Your social media strategy may include brand awareness, lead generation or customer retention and these factors are all achieved through one thing. Excellent social media writing skills.
In this article, I’m going to share with you my social media writing tips for business so that you too can hone your communication and hit those all-important KPIs.
1. Use Your Casual Voice
First, you really need to hone your brand voice. What are your brand’s values and how are you going to get them across on social media?
Understand that your social media accounts are not supposed to be a replica of your website. Even if you are a serious corporate brand, you will need to soften your tone and make it more casual. Remember why people are using most social media in the first place — to connect with friends — and why they follow your Facebook page instead of just visiting your website.
Remember too, that while casual, your tone should be adjusted for each social media network.
For example, on Linkedin, the professional network, you might say “The Agorapulse team has compiled a list of the best social media writing tips. Click below to read them.” On Facebook, where it is considerably less professional, you might say “Need to improve your social media writing skills? Check out our hot tips.”
Takeaways
- Avoid lengthy or convoluted sentences
- Stay away from colorless “business-speak”
- Don’t use an unnecessarily long word if there is a shorter alternative
2. Keep It Short and Simple
Social media isn’t the place for deep musings, case studies, or pasted stories. Although Facebook gives you 400 characters, please don’t use them all! The optimal length of a Facebook post is 40 characters and after that point engagement wanes. Studies even show that some of the most shared posts are just 11 words and incorporate video and emoji like Buzzfeed below:
If you want to share a blog or story with your readers, then introduce it briefly and include a link to it.
Takeaways
- Your social media page is a great place to link to your blog not to copy and paste it
- Use emoji to illustrate your point instead of explaining it in long sentences
- Use fewer words as a teaser to your link, video, or infographic
3. Think CTA!
Your CTA or Call To Action is something you need to be aware of every time you write for your brand.
Does that mean you need to be constantly promotional? No. But you do want your fans to take action, don’t you? Whether it’s to read your article, watch your video, join a conversation, share a post or attend an event. There is always a desirable response.
A good formula for a social media post starts with a thought-provoking question and an invitation for your followers to take action as shown below at Contentworks.
Takeaways
- Be punchy and direct with your CTAs like “Watch Now” or “Read More”
- Ask a short question or make an impactful statement to pique interest
- Don’t confuse your fans by asking for too many actions. For example: “Watch our video then come back and comment and share our post.”
4. Keep It Personal
Focus on using pronouns such as “we” “I,” “me,” and “you” as opposed to “the company,” “the client,” or “the team.” Remember, you are trying to build connections and engagement — so lecturing your followers from your high corporate tower just doesn’t cut it.
Write as though you are speaking directly to each fan and you will see a much better engagement rate. Check out this example from Barclays, a huge international bank, who keep it personal.
Takeaways
- Explain to your CEO why informal language works better on social media
- Tailor your style and words to suit each of your social networks
- Speak directly to each fan to improve your engagement rates
5. Research Pays Off
You can be the best writer in the world, but if you don’t do your research then your posts just won’t resonate with your audience.
For example, say you are a beauty company and you know your target audience is women. What else do you know about them? News flash: are billions…
