Helpful Social Media Writing Tips
In today’s article, we’ll be sharing our snappy social media writing tips, so you can better your own copy.
Good social content takes time and thought to create. Effective copy is crucial to see results – and getting your social posts the attention that they deserve can be a challenge for any business.
Your social media campaigns might focus on brand awareness, lead building, engaging with consumers or a different goal. But to achieve any goal, you need brilliant social media writing.
Top Social Media Writing Tips
1. Don’t Over-do It
You need to deliver your message across quickly.
Social media is fast paced, and chances are your audience are aimlessly scrolling through their newsfeed / timeline without paying much attention, so, you don’t want viewers to have to work hard to make sense of your ad.
Keep the language simple and remove jargon.
2. Keep it Casual
Most importantly, you need to be writing in your brand’s voice.
Understand that your social media presence isn’t the same as your website, email campaigns or other digital strategy. Social media is supposed to be fun, not overly formal and corporate.
Try softening your tone and keeping it chilled.
Not every social network is the same.
Produce content based on the network you’re using.
For example, LinkedIn typically requires more professional language since it’s a fairly formal network. Whereas, Twitter is a lot less professional.
3. Give a Clear CTA
Whilst you don’t want to be pushy and overly promotional, you do want to clearly tell consumers what you want them to do.
- – Join your conversation
- – Tag a friend
- – Follow the link
- – Share a post
- – Attend an event
No matter what your CTA is, you need to encourage a simple action from your consumers to see results.
4. Try Using Emojis
Emojis can add a bit of colour to your copy.
It’s a more interesting way to engage with your audience (as long as it’s appropriate). For instance, if you’re promoting a new dish on your menu, then adding a few relevant food emojis might liven it up a bit.
5. Keep it Short
Social media usually isn’t the place for lengthy case studies or massive speeches.
Think about the consumer experience. Are they always going to want to press “see more” to view the rest of your text? Whilst lengthier posts might sometimes be necessary, you should try condensing your copy and remove unnecessary content.
6. Break the Rules
Because social media posts are typically supposed to be short and snappy, it’s OK to break standard punctuation rules.
We have a limited number of characters, Twitter only allows us 280, so missing out punctuation is fine as long as the absence of a comma, for example, doesn’t confuse readers.
7. Replace Words with Hashtags
Since we’re looking to save a bit of space … try integrating hashtags into your sentences.
For example – Check out our top writing tips for #SocialMedia
Unsure what hashtags to use? – How to Use Hashtag Marketing
Key Points to Take Away
- Proof read every post
- Keeping it short is best
- Don’t be too formal
- Keep your target audience in mind
- Use direct CTAs
Social media content requires just as much though and planning as lengthier forms of content like web copy.
Which of our social media writing tips did you find most useful? Have we missed any good ones? Let us know in the comments below.
Why not check out our Digital Marketing Terms Glossary?
About the author:
Marie Harwood is a Digital Marketing Assistant at Different Gravy Digital, Hale, Cheshire.
Different Gravy Digital are a full service Digital Marketing Agency operating in the Hospitality & Leisure, Financial Services, Legal & Property sectors. Products and services range from; 3D & 360° Tours, Website Design & Build, Social Media, Video Production, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Content Creation, Email Marketing, Online Feedback / Review Systems and Paid Advertising (Google, Bing and Social Media).
Contact Details:
marie@differentgravydigital.co.uk
0161 706 000
120a Ashley Road, Hale, Altrincham, Cheshire, WA14 2UN