The 3 Keys to Successful Social Media Copy
March 14, 2019
Social media is a huge motivator in the ecommerce industry. Whether your company is B2C or B2B, there’s room for all. The content you post online is significant to how internet users view your brand. Just as the words you speak carry meaning, the copy you write can paint a beautiful picture, or extend a cursory warning.
The Art of Copywriting
Are copy writing and content writing two different things? They are and they aren’t. Copy writing can be content, but it’s also a style of writing unto its own. Copy signifies an advertisement or marketing purpose. In the past, copy was obvious; it told customers what it was and what to buy. Modern copy is a little more complex. It doesn’t necessarily hide what it is, but it’s a delicate balance between interesting reading material and suggestive selling.
Copywriting for Social Media
Now you know what copywriting is, but does it belong on social media? At first, it seemed like the social media forum was going to be mainly for personal chats and photo sharing. From early platforms like MySpace to current contenders like Facebook, it’s come a long way. Social media isn’t just for individuals anymore. There are business profiles, online shopping buttons, and even platforms designed specifically for business networking.
Despite social media being useful for businesses, the copy you write here is different than the copy you’d write on a billboard. It must stand out from the swarm of incoming memes and gifs. Funny, emotional, and engaging are the best ways to describe this content.
Still unsure what to write about? Here are 3 keys to successful copy on social media, every time:
1. Engaging Material to Entice Conversation: Advertising used to be more of a one-way street. You had a product or service, you explained that product or service in an interesting way, and then customers bought what you offered. Now, advertising is a two-way street. It provides the same information about what you’re selling, and then gives the customer a chance to ask questions, make comments, write reviews, send a private message, post a picture of themselves with your product, and more.
Something that’s becoming more and more apparent over the years is how much consumers love to see other consumers’ comments on a brand or product. Searches for product reviews and demos are through the roof. And most consumers aren’t looking for something directly from the company, they’re looking for others who’ve bought and loved or hated a product or service. They want the information direct from the source.
So, how can you get your customers to engage, share their knowledge and ask the questions that get you noticed? There are a few ways to get your customers talking. One is extremely basic, ask a question. Asking consumers what they think of something is like opening the floodgates of engagement on a subject. Of course, it’s important to prepare yourself for the answers because it might not always be what you want to hear.
2. Make it a Teaching Moment: There’s a reason webinars, eBooks, and podcasts are so important, they teach something. Customers love learning, that’s why they spend so much time researching products and reading reviews before they buy. The consumer is more informed nowadays, and if your content can tell them something they don’t already know, they’re more likely to stick around and read it.
Some tips for sharing educational content are to keep it relevant, factual, and knowledgeable. You want to appear as an authority in your field, sharing something worth knowing. Backing this up with statistics makes it believable and important.
Diversify Your Content with Visuals: Visual information is a huge advantage in any form of copy, but especially social media where videos and images are constant. If your post is the only one without some sort of visual stimulation it could get lost in the mix. A great way to add graphics without going overboard is to tie it into your textual content. Writing about a video you’ve seen, posting a contest about a video you’ve made, or integrating your own tag line into a meme are all great ways to express yourself with visuals.
Visuals don’t always have to display as photographs. You can use visual content which is textual but posted like a picture. These are called infographics and they’re great for delivering large amounts of factual information in a unique and interesting way. Bright font in varying sizes and shapes accompanied by graphs and charts help you share important information with your readers.
If you’re still feeling a bit frazzled by the idea of writing your own social media copy, there’s no shame in consulting an expert. Hiring an experienced copywriter, even just to get started, will help you build your brand until you feel confident taking over the writing yourself. You can also draw inspiration by reading what other leaders in your industry are writing. This isn’t to copy ideas but to review individual writing styles and see if there’s something you’ve been missing.
Your social media strategy should be unique to you but following some of these tips can help. Whatever you decide to write, always do it with your audience in mind. Remember that different customers are at different stages in the sales funnel and may require varying degrees of writing. So long as you’re true to your brand, professional but not stuffy, and write with emotional response as your outcome, you’ll strike gold.