If you’re like most business owners, you probably don’t have a lot of time to waste on social media. You need to get your message out there and quickly in order to reach your target audience.
But just posting any old thing isn’t going to cut it – you need to go beyond that and create content that engages your audience on a deeper level.
So how can you make sure that your social media posts are doing their job? Here are 14 ways to make sure that your content is compelling and engaging:
What Is Social Media Copy and Why Do Businesses Need It?
Social media copy is any short social post that can be shared on Facebook, Twitter, or other social platforms.
It’s meant to give the reader a quick take on your business and what you do. It should offer some value to the audience but shouldn’t take more than a few sentences to explain.
You can think of social media copy as a short paragraph(s) that explain who you are, what you do, and why your business matters.
14 Tips on How to Make Your Social Media Copy More Effective
Having a voice that your audience can relate to is essential. Social posts are often casual in tone, but that doesn’t mean they should be written in slang or overly conversational.
1. Know the Different Audiences of Each Social Media Platform
Each social media platform has a different audience, and it’s important to know who those audiences are in order to create effective content.
Facebook is used by people of all ages, from all walks of life. It’s an excellent place for businesses to connect with their customers on a more personal level.
Twitter is more popular with younger audiences and is often used as a news source. LinkedIn is geared towards professionals and is the best place to share business-related content.
Knowing your audience is key when creating social media content – if you can tap into what they’re interested in, you’re much more likely to get results.
2. Create Brand Guidelines for Social Media Copy
Creating a brand guideline can help you get on the same page with your team when creating social media copy.
It should lay out guidelines for which voice and tone to use, what visuals are allowed for each post, how often content will be posted, what goals you’re trying to accomplish using social media, and who your target audience is.
Engaging social media content will create an emotional connection between your business and the reader. When you get that engagement, it’s easier to turn people into customers.
If you don’t have time to come up with the perfect post every time, try using social media copywriting services to help you get started.
The results should be positive – don’t use social media to rant or engage in debates with other people online.
3. Establish a Goal for Each Social Post
It’s important always to have a goal for each social post. Are you trying to drive traffic to your website? Are you looking to get more people to like your Facebook page?
You should focus on what you want the result of your content creation efforts to be before publishing anything online.
Part of your social media strategy should be focused on growing your audience. It’s important to always keep an eye out for ways to tap into new pools of followers or keep the ones you already have engaged.
Make sure that what you’re posting is relevant and interesting to your existing audience.
If they like it, they’ll share it.
4. Create a Strategy for Your Social Media Copy
Creating a strategy is an important part of creating effective social media content.
Make sure that you have a clear goal for each post, and think about how the multiple social media platforms can help you reach your goals.
Do some research on what works well on each platform before you start publishing content – it’ll save time in the long run.
5. Create Content for Each Social Media Platform
It’s important to create different types of content for each social media platform that you use. You want to make sure that your Facebook posts are other than those you put out on Twitter.
Different audiences expect different things from you on each platform – make sure that what you’re publishing is relevant and exciting to your audience.
Make sure that you’re using the appropriate hashtags for each platform and considering which visuals will work best with your content.
You can create images quickly and easily using free online tools like Canva. It only takes a few minutes to make something worth sharing!
- Facebook is a place to establish your authority in the industry and educate your audience on why they should buy from you.
- Twitter can be used to share articles or blog posts or make announcements about what’s going on with your business.
- LinkedIn(on of the popular social media networks) works well for sharing content about how people can improve their lives by using your services or buying your products.
- Pinterest is one of the popular visual social media channels – think about sharing images or videos of what your business does or offers.
- Instagram can be used to share behind-the-scenes footage, photos of things you’re working on, and customer testimonials.
6. Write Copy People Want to Share
Make sure that what you’re posting is actually worth sharing.
Ask yourself
- Will people want to share it with their friends and followers?
- Will they gain something from reading it – do they walk away feeling inspired, entertained, or informed?
- Is this social media post written easily for people to read and understand?
- Does it make people laugh?
- Is it controversial or trending in some way – does it take an unexpected spin on something familiar?
- Does the post have a strong emotional appeal?
7. Avoid Over Sales-Driven Messages
It’s important to avoid being overly sales-driven when writing social posts for your business.
Remember that the goal of social media is not just selling – it’s also about building a relationship with your audience, establishing credibility and authority in your field, and engaging with people who are interested in what you have to offer.
8. Do Your Best to Tell a Story
People love stories, and sharing a personal experience on social media is one of the best ways to relate to your audience in a humanizing way.
Be careful not to come across as overly commercial in the messaging you use when you tell your story – provide information without coming off as pushy or sales-driven.
Remember: the whole point of telling your story is to keep people engaged in wanting to know more.
9. Invoke Curiosity
People are naturally curious, and you can use that to your advantage when writing social media copy.
Just make sure that the curiosity you’re causing will not make your readers want to stop reading (e.g., “What’s wrong with this picture?”)…
10. Utilize Powerful Headlines and Images
Headlines and images work together to form a cohesive message when writing social media copy.
Use numbers, questions or trigger words in the headline so that people want to keep reading – this will help them remember your brand and find your content later on.
Quality trumps quantity every time – make sure you always provide valuable content worth sharing.
11. Encourage Engagement
Ask questions, make statements and give your readers a chance to chime in.
Provide opportunities for people to share their ideas by including open-ended questions at the end of blog post or another social media update.
You’ll see that engagement goes way up when you do this!
Don’t be afraid to use emojis and other fun formats to communicate with your audience in a playful way.
12. Use Hashtags Wisely
Hashtags are a useful way to organize your content on social media, improve organic search results and expand your reach.
Just make sure that the hashtags you’re using are relevant to what you’ve posted – it’s annoying for social media users when people tag irrelevant things or include too many hashtags in their updates.
13. Stay On Top of Social Media Trends
It’s a good idea to use social media tools and apps to find new trends, see what’s going viral in your niche, and keep up with the latest happenings.
Make sure that you’re using these tools to stay within your target audience, though – following hip-hop hashtags on Pinterest is probably not the best move.
14. Stick to Your Plan and Post When You Said You Would
If you tell people that something will be posted on a certain day, make sure it actually shows up. Otherwise, your social media presence is going to start looking unprofessional pretty quickly!
As long as you’re posting high-quality content that is free of errors, you’ll find that the people who’ve subscribed to your updates will happily stick around.
Get Effective Social Media Copywriting for Your Business
Remember when you were a kid, and you would write stories for fun? You probably didn’t care about structure, grammar, or making your readers feel anything in particular.
That’s because you were writing for the sheer joy of it – and that’s precisely why you should be writing social media copy for your business, too.
DFStudio provides top-class social media copywriting services to engage your audience and make them want to keep reading. We specialize in creating valuable and fun content, so you can rest assured knowing that your followers will love what we post.
Why not give us a try today? You won’t be disappointed!
