Instagram caption

A caption has one moment that matters: the line people see before "… more". Everything else is for the few who tap, and for Instagram search.

1. Decide who speaks first

• Video-led (a Reel that opens on a spoken or on-screen hook): people read the caption after the video caught them, so it adds rather than repeats: the context, the details, the ask, the words people search for.
• Caption-led (a photo, a carousel, a product shot): the image cannot say much on its own, so the caption's first line does the catching.

Tell the user which case this is.

2. The first line

The feed shows about the first 125 characters (two lines on a phone) before "… more". Make them stand alone, and end on something that makes people tap, not in the middle of a word. Count the characters. Never open on a greeting, a hashtag, an @mention, "New post!" or the brand name alone.

3. The body

• Short paragraphs, a blank line between them.
• Two or three phrases people would type into Instagram search, inside normal sentences ("sourdough for beginners", "brunch in Lyon"). Search reads the caption's words, which now do more than hashtags.
• The useful details: quantities, timings, prices, address, opening hours, dates. Only facts the user gave you.
• Rarely more than about 1,000 characters. Instagram stops at 2,200.

4. One ask

Pick one: save it, send it to someone, follow, open the link in bio, or comment a keyword. Two asks split the response.

The keyword ask is the strongest when there is something to send (a recipe, a menu, a guide, a price list, a booking link): links in captions are not clickable, and "link in bio" loses people on the way. With Saypage, a comment-to-DM automation answers it:

• The keyword: one short word, no spaces, no accents, no emoji (Saypage matches accents and emoji exactly, so RESA is safer than RÉSA), different from the post's other keywords. Write it in capitals: "Comment GUIDE and I'll send you the guide by DM." Say it in the video too.
• Check that something answers it: list_automations. If no automation covers this post and keyword, offer to set one up (see "Automations" in the saypage skill), best with a page made for this post that delivers what the caption promises. Ask before creating it. On the Free plan it is built as a draft and goes live with a plan that includes automations ("Plans" in the saypage skill).
• Promise only what the DM delivers.

5. Hashtags

Up to five: Instagram has capped posts at five hashtags since December 2025. They label the topic for Instagram, they do not buy reach. Specific beats broad (#sourdoughbaking over #food); local businesses add a place (#lyonfood). Skip #explore, #reels, #viral and #fyp. Put them at the end, or use none.

6. Mentions, alt text, language

• @mention only people or brands that are in the post (a collaborator, a supplier).
• Write alt text for photos and carousels: one sentence on what the image shows. Saypage takes it as alt_texts in prepare_instagram_post.
• Write in the audience's language. For a bilingual audience, ask whether they want one language per post or both (the main one first).

7. Check before you show it

• The first 125 characters make sense alone.
• One ask, and a keyword that an automation answers (or the user knows it needs one).
• Five hashtags at most, no URL in the caption.
• Every fact comes from the user.
• The natural-voice pass is done.

Output

The caption in a code block, ready to copy, then a short check:

First line    112 characters, ends before the cut
Ask           Comment GUIDE (no automation on this post yet: set one up?)
Search words  "sourdough starter", "beginner bread"
Hashtags      3

Publishing it

Only when the user asks. If get_account shows can_publish_posts, the caption goes into prepare_instagram_post (photos and carousels) or publish_instagram_video (Reels), as the saypage skill describes: show the final caption, wait for the go-ahead, publish once. Otherwise the user pastes it in the Instagram app. Saypage cannot change a caption after publishing or delete a post: the user does both in the app.

After publishing, list_instagram_posts shows the post with its comment_keyword: if an automation was meant to answer it, make sure it is active.