Five tips for creating better social media posts – even if you’re not a writer or designer
Want to grow your business on social media but don’t know how? Here are five tips for creating better posts, even if you’re not a writer or designer.
Social media is one of the fields where the little guy can win over the big guys because it favors human connection and engagement over picture-perfect posts that don’t really stir emotions. However, this doesn’t mean you can post anything and get a huge following.
Effective social media content is based on a well-designed content strategy, but everything is built starting with your posts. So, if you feel your strategy has been lacking recently, here are a few tips to improve your posts from the ground up.
1) Do the research: who is your audience and where are they?
To create high-quality, engaging posts, you need to know who you’re addressing. Finding your target audience is the first step you need to take with every marketing campaign, whether it’s for social media or your website.
Once you know who you are addressing, the next step is learning about their favorite social media channels and platforms. Are they most active on Facebook? If so, do they just post on personal pages, or are they mostly involved in groups?
Lastly, you need to learn how to promote your brand using the profile of your ideal online customer or follower and the channels where they are most active.
2) Focus on your goal: what do you want your social media marketing campaigns to achieve?
Success on social media is measured in engagement. If people (preferably from your target audience) engage with your posts by commenting, sharing, and/or liking them, you can consider that campaign a success.
But, to get people to engage, you need to know what you want to achieve with these posts. Are you looking to raise brand awareness, gain more followers, or direct buyers to your sales page? According to the rules of copywriting for social media, the goal of your campaign will decide the tone of your posts.
3) Be visual: create content that attracts from the first second
Visual content (images, videos, graphs, designs, sketches, and so on) is the best way to catch your audience’s eye in the multitude of posts that land on their wall every minute. Of course, each post needs to create value, but the visual aspect is essential.
While you’re at it, try avoiding these mistakes to make sure your campaigns will go as planned.
4) Keep it short and simple
People use social media as entertainment, so lengthy texts or heavy visuals won’t fly. Make your posts easy to read by writing at the eighth-grade reading level and using headings, bullets, and spaces to break down the text.
Also, keep your visuals light and make it easy to find the subject. If posting videos, try to convey your main ideas right at the start, so people will know what to expect. Also, keep the content short and easy to understand.
5) Use clear calls to action
The best way to achieve your goals on social media is to include a clear call to action with every post. However, try to avoid being overly promotional since this creates an atmosphere of mistrust with the target audience.
The call to action must fit the tone of the post. For instance, if you are looking to educate people about your products or brand, your call to action should be about educational resources or similar actions.
Create better social media posts with these tips
The best way to up your social media game is by learning everything you can about your target audience and adjusting your strategy to fit their profile. Also, make sure to include your goals in the equation. Lastly, keep everything short, simple, and action-oriented!
Photo by Vladimir Fedotov
