Are you taking your first stab at drafting social copy? It can be overwhelming: how can you communicate so much information with so few characters? But, if you take the time to hone the skill, the payoff can be substantial for your brand.
Linhart PR has a team of social media copywriting experts that are skilled in developing compelling, succinct social posts for a range of organizations – from food brands to energy companies – across all platforms, driving views, engagement and overall award-winning results.
Below are four tips to help make social copywriting a little less intimidating.
1. Define the brand voice. If you haven’t done this prior to creating social account handles, now is the time. The brand voice dictates the tone and wording of your copy. Do you have a fun and playful voice like Oreo? Or are you more formal and straightforward like NASA? Whatever your brand voice is, make sure it’s represented consistently throughout all posts and channels.
2. Content should be relevant and inform, not just sell. While you may want to use social media to drive sales, it should not be the sole focus of your posts. Constant sales content – discounts, coupons and other deals – can be off-putting to users and result in low engagement numbers and dropped followers. Brand information combined with relevant, timely content that appeals to your audience is typically the right balance. Some of the most successful social accounts have grown their followers by finding creative ways to connect content to the brand. Take Wendy’s. They have earned 3.7 million Twitter followers by throwing shade at other brands and fans in fun ways, and have even established an annual National Roast Day social celebration of sorts where people ask Wendy’s to roast them on social.
3. Keep it short. While it can be tempting to write a book à la Jane Austen to give your followers everything they need to know in one post, the chances they’ll actually read it all are nearly as low as self-publishing one copy of a novel, hiding it in the corner of an obscure bookstore and hoping to get 1 million readers. Drafting clear and succinct copy (no complicated jargon) increases the chances users will read your post from start to finish. When writing, make cuts after the first round and ask yourself if you can communicate the point with fewer words. If we were to rewrite this tip for social, it would say: “Make social copy clear and keep it short so people will read it.”
4. Test and analyze, then test and analyze again. Once you’ve started posting your copy, you can evaluate your performance. This includes:
- Analyzing performance to see what types of content resonate best with your target audience. Do they like questions? Write more questions. Like posts that are a little sassy? You are now the boss of sassafras.
- Conducting A/B tests where you can test two versions of copy and see which one performs better. Maybe one is slightly longer while one is shorter, or you use a different call to action in each. Results should help inform your approach to future copy.
Most importantly, it’s hard to write social copy if you’re not active on social. What types of content gets your attention and drives you to take action? What copy are others gravitating toward? Are there new trends or approaches you can leverage for your company or brand? Evaluating your own activity and being engaged across platforms will make you a better copywriter, so dive in!
Need help tackling your social media content strategy? We’d love to help. Reach out to me at erado@linhartpr.com.
