How To Write Great Social Media Copy

In 2022, over $12 million was spent by businesses in the UK on advertising on social media. In the USA, that figure was over $80 million. These figures cover paid-for advertising only - it doesn’t include the investments made in organic social media marketing campaigns.

Social media is the fastest-evolving medium of communication that we have witnessed over the last hundred years. Facebook was officially launched in 2004, and since then, the digital marketing industry has exploded with ways in which businesses can communicate directly with every single person on the planet through a single device that they have in their hand almost 24 hours a day.

With such fantastic opportunities, though, comes increasing competition. In such a crowded marketplace, the ability to get your voice heard over and above the cacophony of everybody else is a real skill. To raise that voice without resorting to hysterical screaming, you need to understand how to write good copy for social media.

Equally, if you consider that Facebook has 2.9 billion registered users worldwide, a locally based window company in the UK is not necessarily going to want or need to reach every single one of those users. The ability to niche down and optimise any investment in terms of Return on Investment is a key part of overall social media copy best practices.

What are social media copy best practices?

For the purposes of this article, we want to focus on social media post copy for ‘organic’ or non-paid social media activity. These are the posts that we all put out on our personal accounts whenever we remember to. For businesses, it is important to set up dedicated business pages on whichever platform you are using.

Even if you are not active on a particular platform, make sure that you register your page to ensure consistency throughout. What might not be your target demographic now might just become your audience in a few years’ time - for example, Facebook is already considered the social media platform of the older generation. Now, follow the following rules outlining how to write copy for social media.

Use the Platform and Language That Your Target Audience Uses

If you’re running a B2B campaign, then TikTok is not going to be your most relevant social media platform. Equally, if your business is selling stylised hoodies to 16 to 20-year-olds, then LinkedIn is not going to get you your best return on your time and money.

When planning out your campaign, research social media copy examples from your competition - particularly those that you perceive to be successful.

From your competition and target audience research, you should know the language and vocabulary that you should use in your own social media posts - incorporating language and cultural references that will relate to the demographic that you want to connect with and, ultimately, influence.

Research Different Social Media Copy Examples

There are a lot of different types of social media posts - long and short copy, text and photos, videos, polls, Mix it up - long and short, pictures and text, polls, videos, document sharing… all depending on which platform you are using.

Obviously, some platforms, such as Instagram and TikTok, are image- and video-based, but the same rules do apply in terms of mixing, for example, short-form videos with longer, more in-depth videos.

The most important rule to follow here is to be consistent. Whether you post once or several times a day, be consistent in the times that you post, what you post, and how your posts look visually. For example, over the course of a week, you may want to create social media post copy schedule as follows:

• In-depth talking head video
• Branded infographic highlighting product/services
• Text-based ‘teaching point’
• Photo story
• Document download

This is a broad example, which you can then narrow down to specific post content day by day and week on week. It also allows you to measure comparative levels of reach and engagement and tweak your schedules accordingly.

Encourage Engagement

Social media posts are driven by algorithms, and the key influencing factor of those algorithms is engagement. Knowing how to write good copy for social media posts that encourage proactive likes and comments from your followers will help to boost your organic reach and increase the appearance of your post in more people’s feeds.

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Your reach figures are influenced by whether or not a follower clicks on your post to read the full post rather than simply scrolling past. On LinkedIn, for example, one way of encouraging this click is to write your social media post copy taking into account the 140-character limit before the ‘see more’ button. You have the opportunity to make an immediate impact and evoke curiosity by cutting a sentence before the end so that they are more inclined to click on ‘see more’.

Tweak According to the Social Media Platform

Creating cross-channel social media post copy is not a straightforward copy-and-paste job - each platform needs its own version of the post that you want to put out. Not only does this refer to the visual impact and tone of the post, but also in terms of its structure, number of characters, and call to action.

Starting Conversation and Newsjacking

Your business may be suitable for ‘newsjacking’ - the art of linking your product or service to current events or news stories. For this to work well, it needs to sit within your brand values and not be exploitative, confrontational, or combative (unless, of course, that is your brand!). A good example of this is to comment on social issues such as the rising energy bills if your service helps to ease the cost of living.

Social media copy examples that regularly newsjack current stories not only help you to take advantage of trending hashtags but could bring you to the attention of journalists and press that may invite you to give your opinion on certain matters, helping to establish you as a sector authority.

Are you seeking help with how to write your social media posts?

Creating and executing a social media strategy is far more complex than simply putting out a few posts, and when businesses get busy, it is usually the first thing that gets dropped. If you would like to discuss getting dedicated help and advice in formulating a social media campaign that is going to get you noticed, contact the i3MEDIA office to start that conversation.