How to Write Impactful Social Media Posts (5 Tips)

By: Vanessa Green, Owner, Greenlight Content

If you’re new to posting on social media for your business, the whole experience can seem pretty daunting.

• What do I write about?
• How do I write compelling posts?
• What if no one engages with my posts?
• What the heck is Clubhouse?

Let’s ignore the last one for now.

The rest of those questions are pretty common – and easily answered. But if you want to really nail your social media messaging, you must have these critical things in place first:

• A clear brand positioning
• An understanding of your target audience
• Committed time and resources to managing your profiles
• A list of social media platforms best suited for your business*

*Expert tip: You don’t need to be on Every. Single. Social. Media. Platform. You’ll end up spreading yourself too thin, and some or all accounts will suffer as a result (we’ve all seen Twitter accounts that haven’t posted since iPods were a thing). Pick 2 or 3 platforms (if you are selling B2B, that’s probably going to be Linked and Facebook and B2C Facebook and Instagram) and do them well.

OK, so let’s assume you have those bases covered. How do you get started with posting?

1. Write about what you know

Well, duh, that seems obvious. But sometimes, we get so caught up in the details that we forget to KISS Talk about your customer’s pain points – the ones you hear about all day. Ask whether people have had similar problems. Ask what they’ve done to overcome them? Do you ever have a moment of clarity – or a professional epiphany? Write that stuff down! Get it into a blog, or a Facebook or LinkedIn post. The best social media posts are those honest, authentic comments backed up by industry experience and knowledge. That’s what people want to read about.

2. The importance of engaging

Social media platforms reward individuals who are active contributors – not just active posters. This is especially true on LinkedIn. This means your posts will be shown to more people – and get more engagement – if you are also liking, sharing, and commenting on other posts. The more active you are with other like-minded accounts, the more exposure your own posts will get. Another thing to note is that it’s becoming harder and harder for branded accounts to get exposure on social media platforms now – so ensure you are sharing, commenting, and liking posts from your personal profiles as well. And make sure your team members are doing the same.

3. Use the right language

Social media messaging is basically a conversation – so write your posts like you’re having a conversation with a friend. It’s easy to fall into the trap of writing every post like it’s a formal corporate memo – but let’s be honest, no one wants to read that. Use the active vs. passive voice (e.g., a tool to help organize your files was created by our team vs. our team created a tool to help organize your files), make sure you use lots of action-led copy in your posts (our latest blog post is about colour-coding your files vs. Check out our brand-new blog about colour-coding your files). And make sure the copy is free of acronyms, industry jargon, flowery words, and most importantly, keep those posts short and sweet.

4. Focus on your audience

Who are you actively selling to? Because here’s the thing – no one actually cares about your products or services. All they care about is how those products and services can help them. Whenever you post anything – on social media, on your website, in a blog post – put yourself in your customer’s shoes and ask yourself, ‘What’s in it for me?’ You need to be providing value all the time. So, think of your social media messaging as adding value for your customers rather than promoting your business

5. Keep it up

It’s easy to get discouraged when you only get a few likes and comments on a post. You’ll probably ask yourself, ‘What’s the point of doing this?’. But social media stardom doesn’t happen overnight. You need to keep at it – the more you post, engage, and interact with your followers, the more successful you will be over time. Social media is not a quick win – it is, most definitely, a slow burn.

---