Growth10 August 2026 · 6 min read
Seven caption formulas that work on almost any channel
Reusable shapes for captions — with examples — for when the blank page wins.
By the Sosial team
Formulas are not a substitute for thinking. They are what you reach for on the days you have the idea but not the framing.
The seven
- Result, reason, ask — "We cut churn 12%. It was one onboarding email. What fixed yours?"
- Mistake, cost, fix — "We lost a week to this. Here is the ten-minute fix."
- Before and after — show the change, then the one thing that caused it.
- Contrarian — the common advice, then the specific reason it fails.
- List — a number, a promise, then the items. Only when the items are genuinely distinct.
- Question — a real question with two clear options, never "thoughts?".
- Story — a moment, a turn, a lesson. Keep it under 150 words.
How to choose
Match the formula to what you actually have. If you have a number, use result-reason-ask. If you have a mistake, use mistake-cost-fix. Forcing a list when you have a story is where captions go wrong.
One rule over all of them
Put the most interesting sentence first. Every formula above collapses if the opening line is setup instead of substance.
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