Social media has quickly become an integral part of any digital marketing strategy. It's a fantastic way to promote your business, your products and services, and (most importantly) yourself.
That said, it's also a place of intense scrutiny, so your content needs to be up to scratch. Since I specialise in written content and brand voice, I know how important it is to get the written aspect of your social media right, whether it's your bio or the posts you make.
So here are 15 tips for writing content on social media. I've broken these down into three sections:
Keep scrolling to learn more about how you can supercharge your social media content!
Perfecting Your Bio
1. Explain who you are and what you do
Okay, this seems fairly obvious, but I still come across about me sections on profiles that don't explain this. So, introduce yourself to your audience; start by explaining what exactly you do, and the industry you work in and include some fun facts about yourself - the floor is yours!
2. Ask a question
My LinkedIn about me section starts with a question: "Are you a start-up business struggling to find your brand voice?" I'm asking this question to one of my target audiences (start-up businesses), who do struggle to identify their brand and figure out how to produce content for their business.
So I placed this question at the top of my about section to hook people in. I then follow with the first tip and explain exactly who I am and what I do. Readers will see the first four lines and ideally click "see more" to view the rest.
3. Show how you can help others
In the first few lines of your bio, you need to explain how you help others. Often, people aren't interested in what your experience at university was like, or how many cats you own. When people first come across you, their main incentive is to understand how you can help them - it sounds cold, but it's what people are like!
So tell them how your services will benefit them and their business and don't be shy about it either.
4. List your key services
As you can see from my LinkedIn bio, I list my three main services. If readers choose to click "see more" they will see my services straight away and will have a good idea of what can do to help them.
Of course, this only works if you can hook them in with the first four lines in the first place. My advice would be to avoid cramming all your services into the first four lines that will be visible on your profile. This will be too much information for readers, so prioritise the first three steps for that section of your bio.
For other platforms, the same applies. Make sure you know how many lines of your bio will be visible to readers and make the most of them before highlighting your products and services.
5. Include a CTA
The final tip for writing your bio is to include a call to action. I've talked about CTA's before in previous blog posts, specifically in landing pages and direct response copywriting. But CTA's can also be used in your bio section.
It's a good idea to put the CTA at the end of your bio, as it means the visitor will read all the content before reaching it. This means they should be primed to take action if they are invested enough in what you have to offer.
Writing on Social Platforms
6. Twitter - keep it snappy
The most obvious limitation of Twitter is its 280-character limit. So, keep your messages snappy and to the point.
Twitter is also a great place to share visual content and brainstorm ideas. Use the platform to ask questions relating to your business industry, customers, and products. Not only is it a great place to do market research, but it also encourages your followers to engage with your brand, producing brand loyalty and awareness!
7. Facebook - capture an audience with video content
According to HubSpot, Facebook is one of the best places to promote your content online. Their research suggests that people tend to use Google as their search engine, but Facebook is better for browsing content.
But, how is this relevant to writing on social media? Browsing doesn't require any thought or idea in mind, whereas actively searching for something does. So when browsing, you will stop scrolling at content that captures your attention.
For writers and content creators, this means content on Facebook needs to be high-quality and captivating. Videos are one such medium for this strategy, and there is a lot of room on Facebook to explore it, such as posts, stories, and live streams. I have yet to experiment properly with video content, but a couple of the video stories I put up on Facebook did quite well.
Video content still requires some form of written work to be put in. Captions are an important tool, as many people (including myself) don't have the sound on for videos (and it helps those with hearing impairments!) The content accompanying the video still needs to be written too - it supports a different medium than a traditional written post.
8. Instagram - the best place for visual content
Instagram is all about photos and visual content, so use it to promote your business. People don't browse Instagram to read, so the text linked to your image may be ignored. To get around this problem, use text in your images.
Here is an example of one of my Instagram posts:
I used text to produce a clear, bold message that asks a relevant question. If people want to know more, all they have to do is to read the text at the bottom of the post.
Like Facebook, you can use stories to create ad-hoc posts that engage with your audience (although I think it's much a much smoother function than Facebook's). Similar to standard posts, you can use these to promote your material or special offers with text and images.
9. LinkedIn - storytelling 101
I think LinkedIn can be very cheesy at times. But here's the tea: people love reading other people's stories on LinkedIn.
(Now that doesn't mean you have to make up some fabricated story about how you saved a child from drowning, and that child later turned out to be the CEO of the company you were being interviewed at.)
But seriously, LinkedIn is a great place for businesses to network. It's the main source of my leads! So when posting on LinkedIn, the more meaningful content you produce, the better. I found that posts about my life (for example, my endometriosis diagnosis) received far more engagement than generic posts about my services. Why? Because it's storytelling.
From my experience, high-quality written content does well on LinkedIn. So use that to your advantage, and get sharing!
10. Pinterest - great for lead generation
Pinterest tends to fall by the wayside a little in favour of other social platforms, but actually, there's no reason why you can't use it. Not only can Pinterest be used like Instagram - in that you can post photos and videos relating to your business - you can also use it to generate leads!
Unlike Instagram, Pinterest allows visitors to follow the links on a post, which can lead them to a blog post, a landing page, or other social media. And, with Pinterest quickly growing as an alternative search engine, it's a great opportunity to grow your leads and audience.
General Social Media Tips
11. Keep your bio up to date
Over time, our message and focus change, so you need to make sure your bio stays relevant to who you are and what you do. I would recommend reviewing it every three months to make sure it is up to date.
12. Pin an important post
Do you have a post you want everyone to know about, and that is relevant for a while? Pin it to the top of your profile!
13. Hashtags, hashtags, and more hashtags
On all social platforms, hashtags are a great way to expand your viewership and generate a bigger audience. Your hashtags need to be relevant though; it's no good writing a post about International Women's Day, and then writing # mentalhealthawareness at the bottom of the post.
So, here are three tips for hashtags:
Use hashtags for your business industry/sector (e.g. # editor)
Stay relevant with your hashtags
Don't spam hashtags
14. Comment and engage with other content
Some people only create posts and content for their profile and don't engage with other people's content. My question is this: how do you expect other people to engage with your content if you don't engage with theirs?
Engagement on social media is a two-way street. You need to put in the leg work by liking, sharing, and commenting on other people's content. It doesn't have to be random people either - they can be people in your business network or company pages that you want to notice you.
And that's the other benefit of it; by engaging in other content, you are also promoting yourself - it's free marketing. But be careful - a big no-no in social media is using other people's content to promote your products or services. That is unacceptable and rude. All you need to do is comment on something relevant on other posts.
15. Have a content plan in place
Finally, I'd recommend building a content plan to keep on top of your social media strategy. Having an excel spreadsheet where you can keep track of all the content you are putting out each week, including blog posts, marketing emails, promotions, and social posts, is a great resource to have.
You can also include significant dates such as Valentine's Day, awareness months for key causes, and other events that you can use for your social media posts.
This means you won't get burnt out trying to come up with fresh content to post.
Putting it Into Practice
So those were 15 tips for creating captivating content on social media! Now you should have a good understanding of how to:
Perfect your bio
What to write on different platforms
Perfect your social media content overall
Now head out there and put everything into practice, and you'll be well on your way to growing and wowing your audience!