact with. If your hashtags bring the right viewers to your post and they like comment or share it, Instagram will see your content as valuable. This can make your posts more visible to more people. These hashtags connect Echo Wear to wider conversations about fashion trends and sustainability. This could attract users who are interested in these broader topics and increase the post's visibility to a new audience. The best practice is to use about five to 11 hashtags. This helps maximise your post's reach without making it look spammy. It's a good idea to put your hashtags at the end of the post or in the first comment. This keeps them separate from your main message and makes your post look cleaner. Capitalising each word of a hashtag like this is good practice, too, just because it makes them easier to read. Put some thought into choosing your hashtags. Using very common ones like #vintage or #fashion isn't effective because they're generic and overused, so content gets lost. Instead, choose specific hashtags that are still popular enough to attract the right audience. Location-specific hashtags can be useful, too. Glenn Lee Robinson is a photographer who often includes the locations of his photos as hashtags. This means they'll show up on searches of people interested in those places. You might also create a unique hashtag for your brand or special campaigns. This can help build a community around your content. Encourage your followers to use this hashtag when they post content related to your brand, which can help more people see it and join in. Instagram blocks certain hashtags because they're linked to inappropriate content. Accidentally using these banned hashtags can hide your post or even cause problems for your account. There are some hashtags on the band list that, to my eyes, look innocuous, so it's very much worth checking your hashtags before publishing. There are plenty of sites like this one where you can check your list of hashtags and see the full list of currently banned ones. Engaging with posts that use the same hashtags as yours is also a smart move. When you like or comment on these posts, you boost your visibility and attract people interested in similar topics. This helps you connect with potential new followers and strengthens your presence on Instagram. Consider the hashtags that resonate most with your brand and how they can help bridge the gap between your content and your target audience. How will you incorporate these insights into your Instagram strategy? It's no coincidence that this mini lesson on hashtags comes right before we talk about Instagram reels. Understanding hashtags is key to making reels successful. Reels get a lot of attention in Instagram's discovery features, so using trending hashtags in them can get you more attention than with a regular post or story. Let's find out more. 8. Create Authentic Reels: Harness the power of brevity in Instagram Reels. With every word, you're crafting an invitation to explore your brand story more deeply. Instagram reels are short, engaging videos in a dedicated tab and on followers feeds designed for viral creative content. The general vibe is like TikTok or YouTube shorts. In this lesson, you'll learn how to write copy for Instagram Reels that sticks and makes viewers want to share. Watch this reel by Echo Wear before we take an in-depth look at the different copy areas and techniques used in it. "Well, hey, there. Welcome to Echo Wear, where every top, trouser, and tie has a story to share. You'll love exploring our collection of hand-picked vintage treasures and discovering pieces that gel with your style. From classic cuts to bold patterns, Echo Wear is your go-to for sustainable one- of-a-kind fashion. Come find something that's uniquely you." Now let's take a closer look at that copy, starting with the description. Like regular posts, reels also include a dedicated space below the visual where you can write accompanying text. It's called a "caption" on post and on reels it's called a "description", but the idea is the same. Reels are usually viewed as part of a fast-moving feed, so it's even more important to make descriptions concise and direct to capture interest. This caption does a great job of keeping things nice and simple. Reels also feature the ability to add text overlays that you can time to appear and disappear at specific points during the video. They're useful for emphasising points or adding narrative layers. In this case, Echo Wear's simple use of text overlays, adds dynamism to their reel. Finally, the script, which includes the words spoken by someone to the camera or in this case, as a voiceover. Although copywriting often refers to text, spoken words are also an important form of copy. So let's explore some scriptwriting techniques that will help you write better scripts for all your short form video content. When scripting for voice, use a conversational tone. Imagine you're talking to someone. This helps the listener connect with the material. Avoid formal language unless it suits the context or brand voice. "Well hey there" is a good example of a friendly and informal greeting. Long rambling sentences can be difficult to follow. So keep sentences short and straightforward like this to enhance clarity and keep your listeners attention. Engage your audience by speaking directly to them. Use words like "you" and "your" to create a connection and make the content feel more relevant to the listener. Include contractions and colloquial expressions to make the script sound more natural. For example, use "you'll" instead of "you will", or "that's" instead of "that is". Always read your script out loud to test how it sounds. This practice can help you catch awkward phrasings or tongue twisters that you might not notice when reading silently. I often include this exercise in my training sessions with marketing teams. People feel pretty silly at first, but they soon get used to it when they realise how useful it is. Reading your draft scripts out loud can also show up opportunities to use devices like rhyme or alliteration to spice up your text. The phrase "top, trouser and tie" is an alliteration that adds rhythm to Echo Wear's voiceover. In terms of content, joining in trends, challenges, or hashtags within your reels is a good way to increase your visibility. That's because Instagram's discovery algorithms favour reels. So joining in on a trending theme is more likely to get you noticed here than in a regular post or a story. Here are the Buzzfeed team a little while ago, taking the 'no bent knees challenge'. A quick glance at your own reels feed will show you what's currently trending. You now have the tools to create Instagram reels that reflect your brand's personality and engage your audience on a deeper level. Consider the key elements that make a real, successful; concise descriptions, engaging text overlays and relatable voiceovers. How will you integrate these into your next reel to capture attention and inspire interaction? 9. Understand Threads: In the same way that Reels is Instagram's version of TikTok, Threads is Instagram's version of Twitter, also known as X. By the end of this lesson, you'll understand how Threads fits into the wider Instagram ecosystem and how you might use it. Threads is different to the other Instagram formats we've explored, because it's separate from the main Instagram platform. Followers won't see your threads posts on their main Instagram feed. They have to use the standalone Threads app. However, I wanted to touch on threads in this class, partly to make sure you have the full picture of what Instagram has to offer right now, and because Threads is integrated into the main Instagram app through your bio; a link to your Threads account is right here at the top of your bio in a prime position. A thread post can contain text, links, photos, and videos. It's just like Twitter. And from talking to my clients that use threads, most of them duplicate their Twitter content on threads, or they've made the decision to leave Twitter, and they're using threads instead to fulfil the same purposes. This suggests that threads can be an effective platform for content repurposing and distribution. If you're already creating content for Twitter, adapting that content for threads could extend your reach without loads more effort. This strategy could be particularly useful if your audience on Twitter overlaps with the Instagram community, or if you're trying to target a demographic that prefers the streamlined conversational nature of threads. When writing threads, certain copywriting techniques can make your content more effective. Let's run through them now. And if these look familiar, that's deliberate, because we've touched on all of them so far in this class. So this list also acts as a handy reminder of Instagram's most important copywriting principles. I'm going to use examples from Ulta Beauty's threads feed to illustrate each of these tactics. Theirs is an excellent account to follow if you're looking at how to write effective threads. Not only are their messages well written and formatted, they're also brilliant at tapping into trends, connecting with other brands and interacting with their followers. Your threads posts, like your tweets, need to be short and clear. Avoid jargon and complex sentences. Aim for simplicity and directness, to make sure your message is easily and quickly understood. The first few words of your post are crucial. They act as a hook to draw readers in. Strong openings, leverage, intrigue, controversy, or surprise, to pique curiosity and compel the audience to read further. Make your posts more engaging and break up text heavy posts with emojis and formatting options. This not only adds personality to your posts, but also helps emphasise key points. Even in short form content, storytelling can be powerful. Use mini stories to illustrate points or to connect emotionally with your audience. This technique can increase engagement and make your content more memorable. Aim to include a call to action in or your threads, whether it's to encourage comments, shares, or clicks to a linked article. Be clear about what you want the reader to do next and make your call to action compelling and easy to follow. Ask your audience questions to prompt discussion. This not only boosts engagement, but also fosters a community feeling. Use relevant hashtags to increase the visibility of your posts and mention other users when relevant to encourage interactions. This can help extend your reach and enhance engagement. Maintain a consistent voice that aligns with your brand. This helps in building a recognisable brand personality. It can also make your content more relatable and trustworthy for your audience. How does Threads fit into your social media strategy? Whether you plan to use it or just need to grasp its mechanics, you're now better prepared. Apply these techniques to your threads posts and indeed all your Instagram posts. They'll help you craft impactful copy that engages your audience and boosts interaction. 10. Connect with Comments: Instagram is all about conversations, and nowhere is that more obvious and more important to remember than when you're messaging just one person directly. This lesson will equip you with the skills to craft personable, brand aligned copy for your comments. You can also apply these techniques to your direct messages, DMs, for short. When someone comments on your post or reel, that comment is public; it's visible below the caption or description to anyone else viewing that content. DMs are private. Only people in the conversation can see them, but many of the same writing techniques apply to both. Before we get stuck into the copywriting side of things, I want to acknowledge that there's a customer service side to dealing with comments and DMs that falls outside the scope of this class, but it is very important. If it's something you'd like to explore further, read this Zen Desk guide. It's free to download, and you don't have to give them any of your details. It's got loads of tips and advice for using Instagram as a customer service tool. Let's analyse the comments on Echo Wear's latest post. For comments like these that simply tag another user or consist of a few words or emojis a 'like' is enough of an acknowledgment. Questions like this one are the most important comments to reply to on Instagram. The commenter is expecting a prompt reply and ignoring them looks impolite. Echo Wear's reply is clear and concise. It answers the question adequately without linking away or including unnecessary information. Our reply is also informal and conversational, suited to the context. Look at the exclamation mark after "yes", the contraction of "we're", the informal phrase "hope to see you then" and the smiley emoji. They create a relaxed and friendly message suited to the context and in line with Echo Wear's informal brand voice. Notice how we've called the commenter by their first name, "Lucy". This is a simple but effective way of making our message feel more personal, especially when it's combined with the word "you" later in the message. Our next commenter has a problem. They've got a faulty product. Notice how our reply follows all the same principles of our other replies being clear, concise, and conversational. The main difference is that instead of saying "we", Jim is using "I", and he's added as his name to the end. This is a smart move when dealing with problems and complaints. It adds an extra layer of accountability, which is helpful for building trust in a situation like this. Continuing the conversation in DMs is often necessary because sorting out the issue will involve exchange of personal data, as in this case. Even if that's not an issue, it's a good idea to shift these conversations into the more private space of DMs to keep your feed positive. Brand voice shouldn't vary between your public and private conversations. So when Jim picks up that conversation with Luka over in the DMs, he needs to maintain the same clear concise and conversational language. This consistency is easier to maintain if you're a solo entrepreneur or a personal brand. It gets tricky as businesses expand and take on more staff. I work with many clients where the marketing team write the social media posts, but the customer service team replies to comments and DMs. Without proper training, this can lead to a disconnect between the tone and language used within the post and in the comments. It's something to make sure you address as your business grows. After saying all that about consistency, this is going to sound like a contradiction, but there's one scenario where it's a good idea to tweak your brand voice to aid engagement. This person has worded their question quite formally. Echo Wear is showing respect for the customer's preferred communication style by replying in the same tone. For example, by choosing the greeting, "good morning" instead of "hi", "here is" instead of "here's", and "assist" instead of "help". This, in fact, is one of the joys of having the opportunity to interact with individual customers. You can get to know them a little bit and nuance your tone, and indeed, your copywriting tactics to better engage them. To sum up, managing conversations on social media is as much about customer service as copywriting. But by staying on brand, respectful, and efficient, you can respond to your audience effectively and build an engaged community. How could these techniques help you connect with your audience? Think about how you can hone your skills to write helpful responses that enhance your brand's presence and trustworthiness on Instagram. 11. Evolve and Grow: When you're writing for a platform and an audience that are constantly evolving, you need to be agile and stay informed if you're to stay relevant. This lesson will arm you with practical tips to keep your Instagram content fresh, relevant, and focused. Staying up to date with algorithm changes and new features is important for all social platforms, but it's perhaps even more vital on Instagram where things evolve fast. Instagram has greatly expanded its features for interaction in recent years. It's added polls, questions, and stories, and more interactive stickers, for example. To stay updated, check Instagram's official blog regularly and follow social news websites like Social Media Today. You could also follow experts like Neil Patel, join webinars and subscribe to newsletters from trusted sources like the Social Shepherd. Next up, experiment and analyse. It's so important to keep trying new things with your Instagram content. Your audience, the algorithm, and the outside world, change. So what worked for you a couple of months ago might not work tomorrow. Use Instagram's Insight feature to see how many people are viewing and interacting with your posts. Keep an eye on key performance indicators such as engagement rates, follower growth, and the reach of your posts. Analysing these metrics, helps you understand what content resonates with your audience. This helps you refine your approach and use your time and energy more effectively. For example, Echo Wear might experiment with different calls to action on their posts. Options include asking people to comment, share, visit the website, double tap, or reply. Over time, they'll build up an accurate idea of what their followers respond best to. You can also straight-up ask your followers what kind of content they want. This helps you improve your output. It also builds a strong community and shows your followers that you value their feedback and care about what they have to say. Keep an eye on your competition for ideas and inspiration. Follow your competitors on Instagram and see what kinds of posts get a lot of likes and comments. Notice any special campaigns or promotions they're running. Also, see what new features they might be using, like different story tools or interactive polls, and think about how you can use those features in your own way. Long-term growth includes anticipating trends and preparing relevant content before they become mainstream. To do this, you need to stay updated with Instagram specific developments, broader social media ones, and trends relevant to your niche or industry. Use this information to craft copy that feels fresh and ahead of the curve. For example, Echo Wear might move towards more inclusive messaging. This taps into an upcoming trend, as well as diversifying their customer base. You should also monitor popular culture and language developments to understand what phrases might resonate. Using phrases like "TFW" and "current mood", can be a smart strategy, especially if you're targeting a younger audience. These expressions are part of the casual conversational style that's popular on social media. They can make your posts feel relatable and timely. However, it's important to use these phrases appropriately, so they fit with your brand voice and audience expectations. If they feel forced or out of place, they might alienate users who don't understand the references. And if you don't belong to the demographic, whose language you're trying to emulate, there's always the risk you're going to come across as inauthentic. So proceed with caution. Staying current and continuously evolving your approach on Instagram is challenging, but it's also achievable with the right strategies. Keep challenging your assumptions about what works and embrace the constant learning curve that social media demands. How will you integrate the latest features or trends into your strategy? Keep adapting and innovating, and you'll not just keep up with Instagram, you'll lead the way. Stay tuned for our final lesson where you'll put what you've learned into practice in your class project and discover the next steps on your journey to better copy for your brand on Instagram and beyond. 12. Next Steps: Thank you for choosing this class, and congratulations! You've learned practical techniques you can use straight away to craft engaging and effective content for Instagram. Now it's time to put what you've learned into action with your class project. Create a mini Instagram content series that includes a post, a story, and a reel. Use your worksheet to stay organised, and use the techniques you've learned in this class to make your series, audience focused, engaging, and reflective of your brand's identity. Then upload your content series as a project. I've uploaded my own example project to inspire you. I love reading your projects, and I can't wait to see how you've used your new skills. If you need feedback on something specific or have any questions, please do reach out. I hope this class has been valuable and exceeded your expectations. I look forward to your honest feedback to help me improve future classes. Your review will also help other students find Skillshare classes that will suit their learning needs. Thank you so much for being part of this positive, supportive community. What would you like to learn next? If you want to improve your writing across other social platforms, check out my Social Media Copywriting Masterclass. This is my most popular class on Skillshare for a reason. It's packed with insights to help you create standout content more quickly and easily. If you want to improve your copywriting skills more generally, try my Copywriting for Beginners or Digital Copywriting Basics classes. Both will help you get a solid grounding in the craft of copywriting. They contain hands-on guides, tips, strategies, and tools to elevate your marketing copy. If you're looking to hone a specific skill, be it crafting SEO- friendly copy, creating punchy ads, defining your brand's mission statement or finessing your writing style and tone, I've got you covered. Visit my profile page to see my full collection of Skillshare copywriting classes and hit "follow" for updates on new classes. Thank you again for joining me today. It really is a privilege to be able to support you on your professional journey. Enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy using your new Instagram copywriting skills.