You are scrolling through your Twitter feed and seeing a post that makes you want to cringe. The grammar is terrible, the message is unclear, and the overall tone is just off. You think to yourself, “I could do better than that.
Are you a copywriter who’s looking to get into social media? Or, are you a social media manager who wants to up your copywriting game? If so, this post is for you!
I’ve been doing social media copywriting for over five years, and I’ve learned something about what works and what doesn’t. As a copywriter, knowing how to write for social media is essential. After all, social media platforms are where most people consume their content these days.
By the end of this post, you will know how to write catchy headlines, use emojis strategically, and keep your audience engaged.
What is social media copywriting?
Copywriting for social media platforms is the art of creating compelling content for social media sites. It is the process of creating content that will engage, attract and convert readers or viewers into customers or followers. Social media platforms are multiplying, and their reach is expanding exponentially. Copywriting for social media platforms is becoming more important as brands try to create a presence on these sites and capture a larger share of
Social media copywriting is crafting text and visuals to attract and engage users on various social media platforms. It is an essential part of any social media marketing strategy as it helps ensure that the message and tone align with the brand’s identity and target audience. Copywriting on social media helps capture potential customers’ attention, boosting engagement and eventually converting them to buyers.
What Does a Social Media Copywriter Do?
A social media copywriter is a professional responsible for crafting engaging, persuasive copy for various social media platforms. The primary goal of a social media copywriter is to drive action from their audiences, such as choosing to follow an account, attending an advertised event, commenting on a post, reaching out to a service provider, or purchasing a product.
They must communicate the brand message in a concise but compelling way, making sure to adhere to the overall strategy and use a specific voice and style. Social media copywriters begin by storyboarding concepts or brainstorming with the advertising team. Then, they take the approved concept and create the copy, publishing the post and tracking its success through analytics.
Social media copywriting is a great career opportunity for those interested in staying on top of the latest trends and technology. Companies in various industries are constantly looking for skilled copywriters, and with the right strategies, one can build a successful career in the social media industry.
Why is copywriting for social media so important?
Copywriting is essential for building relationships with your customers and creating a meaningful connection between your brand and their needs. Incorporating copywriting into your social media strategy is essential because it allows you to express your brand’s voice and message in a persuasive, targeted manner. You can reach your target audience through copywriting posts on relevant groups or profiles and targeted social media ads.
Copywriting is vital in social media marketing because it helps to create an emotional connection between brands and their customers. Copywriting helps grab the target audience’s attention and persuade them to take action. It also helps to make the message more engaging and impactful.
Moreover, copywriting on social media helps to drive conversions. Using compelling copy, brands and influencers can encourage people to purchase, follow their accounts, or even reach out for services. Furthermore, copywriting techniques can help brands stand out and increase their reach and visibility.
In a nutshell, copywriting is an integral part of social media marketing success. It plays a crucial role in grabbing the target audience’s attention and persuading them to take action.
Why Is Writing Well Important for Social Media?
Writing well is essential for success on social media. With one billion stories shared daily on the Facebook family of apps alone, there is a lot of competition for people’s attention. You must craft compelling and engaging posts and speak directly to your audience’s needs to stand out. Writing well helps ensure that your posts grab the attention of your target audience and keep them interested. Good copywriting also helps to build trust with your audience since it shows them that you know what you are talking about and are invested in their needs.
How Do You Write Social Media Copy?
How do you write compelling social media copy? With so much noise on social media, crafting copy that will grab your followers’ attention and make them stop the scroll is essential. To help, here’s a step-by-step guide to writing excellent social media copy:
Step 1: Write with your audience in mind. Remember that social media users are casually scrolling and skimming, not highly engaged readers. Keep your focus on the customer’s problems, needs, and desires that’ll make them pause.
Step 2: Have a clear objective in mind. What action do you want your readers to take? Maybe, registering for a webinar or downloading a white paper.
Step 3: Encourage your audience to join the conversation. Move away from one-sided self-promotional posts and move towards two-sided conversations. Ask questions and invite your followers to share their opinion.
Step 4: Get casual. Social media is a place to socialize, not for formal business-like language: abbreviate words and emojis and break grammar rules to keep your followers’ attention.
Step 5: Write differently for different platforms. Platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn serve different purposes, so adjust your copy for each.
Following these steps, you can write social media copy that stands out and gets noticed!
Tips for Writing Great Social Media Copy
1. Know Your Target Audience
Figuring out your target audience for social media copy can make or break your success. To determine your target audience, you must research their needs, wants, lifestyles, and thought processes. Start by gathering data and analytics on their existing platforms, what content they like to consume, their age bracket, and what they are likely to purchase. Further, narrow down by choosing a specific audience segment rather than a generic targeting approach.
When you know the intent and perspective of your audience, you can come up with persuasive and relatable copies that resonate with them. To get content ideas, check out what your competitors are doing to understand the content that works for your audience. Consider the voice and tone you want to come across, professional or excited, relatable or funny, and how it suits the image of your business. Social media interactions through comments, reviews, or DMs can give valuable insights into your audience’s pain points and help you develop the content strategy.
2. Use the Right Language
Crafting excellent social media copy that resonates with your target audience can be challenging. This step-by-step guide ensures your copy is engaging, authentic, and quality.
Step 1: Understand Voice and Tone
Maintaining a consistent experience for your audience on social media is vital, so it’s a good idea to create concrete guidelines for your team, such as ‘no abbreviations’ or ‘focus on formal language.’ Think about the image of your business and decide on the voice and tone you want to portray. This could be professional, exciting, relatable, or funny.
Step 2: Use Emotional Language
Emotion drives engagement, so infuse more emotional language into your posts. Check out Karl Stapp’s cheat sheet of powerful words to get started.
Step 3: Keep It Clean
When it comes to copy, cleaner is better. Keep your sentences short, concise, and full of concrete action. Use active verbs instead of passive ones to ensure your post is to the point.
Step 4: Add Action Words
Make sure to include action words like “get,” “buy,” or “check out” in your CTAs and take into account power keywords like superlatives (best, worst, least) when communicating brand value.
Step 5: Format It Right
Format your content correctly with bold headings, pointwise structure, and highlighting key points. Avoid long blocks of text and keep the text free of jargon and easy to read.
By following these steps, you’ll have a copy that resonates with your target audience and boosts engagement and conversions.
3. Understand Character Counts & Platform Limitations
Understanding character counts and platform limitations for each social media platform can help write excellent social copy. In addition, knowing the limits of each platform allows you to create content tailored to the exact size and needs of the audience. For example, a post on Twitter needs to be concise and punchy due to its 280-character limit, whereas a post on Facebook can be longer and more detailed, with a maximum of 63,206 characters.
Knowing the limits helps you write posts that are clear, concise, and engaging, as well as follow any particular restrictions that the platform might have. This also enables you to craft posts that are the ideal length for each platform, as the most engaging posts usually don’t use the whole character limit. With this knowledge, you can create highly effective posts that capture your audience’s attention.
4. Incorporate Your Brand’s Voice
Incorporating your brand’s voice into your copywriting can help you craft engaging social media posts that are memorable and impactful. It allows you to create a distinct identity for your brand that resonates with your target audience and sticks with them, ensuring your brand stays top-of-mind. Maintaining a consistent brand voice across all your social platforms also helps create a unified brand experience and builds trust with your followers.
Once this is in place, you must keep your brand voice consistent across all platforms and ensure your messaging is tailored to your niche audience. You should also use emotionally resonant words and phrases and emojis, hashtags, and relevant visuals in your copy.
5. Post Consistently
Post frequently and strategically to keep your social media content fresh and relevant. Aim for once or twice daily on Facebook and Instagram, 15-30 times daily on Twitter, and once daily on LinkedIn. Ensure your posts are clear, concise, and compelling, with active verbs and strong images to draw followers. Avoid lengthy and complex sentences; use your brand voice to engage followers.
6. Make Sure Your Posts Are Easy to Read
How can you make sure your posts are easy to read?
- Keep your posts short, concise, and to the point.
- Use active verbs instead of passive ones.
- Make sure your sentences are short and crisp.
- Use simple words and language that everyone can understand.
- Format your content correctly with bold headings, pointwise structure, and highlighting key points.
- Make sure your message is front and center.
- Use social media captions that are short, clear, and convincing.
- Break up long paragraphs into smaller, more digestible pieces.
- Focus on clarity over persuasion.
- Take advantage of the short attention span of social media users.
7. Add Visuals to Your Posts
Adding visuals to posts can be an effective way to create compelling social media copy for any purpose. Visuals such as photos, illustrations, animated GIFs, and videos can capture the reader’s attention and help powerfully convey meaning. For instance, a relevant video clip on a pet market company and an interesting statistic would be a great way to engage viewers and make a post more interesting.
Using emojis in post captions can also add visual cues that help engage the reader and make the content easier to understand and relate to. Finally, infographics can be great for providing a lot of information in a limited word count and are also great for making posts stand out and capture the reader’s attention. You can use these visuals to create effective and engaging social media copy.
8. Use Hashtags Strategically
Hashtags make it easier for the right audience to find and engage with your content, allowing you to reach a broader and more targeted audience. Using hashtags can help write excellent social copy for every purpose by allowing users to categorize their content easily. On Instagram, you can use up to 30 hashtags per post, while Twitter will enable you to incorporate a hashtag into your copy and follow along with trending topics.
When using hashtags, it is essential to remember not to use too many, as it can reduce the effectiveness of your social media copy. However, when done strategically, hashtags can help tailor content to a specific audience and make it easier to search for and find. Additionally, creating unique branded hashtags for your business and using hashtags related to product launches or seasonal marketing can help boost the reach of your social media content.
9. Try Spicing Things Up With Humor
How can adding humor to social copy improve engagement? Humor is a great way to tell the story behind your brand and make a connection with people through laughter. When done right, humor can help create a more positive and memorable brand image.
To ensure you’re using humor correctly, focus on the benefits your company, product, or services provide. This can be effective in competitive marketing, as it adds a unique flavor to your content. Furthermore, you can share personal experiences to make your content enjoyable, as people are interested in hearing another perspective.
Additionally, you can make your content stand out by using unusual font generators, emojis, animated stickers, or wordplay. Expressive language in your posts can also evoke a desired response from your audience. Therefore, using humor in your social copy, paired with emotion, can help create more engaging content and boost engagement.
10. Tell Stories with Your Posts
Telling stories is one of the most effective ways to engage and captivate an audience regarding social media copywriting. Not only does it add a personal touch, but it also helps to create an emotional connection with the readers. Through storytelling, you can transport readers to a different world and keep them hooked until the end.
Storytelling also allows for the inclusion of active verbs and short sentences, which makes the content more readable and easier to understand. Furthermore, adding an “open loop” to your post can encourage readers to keep reading and discovering more. In short, telling stories is an invaluable tool for social media copywriting that can help you stand out from the crowd and engage with your audience.
9. Step Up Your Engagement Game
Writing engaging, authentic, and high-quality social media copy can be a great way to boost content engagement and product conversions. By defining your brand’s engagement goal, involving your readers in the conversation, encouraging audience participation, and triggering emotional resonance, you can create content that resonates with your audience.
Additionally, utilizing emojis, hashtags, and visuals can help draw in an audience while maintaining a consistent voice across platforms is essential for building and sustaining relationships. Engaging in social media can help increase engagement for writing purposes, creating more meaningful connections and driving more conversions.
10. Focus On Value Offered
Focusing on the value offered to consumers when writing social copy can be a powerful tool for creating compelling, engaging content. You can effectively drive clicks, purchases, and shares by entering your copy around the value a user gains from engaging with your product or service. Doing so also helps establish your unique selling proposition (USP) by showcasing why customers should choose your product or service over your competitors.
11. Cut The Clutter
Clutter is anything that makes a piece of writing less clear and concise. It can be anything from long, complicated sentences to overusing synonyms to make a point. Clutter can be detrimental to writing social copy, making the post appear longer, duller, and less impactful.
Using active verbs instead of passive ones is one of the best ways to avoid clutter in social copy. Active verbs provide a sense of energy and excitement to the post, while passive verbs can make the post sound flat and dull.
Social Media Copy FAQs
What are the main types of social media content?
The main types of social media content include videos, live videos, images, memes, infographics, user-generated content, interactive content, and quizzes. Videos and live videos are prevalent and often convert to website traffic, leads, and sales. Images, memes, and interactive content like contests and quizzes are also popular.
Copywriting is essential for creating engaging posts, mainly memes, which need emotional copy to be successful. Questions and gamification are also crucial for two-way conversations and to encourage discussion. Copywriting should also be written with various purposes, from sales posts to content that engages and educates the target audience.
What type of social media content converts best?
Videos and live videos, interactive content like quizzes, contests, sweepstakes, images (including memes and infographics), and user-generated content are among the highest-converting types of social media content. Videos and live videos are viral, and adding images and videos to social media posts can boost engagement significantly. Moreover, sharing personal stories on social media can also help generate followers and interest in a brand.
What should a great social media content plan have?
A great social media content plan should be clear, concise, compelling, and credible. First, understand who your followers are and what kind of content they like. Research competitors and track analytics. Know what you want to achieve, such as raising brand awareness or getting traffic to your site. Choose which social media platforms you’ll be on and how often you’ll post. Lastly, use open-ended questions and keep the main idea or compelling teaser front and center. You can create an effective and successful social media content plan by following these steps and engaging your audience through interaction.
How often should I post content on social media platforms?
Regarding social media platforms, the frequency and timing of content posting can vary greatly. The suggested posting frequency for Facebook and Instagram is once or twice daily, while Twitter has a much higher tolerance for posts – anywhere between 15 to 30 times daily is recommended. You should update your LinkedIn posts once daily.
To create an effective social media strategy, consider your target audience, what kind of content they like, what your competition is doing, and what you want to achieve. The ideal posting times and days for each network should also be considered. A social media management tool can help post the same content to multiple social media sites.
How do I share content on multiple social media platforms at one time?
Sharing content across multiple social media platforms doesn’t have to be a tedious process. You can post content to multiple networks simultaneously with the right strategy and tools. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you get started:
- Choose a social media management tool that fits your needs. Look for options that offer a free plan, support a wide range of networks, and offer analytics.
- Craft each post for one specific network. Consider best practices and audience expectations for each network when writing the post.
- Understand your followers and the type of content they prefer. Use analytics tools on each platform to understand what works well.
- Figure out what platforms you should be on and how often you want to post. Determine what you want to achieve and how you’ll measure success.
- Use the social media management tool to post your content. Once the posts are ready, you can simply click a button to post to multiple networks simultaneously.
What’s the ideal social media post length?
Regarding the ideal social media post length, the answer depends on your platform. Twitter, for example, has a maximum character limit of 280 characters, but the most engaging posts are usually 100 characters or less. On the other hand, LinkedIn posts should usually be around 25 words for optimum engagement. In addition, hashtags can be effective when used properly on Twitter— limit them to one or two for the best results. It’s also important to remember to tailor your copy and tone to each platform you’re using. For instance, Twitter has a more casual and conversational tone, while LinkedIn should have a more no-nonsense, direct tone.
Where to get inspiration for a customer-focused copy?
When finding inspiration for a customer-focused copy, the best place to start is to research the product or service and to understand the customers’ pain points. It is also essential to consider the brand’s tone and the words people use to describe their problems and interests.
Additionally, consider the desired outcome before crafting the copy and use the right emotions depending on the kind of experience you want your followers to have. Lastly, it’s crucial to align social media engagement with the overall marketing objectives of the brand.
What is the difference between copywriting and advertising?
Copywriting and advertising are two distinct aspects of marketing and branding. Copywriting focuses on the written words used to promote products and services, while advertising is a broader field that encompasses many facets, such as art direction, strategy, and brand management.
