Social media marketing is a powerful tool if you know how to use it well. The truth is, posting something mediocre day-in-day-out simply isn’t good enough – it certainly won’t get you followers. To succeed you need to be fully engaged with your audience and post something creative or genuinely valuable.
Ask yourself: What will make my followers stop scrolling and read what I have to say? We say excellent social copy…
Whether you’re posting a photo, infographic, or video on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, your content needs to have accompanying social copy that grabs readers’ attention, compliments the visuals, and serves a real purpose.
So here are five ways to upgrade your social copy for any social platform.
1. Edit down your words
You’ve got just seconds to catch your followers’ eyes. So keep social copy short and snappy. Edit down what you have to say – making it nice and easy to scan. That means no long-winded paragraphs or over-explained details.
2. Use your personality
Social copy generally shouldn’t be drab or corporate-ey – this is your chance to showcase who you are. It’s also important that you adapt your tone of voice across different platforms too.
For example:
Twitter = streetwise, quick-witted, and punchy.
Instagram = inspirational, helpful, and lively.
LinkedIn = smart, formal and educational.
3. Invite your followers to take action
Your social copy should also be actionable so that your readers understand the message of the post – and know what they have to do next. It’s all about poking their curiosity.
Invite them to do something that benefits you, like joining in the conversation in the comments or visiting your website via a link.
4. Don’t overload on emojis
Stand out from the crowd by using emojis – just make sure you use them in the right way. You don’t need to include emojis in every post, simply when it feels most fitting.
Remember, LinkedIn isn’t really the place for any eggplants either so only use emojis if they feel right for your tone of voice.
4. Easy on the hashtags
Hashtags are a great tool for making your post visible and including your brand in the wider conversation happening online – but they need to be relevant. Just a few hashtags will do.
5. Focus on the reader
Your followers should feel like you’ve written something just for them. Make your copy personal by writing in the second person: you, yours, you’re. And asking questions that evoke a reaction, for example: Is your business on social media? Does your social copy need a revamp?
Informal conversational-style copy is the best way to go, that way you’re more likely to connect with the individual reader.
Follow us for more tips
We hope that these hacks come in handy when you’re next online. For more content marketing tips and advice, head over to the writefully knowledge hub.
