Advice from Art-Sites
Tip 1. Publish regularly
The first thing to understand — there should be no chaos in your feed or on your page. Every post topic has to be thought through and structured. For that it is worth building a content plan.
Social media algorithms are quite demanding, so an SMM copywriter has to stay constantly involved. By the time you draw up a content plan you should have a content strategy: an understanding of the target audience, its needs and your assumptions about the information you intend to hook that audience with.
What you need to do:
- build a portrait of your target audience (age, gender, interests);
- study the information on competitors' pages;
- define the list of topics that attract attention;
- think through the visual side.
When and how often should you post?
There is no single answer to that question. The main thing — is to post regularly and well for your target audience. If you set yourself the goal of publishing 2-3 posts a day, stick to it whatever happens. If you cannot generate that much interesting, useful content, publish less but every day. If you see that your audience has started unfollowing your page, act immediately. Adjust your strategy and content plan. Reduce the number of posts, polishing each one until it is perfect. Keep to consistency and quality. The result lies not in the number of posts but in their quality.
Tip 2. Define your audience and develop a tone of voice
SMM — is direct communication with living people and the building of relationships with them. And how can you engage if you do not know who and what you are writing for?
When creating a portrait of your target customer, always put yourself in their place and ask yourself these questions:
- Will the content be interesting?
- What benefit will it bring followers?
- Which problem will it help solve?
Knowing the answers to those questions lets you understand exactly which content format to use.
Once the audience is defined, you should establish a tone of voice — the manner in which you communicate on social media. Every brand is like a living person: it has a character and its own way of talking. That creates a sense of trust and makes a post alive, like a friendly conversation. Social media users come there above all to communicate, so neutral, impersonal sentences and phrases will not bring the result you want.
Tip 3. Keep the length and content of posts in proportion
Brevity is the soul of wit, and also a defining feature of social media copy. Social media users no longer want to trouble themselves with long texts; they want entertainment and quick endorphins.
If you do have to write a long post, break it into paragraphs and logical blocks. Alternate long, short and medium sentences. They complement each other well and the text reads more easily. It is good to use simple sentences rather than complex ones, so cumbersome constructions are better simplified. You can break the text into parts and place them in a carousel.
For easier reading, make lists. Such information is easier to take in than an endless enumeration of something.
Numbers work excellently; they have a positive effect on conversion and show the expertise behind what is written.
The text itself should be such that people want to finish it. It should be written lightly and filled with useful information.
Never write in CAPS. Especially when whole sentences and paragraphs are in capital letters. When you see such a text it feels as though someone is shouting at you. CAPS LOCK is better used only when a single word or an important fact needs emphasis.
You should also avoid using several punctuation marks at the end of a sentence.
Emoji in posts, on the other hand, are practically a requirement. But the choice of emoji has to be sensible; they should not be overused or, worse, used to replace words.
Tip 4. Read it aloud
Always read your text aloud after writing it, edit it and read it again. If it is hard to read, something is wrong with the text. Think about how you would describe your project to friends and acquaintances.
Tip 5. Vary your content
Always keep your finger on the pulse, watch your audience and its mood. Ask questions, run polls, read the comments and talk to followers in your posts — that matters a great deal! And do not be afraid to experiment with different types of content. Add a pinch of humour, run competitions, make selections, write checklists and do not forget informational and selling posts. Remember, content on social media — is a mix of everything you think your followers will find interesting.
And one more important point: content has to be DIFFERENT for each social network!
Cross-posting is sometimes possible, but it is not a cure-all, not a lifebuoy and certainly not the road to success. Every social network has its own audience, and therefore its own interests and ways of taking in information. If you post the same publications everywhere without editing them for each network, there is a high probability that on some network you will be read less — and people will engage with your brand less too.
Finding out whether your followers like the content you offer is quite simple. Pay attention to the statistics. The «like» and «share» marks are the litmus test that shows whether the content matches your followers' interests.
For genuinely effective SMM copy it is better to use the services of specialists who understand the specifics of the target audience. A lack of a systematic approach and a failure to follow the content rules set out above can waste the money and time you spend on promotion.
