How to Add Captions to Instagram Stories

How to Add Captions to Instagram Story Videos: A Complete Guide

Instagram is one of the most widely used apps, with over 2 billion users as of 2023 (Statista, 2023). One useful feature for engagement is the ability to add captions to your Instagram Story videos. Captions help viewers follow along when they cannot use audio and make your content accessible to people with hearing impairments.

Why Add Captions to Instagram Stories?

• Captions let viewers watch your content with the sound off.
• They improve accessibility for users with hearing loss.
• Captions can increase engagement and reach by up to 40% (Instagram internal data, 2022).
• Many users prefer reading over listening when scrolling in public spaces.

Ways to Add Captions to Instagram Story Videos

Most Instagram users post from their phones, either on Android or iOS. Instagram offers two main ways to add captions:

• Automatic (auto-generated) captions
• Manual (self-written) captions

How to Add Automatic Captions to Instagram Stories

Instagram offers built-in tools to automatically generate captions for your Story videos. This option is fast and requires little effort, but currently works best for English in certain regions. As of early 2024, you cannot edit auto-generated captions, so clear speech helps improve accuracy.

Step-by-Step: Adding Automatic Captions

• Open the Instagram app and tap the Your Story button at the top left of your screen.
• Record a video or select one from your camera roll to upload.
• Tap the Sticker icon at the top.
• Select the Captions sticker.
• Choose the font style, size, and color for your captions.
• Move and resize the captions on your video as you like.
• Tap Done to save your captions, then publish your Story.

Your Instagram Story now has captions, making it easier for more people to enjoy your video.

How to Add Captions Manually on Instagram Stories

If the automatic captions are not available in your region or you want more control, you can add captions manually. This method allows you to customize your text and format it for easier reading.

Step-by-Step: Adding Your Own Captions

• Open the Instagram app and navigate to Your Story.
• Add or record a video to use in your Story.
• Tap the Aa icon at the top to insert text.
• Type your captions, breaking lines as needed for clarity.
• Format the text by choosing the right font, size, color, and alignment.
• Drag and drop the text to your preferred spot on the video.
• Tap Done, then post your Story.

Tips for Writing Clear Instagram Captions

• Use short sentences and avoid big blocks of text.
• Add punctuation to help viewers read along easily.
• Leave space between lines by pressing Enter or Return.
• Include emojis or symbols to make your captions more engaging.
• Double-check spelling and grammar for a professional look.

Manual captions let you correct mistakes and add emphasis, which is helpful for storytelling and branding.

Expanding Accessibility with Captions

Videos with captions help increase your reach and engagement. Studies show that 85% of Facebook and Instagram videos are watched without sound (Digiday, 2019). Adding captions ensures your message gets across, even without audio.

• Captions support users in noisy or quiet environments.
• They help viewers who speak different languages or have accents.
• Captions are vital for global audiences who prefer to read text or use translation tools.

Professional Captioning and Transcription Services

You can use third-party closed caption services to create accurate captions for your videos. These services offer expert quality and can handle multiple languages, which is helpful if you want to reach a broader audience.

• Human professionals ensure accuracy in spelling and grammar.
• Subtitling services are also available for translating and localizing your captions.
• Services like automated transcription provide quick, machine-generated text for longer videos.
• Audio translation services let you reach non-English speakers with translated captions.

More Ways to Enhance Your Instagram Videos

• Use transcription services to get text versions of your spoken content for sharing across platforms.
• Check out text translation services if you have followers from different countries.
• Ensure your captions are perfect by using transcription proofreading services.
• Find out about captioning pricing to budget your content creation.

Conclusion

Adding captions to your Instagram Stories boosts accessibility, helps users engage with your content, and supports a wider audience. Whether you use Instagram's built-in tools or get help from professional services, captions are a simple way to make your videos stand out.

Solutions like GoTranscript's closed captioning and subtitling services offer easy, reliable ways to caption your videos. With affordable transcription pricing and options for AI transcription subscriptions, you can create accessible content for every platform. Ready to make your next Instagram Story more inclusive? Order transcription or order captions from GoTranscript today.