5 Tips to Better Social Media Writing
You might think it’s easier to write for social media; it’s only a few words, and followers will forget about it a few hours later. If you run your social media feeds with this attitude, your company isn’t reaping the benefits of social media they could be.
Yes, tweets and posts are less static and have a shorter shelf life than blogs and web copy, but that doesn’t make quality less important. In fact, a poorly written feed makes you less likely to build a loyal following or have your content and brand be remembered. If you want your social messaging to be on par with the rest of your content, start following these five tips.
Don’t Mince Words
When it comes to writing, less is more. This is especially true on social media. Even on sites where you have more than 140 characters, there’s no time for chitchat, so keep posts short and sweet. If you’re sharing a link, for example, avoid summarizing and write a killer headline instead. Regular updates don’t have to be a specific length, but aim for brevity. Also, don’t be cryptic – followers won’t stick around if they have to try too hard to figure out what you’re talking about.
Encourage Interaction
While writing content, don’t forget about the social part of social media. You want people to engage with you, so create content that encourages a response from followers. Think about what kind of content motivates you to reach out. Do you like to answer questions? Do you enjoy jumping into a heated debate? Maybe you like to enter contests or contribute content of your own. Write similar posts on your feed and grow audience participation.
Keep a Consistent Voice
Your social media feeds give people an idea of your brand’s personality. They won’t have any idea, though, if your posts go from serious to flippant and back again. Before you even begin a social media strategy, decide what kind of image you want to convey. It can be straightforward or sassy, casual or professional, whatever fits your business. Once you’ve picked a tone of voice, stick with it in every headline, status update and comment.
Check Your Work
The best writers in the world all have one thing in common: their work has been edited, proofread and edited some more. Your content might be shorter, but that’s no reason to ignore this important step. A writer whose content contains poor grammar and spelling looks unprofessional, careless and, frankly, kind of stupid. You don’t want that reputation, so take the time to check your writing before hitting the Post button.
Post What Matters
There’s a lot of information on the web, but your audiences are probably ignoring most of it because they don’t care about it. If you want to write quality content, consider what you yourself would be interested in reading about. A good example to follow is HydroWorx, a maker of therapy pools. The company’s Facebook page contains blog posts, interactive campaigns and news from around their customer communities to cover topics that are relevant to their followers. Social media posts come and go, but the impression they make lasts a lot longer. If you want to run a top-rate social media feed, learn to be a better social media writer.
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