How to Write for Social Media

Social media channels such as LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok provide a platform to share your business with a global audience. According to smart insights, there were 4.62 billion people using social media platforms in January 2022, an increase of 10.1% in the last year, so the potential to leverage social media for your business is tremendous.

But writing social media content for your business can be challenging, you need to cut through the noise, reach the right audience and deliver an attention grabbing message that stays true to your brand values.

With the right social media content, you can quickly grow your following, increase engagement and most importantly, convert social media followers into prospective customers. Here are our top five tips for writing social media content for your business…

1 – Know your audience
2 – Tailor your content to each social media platform
3 – Remember to be sociable!
4 – Keep your content relevant
5 – Make it short and sweet


Tip 1 – Know your audience

Reaching a global audience sounds great, but it’s important to remember that not all of the 4.62 billion people using social media are going to be relevant to your business. You need to understand your target audience and write every post with them in mind.

Identify the social media platforms that your target customers are likely to be using, for example if you are targeting professionals aged 30+ you might like to focus on LinkedIn as your primary platform. In contrast, if you are targeting teens or young professionals, you are more likely to find them on TikTok or Instagram.

Develop customer profiles for the people you want to target, consider their demographics, hobbies and interests, other brands they might be engaging with on social media and when they might be using the platforms.

Once you know your target audience and which platforms they are likely to be engaging with, you can start writing social media content for your business that is going to catch their attention and convert them into potential customers.


Tip 2 – Tailor your content to each social media platform

Each social media platform has its own approach to content, so depending on your target audience, you might choose to use a range of different platforms and tailor your content accordingly.

It’s best not to take a ‘one size fits all’ approach to social media.

Twitter

Twitter limits users to 280 characters per post, so this platform is best for succinct messages and sharing those little pearls of wisdom or commenting on trending topics. Hashtags are key to getting your content found on Twitter and using trending hashtags can help your content go viral.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn favours longer posts, you are allowed up to 3,000 characters for a standard post with up to eight images and it is recommended that you use around 5-6 hashtags. Your profile and business page on LinkedIn offer lots of opportunities to add content, so it’s important to review your personal and business profiles regularly to ensure they are speaking to your target audience and communicating your key messages effectively.

Instagram

Instagram is image led with room for long form posts up to 2,200 characters, but that doesn’t mean you should use them all. Posts with the most engagement tend to be up to 50 characters long according to research by Quintly and captions are truncated at 125 characters on Instagram, so even if you are doing a longer post, it is important to get your key message across within those characters. You are allowed to use up to 30 hashtags per post on Instagram but many users prefer to post them in the comments rather than in the post itself so they don’t distract from the content.

Facebook

Facebook allows a whopping 63,206 characters per post, but in reality the shorter posts perform better so it is best to stick to around 50 characters according to BuzzSumo’s research. Again, you can use hashtags to help your content perform better, but it is best to stick to just a handful on this platform.

TikTok

TikTok is a video platform that requires little written content, you are limited to just 300 characters which includes your hashtags so it is best to keep content short and sweet so you can utilise trending hashtags to help your content go viral.

Find out more about how to get the most out of each social media platform and tailor your content to ensure it is effective in the ‘How to write for social media’ module of our online business writing course.


Tip 3 – Remember to be sociable

The key to effective social media campaigns is to be sociable. If you only ever post about your products or services, you will never be able to grow your business on social media because followers will quickly become disengaged. Instead, follow the 70/30 rule, so only 30% of your posts are talking about your products or services, the other 70% is sharing other people’s content, helpful tips and advice, posts about the people in your business and other news that is relevant to your followers.

When it is time to write social media content that is advertising your business, products or services, make sure you maintain a ‘sociable’ tone. Remember that your post will be appearing alongside posts from friends and family, influencers and other brands. It needs to stand out from the crowd without jarring with your audience.

Tailor the tone of your post to the platform you are posting on and the audience you are targeting. Make sure your post is friendly and easy to read, remember people are likely to be engaging with social media in their own time and are unlikely to engage with content that is too professional in tone, overly complicated or sales focussed.

Try using images that fit with the platform you are using, for example on Facebook try using user generated content (UGC) that features real people interacting with your brand rather than glossy professional images, this will help your post blend in amongst the photos of friends and family having fun and might encourage users to interact with your content.


Tip 4 – Keep your content relevant

Social media has transformed the way that people interact with current affairs, gone are the days when people would wait to read newspapers or watch the ten o’clock news to find out what is happening in the world. Now, people will often find out about current events through social media before they interact with more traditional news platforms and as a result these platforms are increasingly influencing how people feel about current events.

Trending topics on social media offer you an opportunity to reach relevant audiences with key messages that are aligned with your brand values. If a topic is trending that resonates with your brand and your audience then you should be commenting on it and posting about it. This is not without its challenges however, it is important to keep in mind that anything you post on social media is in the public domain. Only ever comment or post something that you would be happy to share on your company website or say to a potential customer or stakeholder if you were meeting them in person.

Stick with non-contentious topics if you are relating your post back to your product or services, for example if it’s raining heavily and #greatbritishweather is trending, you can certainly jump on that to sell your wet weather gear. But if you’re posting about a news story, event or movement that is potentially contentious, offensive or unrelated to your brand values it’s important to avoid using that to sell your services or you risk suffering the fallout. Take a look at some of these examples of epic social media failures from brands for a lesson in what to avoid.

As long as you keep your audience, brand values and key messages in mind, you can create relevant content that will resonate with potential customers and encourage them to engage with your business on social media.


Tip 5 – Make it short and sweet

When you’re writing for social media you need to deliver your message in as few words as possible to ensure that your audience can digest your post and engage with it. All social media platforms encourage ‘scrolling’ through content so your post needs to catch your audience’s eye as they scroll through reams of posts.

The quicker you can get your message across, the more likely they are to stop and take notice. Some of the most effective posts are just one sentence, an attention grabbing headline and link to read more, or even just a question that prompts a response.

If your post encourages them to engage with your content then they are more likely to do so, and every engagement boosts your post in the algorithm, ensuring more people see it. Don’t be shy about asking people to like, comment on and share your post.

Find out how to write short but effective posts in the ‘How to write for social media’ module of our online business writing course.