Social media has changed the world arguably more than or as much as television did in the 1950s. It’s here to stay since social media outlets largely drive discussion, entertainment, advertising, and commerce.
While social media is a relatively new invention, the way to win with these platforms requires mastery of one of the oldest arts — the written word.
Make no mistake about it — good copywriting is a skill that is built upon one project at a time.
Quality social media copy can take your brand to new heights with each post that you write.
So how can you captivate your audience through your social media writing? We’ve got some tips that’ll steer you in the right direction.
Keep reading to learn more about writing social media copywriting that meets the mark.
1. Understand Your Brand’s Mission Statement and Go From There
Outlining your mission statement and vision will help you more than almost anything else. Writing for social media is the best way to market directly to your potential customers, so you need to know at your core what you intend to impart to them.
A big part of your mission begins with your “why”. Consider what made you want to create your brand and company, and get a key understanding of what helps you provide.
This mission for why you started, and a vision for where you’re going, will create a roadmap that will get you to your destination one social media post at a time.
2. Always Lead With Providing Value
Providing value before asking for anything in return is a universal principle that should also serve as a foundation for your writing.
Even the best writing is cheapened if you’re constantly asking for something from your followers.
They’ll start to feel pestered and will likely become mistrustful of your brand.
Make sure that each of your posts serves a purpose. This means that you should seek to inform your readers, entertain them, strike emotional chords, and otherwise make sure that your posts are offering value.
Only once you have consistently provided value should you try to convert sales or other goals.
Sound persuasive skills are at the core of quality social media writing. It’s easier to persuade people when you’ve already offered value with prior posts.
3. Keep Your Tone and Voice Consistent and Set Standards
It’s important to speak with an effective, consistent voice when engaging your audience.
Too many brands focus on the text itself, without considering the tone and voice they use. This is every bit as important as the content itself.
For instance, a law firm will need to denote authority, mastery, and the ability to jump in and save the day. Conversely, a dentist will need to educate, while also putting people’s minds at ease about vulnerable procedures.
An entertainment brand will need to capture the audience that they hope to seek, and it should be on par with any content that the brand creates.
Make sure that your tone and voice resonate with each post so that people become accustomed to your posts.
4. Recognize and Respect the Platform That You’re Using
Make an effort to understand the different social media platforms and the nuances they come with.
Learning to write specifically for different platforms will help you hit your marketing goals. This requires you to know the people that use these platforms and what draws them in.
For instance, Facebook skews older, while Twitter draws people in who are looking for small, quick-hit bits of information. Marketers often make the mistake of writing the same way on all platforms.
You’ll get better results when you are conscious of the differences between them and proceed accordingly.
5. Set Concrete Goals for Each and Every Post
Creating a marketing strategy of any kind requires you to first set concrete goals.
Rather than simply writing posts and blasting them out to the public, you need to know what you’re hoping to accomplish with each.
For instance, perhaps you have a temporary promotion that you’d like to inform people about. You might use written content to create anticipation and urgency in your audience.
Other campaigns might involve hitting sales goals for holidays, promoting products and courses, or informing people of changes in your company.
By starting with your goals in mind, it’ll inform every word that you write and will allow you to market with intention.
6. Put Out Error-Free Content No Matter What
When writing for social media, you’ll alienate much of your audience when you make typos and grammatical errors.
In this day and age, with all of the tools at your disposal, there’s no reason or excuse for putting out content that has typos or grammatical errors.
Pre-write your content in advance and give yourself enough time to edit it for mistakes, and to punch it up for effect.
Run your content through spellcheck and check for fluff and poor grammar. Make sure that your headlines are properly capitalized, and that you’re mindful about your word choices.
7. Use Visuals That Enhance Your Written Copy
Promoting your brand on social media requires a strong grasp of visual multimedia.
Much has been written about how visual media is taking over peoples’ attention spans and is a driving force behind social media. However, it’s a mistake to think that one is better or more useful than the other.
Use engaging images that serve as a one-two punch for your strong writing.
If you’re going to write a lengthy post, you would be remiss to not also include quality images that support it.
Take original photos when at all possible, and use quality stock images that are professional.
8. Seek Engagement With Your Audience
With close to 4 billion social media users around the world, you have a built-in pool of people to engage with when you learn to hit all the right notes.
Every piece of content that you write should build engagement with people and make them want to read more. Use lively language and avoid passive voice.
Master the use of AIDA — 1. Attention 2. Interest 3. Desire 4. Action. Using this protocol will help you write strong lead paragraphs, hook people in with facts and interesting information, garner desire, and convert your posts with strong calls to action.
Make sure that you also follow up by creating well-written, thoughtful responses anytime that your commenters engage with you.
9. Figure Out the Best Way to Incorporate Hashtags
Today, you need to learn as much as you can about hashtags so that your posts hit their mark.
You can organically bolster Instagram engagement when you learn how to effectively use hashtags with your written content.
These hashtags will compartmentalize your posts and will make sure that people can easily find your posts and know what to do with them.
10. Remain in the Loop With Trends
As you write social media copy, it’s important that you remain in the loop with the social media trends that are popular and growing at the moment.
There are a number of social media trends you should know about over the course of the next few years.
For instance, people are more comfortable than ever shopping on social media platforms. Expect this trend to continue as people maintain wallets on their smartphones and are increasingly mobile-first web users.
More than 100 million people will shop on social media platforms by the year 2023.
Other popular trends include short-form video content, the increased use of augmented reality, and the creation of more bite-sized web content.
Understanding these trends will help you write to your audience in a way that they prefer to digest their media content. Always learn and study your audience as you write your social media content.
Consistently study analytics so that you can communicate with your audience more effectively. Some Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that you should study include impressions, reach, and likes.
Incorporate Some Dynamite Social Media Copy Into Your Brand
The points in this article will help you out when you’re trying to do what’s best for your social media copy.
The written word is as powerful as ever and will work in your favor when you understand the best way to use it.
We take pride in building strong writers from the ground up and can assist you as well.
The San Francisco School of Copywriting can help you out when you are looking to take your written copy to the next level. Use our message form to reach out to us for more information.
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