The Ideal Copy Length for Every Social Media Post

Check out this comprehensive guide with character length limits for all the major social networks to help improve the likelihood that people will read or engage with content!

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Instagram

Ideal length of Instagram Captions > 125-150 characters

Captions are meant to compliment your content.  That being said, you want your captions to provide context and compel your audience to engage further with your post.  The limit for Instagram captions is 2,200 characters, prompting users to tap a “see more” option if they wish to read more.  Keeping your Instagram captions on the shorter end will help keep the focus on the visual content you’re sharing.  Remember, this doesn't apply to all posts! Sometimes it’s nice to share a story, how-to, etc. But if so, weave posts with longer captions in with those with shorter captions.

Instagram Limits:

• Username > 30 characters
• Bio > 150 characters
• Post caption > 2,200 characters
• Hashtags > 30 hashtags per post

Pinterest

Pin Descriptions > 200 characters

Pin descriptions are the pinner chance to add context, persuade, and sell.  They don’t need to be long, in fact, shorter descriptions of around 200 characters perform the best, so use them to compel your audience to save your pin to their own boards and interact further with your content!

Pinterest Limits:

• Username > 15 characters
• Profile Name > 20 characters
• Bio > 160 characters
• Board name > 100 characters
• Board description > 500 characters
• Pin description > 500 characters
• Maximum number of boards > 500
• Maximum number of Pins > 200,000 (including private board pins and group boards you are a part of)

Twitter

Ideal length of a Tweet > 71-100 characters

Remember when Twitter had a tweet limit of 140 characters? Well, there’s a reason they kept it that way for so long. Twitter was designed for sharing short and succinct thoughts, not mini essays.  By keeping your tweets under 100 characters, you are not only improving your chances of catching your audience’s attention, but you’re also increasing your chances of them actually reading your tweet in its entirety.  According to a study, Tweets with 100 characters or less receive 17% higher engagement rates than longer tweets.

Twitter Limits:

• Tweet length > 280 characters
• DMs > 10,000 characters
• Twitter Handle > 15 characters
• Profile Name > 20 characters

Facebook

Facebook Updates & Organic Posts > 40-80 characters

Posts with 40 characters or less earn 86% more engagement whereas posts with 80 characters or less (between 40-80 characters) receive 66% more engagement than those with more than 80 characters. So keep your posts short and sweet!

Facebook Ads & Paid Posts

Headlines > 5 words

• Headlines are meant to entice people and drive them to click on your post/ad.  Long headlines run the risk of being cut off, so keep your headlines to 5 words or less.

Post Description > 18 words

• The text that is shown directly below the headline is meant to give a bit more information as to what the post is about.  Make sure it’s long enough to give people a taste of what to expect, but short enough to keep them wanting more!

Facebook Limits:

Post  > 63,206 characters

Username > 50 characters

Page description > 155 characters

Post comment > 8,000 characters

Video/Link Ads

• Headline > 25 characters
• Text > 90 characters
• Link description > 30 characters

Image Ads

• Headline > 40 characters
• Text > 90 characters
• Link description > 20 characters

Canvas Ads

• Body text > 500 characters
• Button text > 30 characters

Tik Tok

TikTok Post Caption > 10-20 characters followed by 2-3 hashtags

Avoid long captions!! Keep them concise but relevant to the video you are posting (under 100 characters). Captions should either help users understand the gist of the video or compliment the video in a creative way.  TikTok recommends using local language and hashtags when writing captions.

LinkedIn

Status Updates > 50-100 characters (maximum 700 characters). Although LinkedIn is considered more text-based than other social networks due to its resume style format, short form updates perform the best. Because the platform cuts off copy longer than 140 characters, either keep your entire update on the shorter side, or use the first 100-140 characters to entice your audience and drive them to read more!

Post Titles > 30-49 characters. Articles with titles between 30 and 49 characters receive the greatest number of post views overall. PRO TIP! Refrain from asking questions in headlines and titles for your posts.

Published Posts > 1,900-2,000 words. LinkedIn Publishing mimics that of a blog post.  As a result, long-form content performs the best for these types of posts. Researcher Paul Shaprio of Search Wilderness analyzed over 3,000 posts and found that 1,900-2,000 words are ideal for published posts. PRO TIP! Listicles and “How To” posts tend to perform the best across the board on LinkedIn.

General Limits:

• Page Name > 50 characters
• First Name > 20 characters
• Last Name > 40 characters
• About Us/Summary > 2,000 characters
• Custom Module Title > 150 characters
• Custom Module Body > 500 characters
• Recommendation > 3,000 characters
• LinkedIn Publishing Post Headline > 150 characters
• LinkedIn Publishing Body Length > not given but estimated ~120,000 characters

Company Specific Limits:

• Name > 100 characters
• Updates > 700 characters
• Company Leaders Headline > 150 characters
• Company Leaders Description > 150 characters
• Employee Testimonials > 400 characters