You just can’t avoid social media these days. It’s not possible. Be it on the professional front or the personal, social media is almost everywhere. It’s the perfect platform to connect with millions so try to utilize it to the fullest. If you have a business make use of the social media platforms to reach out to the maximum number of people.
But reaching out to the people using social media isn’t easy. In fact, it’s quite the contrary. You need to compose social media updates on a regular basis. And each of them needs to be well drafted to engage the readers and convert them into your customers.
But what makes content engaging? And what are the best ways to write the perfect content on social media? Here’s a sneak peek at some of best ways of writing the most engaging content for your social media updates.
Less to Deliver More
The length, yes, that’s important. When you are writing for social media, you need to keep a tab on it, that is, how much you are writing. It’s limited for Twitter – just 140 characters. But write for other social media platforms and you can extend it as much as you wish. But, is it the correct way?
Well, to stand apart among your peers with the help of social media updates, it’s important to have the optimum length. It seems less delivers more for social media. Here’s a quick look at the optimum lengths of the posts on different social media platforms:
- 80 characters or less for Facebook updates; 40 seems to be the magic figure
- 71-100 characters for Twitter
- 60 characters or less for a Google Plus headline and about 156 characters for a Google Plus post
An optimum headline usually has six words in it. So the next time you are composing your social media update, get the length right for maximum impact.
A Casual Tone for Maximum Engagement
Social media is an informal world. Writing on it is more like you are chatting with your friend than talking to your boss or colleague. So, if you want to have an effective social media update, just go for the casual. Remember, on Facebook or Twitter or other social media platforms, you are connecting not directly with businesses or companies, but with people. So, maintain a casual tone like you generally speak with your friends.
Add Value through the Updates
Value – well, that’s the keyword behind the success of almost anything. And this holds true for social media writing as well. The more value you can offer through your social media posts, the more successful it is expected to be.
You can use your social media updates in a number of ways to add value. Give some tips or advice, post a quote, ask a question, or announce an event. Even better, offer something to your target audience. Remember, the more value your social media updates provide, the more popular and successful they are going to be. This is surely going to drive people to subscribe to your updates, thus increasing your number of followers and potential customers.
Follow the K.I.S.S. Rule
K.I.S.S. is what everybody should do. This old term, the acronym for the most amazing advice – ‘Keep It Simple, Stupid’, is enough to convey what a perfect social media write up requires.
Simple – this is what the posts should be. Writing simply is extremely important. This sounds easy, but most of the writers find it extremely difficult to write short and crispy content that are easy to understand for all readers.
A light tone, a few anecdotes, and a bit of humor – if you are planning to write an excellent update to post on social media, these are something your write ups must have. And if you can blend all these together, you are sure to get a post that is likely to have maximum impact on the readers.
Make Use of Punctuation and Different Cases
It’s difficult. That’s what you might feel when trying to convey something through social media. Almost none of the social media platforms provide you with the chance to use bold or italics for words. You can’t even highlight the important parts of the content. So, it’s the punctuation that you need to play with. Use punctuation to ideally bring the most sense out of the short content that you are able to create. Make important keywords and phrases stand out by writing them in upper case.
Make the Context Clear
What are you talking about? You would surely not expect the readers to ask this question when they come across your social media updates. And for that, you need to make sure that you establish a proper context when writing on social media. If necessary, add a bit of background. If it’s too long to fit in, make use of links. Offering the context will ensure that the readers are not clueless about the topic you have written on. And to make it even easier for them, you can include a few hashtags and keywords. This will make it easier for the readers to get a hold of what you want to communicate with them.
Know Your Target Audience
That’s really important. You should have a clear idea about who your target audience are. And that’s not all. You will have to plan and create your updates on social media accordingly. When you are creating a social media post, have a clear knowledge about your target audience. For whom are you writing the post? It is important to shape your content in line with the requirements of your target audience. It is important to ensure that you are writing just what they are looking for. This is going to help to make your social media content more successful.
Social media is a platform where it’s hard to hide yourself. Millions of members are present on those social media platforms so ensure that you are visible to them. So it’s always important to be your best on these platforms. Use your best updates and connect with people in the most effective manner. You can use images, videos and other graphics as your social media updates. But it’s the write ups that are likely to rule the roost. So, plan them prudently and make the most of these.
Images: ”Businessman with Social Media Concepts / Shutterstock.com“
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