How to write captions that sound like you

A caption does one job

A caption sits next to a photo and tells the viewer what they are looking at and why it matters. That is all. It does not need to sell, explain your whole business or end with a slogan.

If you can finish the sentence 'This is a photo of... and it shows...' then you have your caption. Anything beyond that is a bonus, and you can leave it out when you are short of time.

Many people freeze because they think a caption has to be clever. It does not. A plain, true sentence about the job, written the way you would say it over the fence, is almost always enough.

A simple structure

Most good small business captions follow three beats. Say what the job was, add one specific detail, and finish with a gentle invitation or a place name.

Not every caption needs all three beats. Some days a caption is just the first beat and the place, and that is fine. The structure is a guide for when you are stuck, not a rule to follow every time.

• What: new deck, bathroom refresh, garden bed
• Detail: the part you liked or the tricky bit
• Close: your area, or how to get in touch

Examples in plain voice

Here are a few that sound like real people. 'Finished the front fence today. Tight corners, but the lines came out straight. Working across the coast this month, message us if you need a hand.'

Another: 'Kitchen repaint done. Two days, a lot of masking tape, one very happy owner.' And a short one: 'Booked out this week, a few spots open next. Get in touch if you have something coming up.'

Notice what these have in common: they are short, they say something specific and none of them makes a big promise. You can copy the shape and swap in your own job, your own detail and your own area.

Read it aloud

The easiest edit is to read your caption out loud. If you would not say a sentence to a customer standing in front of you, change it. Cut words like 'passionate', 'solutions' and 'journey' unless that is genuinely how you talk.

Shorter is usually better. One or two sentences beat a paragraph for a quick photo post, and a short caption is far more likely to be read to the end.

Another quick check is to ask whether the caption could be used by any business at all. If it could, add something that only applies to your job, like a material, a street feature or a problem you solved.

Words and claims to avoid

Avoid promises and comparisons you cannot back up, like 'the best in town' or promised results. They add nothing and can cause trouble. Stick to what you did and where.

If you work in a regulated trade, do not use wording in a caption that sounds like an approval or a ruling on the work. Keep your licence and regulator details accurate yourself, and keep wording factual.

Be careful with humour and sarcasm about customers. It may feel friendly among mates, but on a public page it can read as unkind, and customers who see themselves in the joke may not laugh.

How Ninjaneer Media fits

In the Ninjaneer Media invite-only beta, you set up your voice and style when you add your business details, and the drafts come back for you to review. If a draft is not quite right, you can comment a change instead of rewriting it from scratch, or delete it.

Each post waits for your approval, so the final words are always yours to accept or change. Live posting to social accounts switches on after the beta.

Keep a running note on your phone of phrases you actually use. Over time it becomes a small library of your own voice, which makes every future caption quicker to write.