Social Caption (Global)

Organic captions for owned social posts on Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Facebook, and X. A good caption has a hook strong enough to stop the thumb, a body that earns the scroll, and a CTA clear enough that the reader knows what to do. Written for someone reading on a phone, moving fast.

Not this skill: paid ad copy — different constraints (ad policy review, character limits in placements, primary text truncation, iteration against CPA). Use 05-ad-copy-global.

Information gathering

Read the Brand Voice Document (35-brand-voice-global) and the content brief (36-content-brief-global) first. If the brief already sets angle, hook direction, and CTA, use them — do not re-ask. If both are missing, ask up to 4 questions:

1. What is the product, service, or topic — and is there a real number, testimonial, or case study available?
2. Which funnel stage? TOFU (awareness) / MOFU (consideration) / BOFU (conversion)
3. Which channel? Instagram / LinkedIn / TikTok / Facebook / X
4. What is the intended CTA and target length? (comment / click / DM / book / buy — short under 100 words / medium 100-200 / long over 200)

Principles

1. The first line is the hook. Never open with the brand name or a greeting. The reader decides in about a second.
2. One caption = one message. Do not stack benefits into a single post.
3. A specific number beats a vague adjective. "Cut onboarding from 11 days to 3" beats "dramatically faster".
4. Write for mobile. Paragraphs of 1-3 sentences with white space between them. No walls of text.
5. BOFU needs a clear CTA and a real reason to act now. Manufactured urgency is a brand risk; a genuine deadline, batch, or capacity limit is not.
6. Read it aloud before you ship it. If it sounds like a status report, the tone is wrong.
7. Check it against brand voice. Vocabulary and banned words from 35-brand-voice-global. Default banned list: "game-changer", "revolutionary", "unlock your potential", "don't miss out", "act now", "elevate your", "we're excited to announce", "best-in-class".
8. Disclose material connections. Paid partnership, gifted product, affiliate link, or employee-authored posts need clear disclosure in the caption itself, not only in a platform tag — FTC endorsement rules apply to organic content.

Workflow

1. Read the brief and the brand voice

From 36-content-brief-global: angle, source insight, key message, CTA. From 35-brand-voice-global: tone, vocabulary, sentence rules. Without a brief, gather the 4 answers above first.

2. Write the hook to funnel stage

The hook must stand alone with no context.

| Stage | Hook direction | Typical form | |-------|----------------|--------------| | TOFU | Pain / curiosity / contrarian | A question that names the frustration, or a statement that inverts the category's default belief | | MOFU | Social proof / concrete result | A number, a short testimonial, a before-and-after | | BOFU | Offer / genuine urgency | A specific discount or bonus, a real deadline, a real capacity limit |

3. Write 2 genuinely different A/B variants

The two variants must differ structurally, not by a few swapped words:

• Variant A: one hook direction (for example pain) plus one body structure (for example a list).
• Variant B: a different hook direction (for example curiosity or social proof) plus a different structure (for example a short narrative).

Each variant: Hook (opening line) then Body (2-4 short paragraphs, 1-3 sentences each) then CTA (a specific action).

4. Write the selection note

State plainly: use A when context or audience], use B when context or audience], and how to mix (hook A with body B, or the reverse) if that is sensible.

5. Apply hashtags and platform adaptation

Hashtags are a discovery and categorization signal now, not a reach lever. Fewer and more targeted outperforms volume on every major platform.

| Channel | Hashtags | Adaptation | |---------|----------|------------| | Instagram | 3-5, targeted to the actual topic | The first line carries the hook — it is what shows before "more". Visual leads; the caption supports it | | LinkedIn | 3, professional and topical | First 2-3 lines are visible before "see more". First-person point of view, no hard sell, external links often better in the first comment | | TikTok | 3-5, mixing one trending tag with niche tags | 1-2 lines, keyword-forward so it surfaces in TikTok search. The real hook lives in the first second of video; the caption supports it | | Facebook | 0-2, or none | Longer captions work. Conversational. Line breaks matter more than hashtags | | X | 1-2 maximum | One idea, no wind-up. If it needs more, it is a thread — write it as one |

Truncation points and character limits change; check the platform preview before publishing rather than trusting a remembered number.

Output structure

File name: social-caption-[topic]-[YYYYMMDD].md

markdown
# Social Caption — [Topic]

## Context
| Item | Detail |
|------|--------|
| Funnel stage | TOFU / MOFU / BOFU |
| Channel | |
| Objective | |
| Target length | |
| Source brief | [link to content brief if any] |
| Disclosure required | none / paid partnership / gifted / affiliate |

## Variant A — [hook direction]
**Hook:**
[Opening line — stands alone, creates pain / curiosity / surprise]

**Body:**
[2-4 short paragraphs, 1-3 sentences each, white space between]

**CTA:**
[Specific action]

## Variant B — [different hook direction]
**Hook:**
[Different angle — if A used pain, B uses curiosity or social proof]

**Body:**
[Different structure from A — if A used a list, B uses narrative]

**CTA:**
[May match or differ from A]

## Selection notes
- Use **A** when: [context / audience]
- Use **B** when: [context / audience]
- Mixing A+B: [hook A with body B or the reverse, if sensible]

## Hashtags
[Per platform norm — Instagram 3-5 / LinkedIn 3 / TikTok 3-5 / Facebook 0-2 / X 1-2]

## Brand voice check
- Matches Brand Voice Document: Yes / No
- Banned words: none present
- Read aloud: sounds natural
- Every claim substantiable: Yes

Related skills

• 35-brand-voice-global: read before writing (tone, vocabulary, banned words); run its section VII checklist before handoff.
• 36-content-brief-global: supplies angle, source insight, key message, and CTA.
• 01-content-calendar-global: captions are written against a calendar slot (channel, funnel stage, pillar).
• 05-ad-copy-global: when the post will run as a paid ad, rewrite to ad-copy standards. Never push an organic caption into an ad unchanged.
• 42-image-brief-global, 43-carousel-brief-global: the accompanying visual brief, produced after the caption is approved.

Quality checklist

• First line is a hook — no brand name, no greeting.
• One caption = one message = one CTA.
• The two variants differ genuinely (different hook direction and different structure).
• Selection note states when to use A and when to use B.
• Specific numbers replace vague adjectives wherever evidence exists.
• Paragraphs are 1-3 sentences and readable on a phone.
• BOFU has a clear CTA and, where urgency is used, a real reason for it.
• No banned words (checked against 35-brand-voice-global).
• Hashtag count and style match the channel's current norm.
• Material connection disclosed in-caption where one exists.
• Read aloud — it sounds like a person talking.