5 Social Media Copywriting Tips for Effective Content Marketing

Copywriting has been proven to be one of the most essential aspects of advertising, social media marketing and web design. While visuals draw a person’s attention, it is the message that makes them think and persuades them to act.

In advertising, social media ads generally have limited space. There may be instances when there isn’t much room for your copy; this is where the need for you to keep your message simple arises, and the term “less is more” is especially true. This may sound challenging since you have to cram all the necessary information into a small space and it only takes moments to grab the attention of browsers. For that, one clear, and instantly engaging message in the form of social media copywriting is the best way to go.

What is Social Media Copywriting?

Nowadays, social media has become all about creating short-form content. Writers formulate social media copy or short copy as original promotional content that garners the most impact from a targeted audience using the least number of words. This kind of content is specially designed to be memorable and concise. Popular examples of short copies are the slogans and taglines of brands you see in ads or websites.

Typically, since social media copies are one or two liners, every word counts. Copywriting for social media may sound simple to do, but they are actually a culmination of extensive market research and the product of the writer’s deep understanding of its audience. Social media copywriting aims to inspire, influence, or compel readers to act.

In this blog, we feature the ways on how you can effectively capture your readers when writing short copies for social media.

5 Rules of Social Media Copywriting

1. Determine your main message

Before you start writing, focus on prioritising your main point by determining the goal or the course of action you want your reader to take. Whether you want them to click an “add-to-cart” button, visit a landing page, or sign up for a newsletter, you need to consider ways on how to best convince your readers to take that action. If you are swamped with ideas about what to put in your copy, don’t throw all the information in one go.

You can also try writing your call to action first before writing the bulk of your social media copy. This gives you a clear direction towards your end goal. Make sure that the rest of your copy supports this goal, and any other text that sidetracks your audience should be cut.

2. Speak to your audience as if you’re sharing a secret

One of the best ways for copywriters to construct a compelling headline for any social media platform that can stop browsers from scrolling is to let them in on a secret. Let’s face it, who wouldn’t want to learn a secret? “Here are the X ways on…”, “Find out about the secret to…” are one of the few examples you can start these headlines with in order to pique your readers’ interests. For this kind of social media copywriting, the key is to write it in a way that can get readers to believe that by clicking on your content, they are signing up to receive valuable information that they can only acquire by reading what you have written.

3. Pair up your copy with appropriate visuals

Keep in mind that when it comes to social media copywriting, whatever you can’t convey through words can be conveyed through visuals. Design, after all, creates the best buying environment for your offer and has the power to evoke positive emotional responses from your readers.

Take advantage of the various ways you can spark the interest of your readers through design. Humans are visual beings who are more easily engaged with things that are backed-up with visuals instead of purely just text e.g. infographics, colour psychology, graphics, photos, videos. Let your design bridge the gap between your limited content space and the message you are trying to get across to your audience.

4. Get straight to the point

Others may be under the false impression that copywriting for social media is easier compared to other longer forms of writing. But what people don’t know is that in reality, it might even be a more difficult task. It takes a lot of wits to achieve an engaging social media copy, after all, in the online world you are one post battling with a thousand others, and you have to pack all the information you need to convey in one short message that will get your readers to stop scrolling. This heightens the importance of getting straight to the point instead of beating around the bush with what you’re trying to say. Your main goal is to lead customers to a web page, so your copy just needs to be long enough to have context, and enough to know where you’re leading them to.

Avoid wordiness. In social media copywriting, the key to being able to convert effectively is to make it as smooth as possible, and easy to read.

5. Stick to one-liners as much as possible

Concentrate on getting just one message across first, and refrain from overwhelming your readers with having too many points you want to communicate with them. One of the biggest lessons on effective social media copywriting is keeping in mind the power of one. This ensures tight and engaging copy, regardless of the length.

Focus on just one main idea or goal that weaves throughout the entire copy. This also applies to writing for both long and short copies. Of course, you can always cut down on the extra copy later, but be mindful that you don’t sway from the flow of a single message, otherwise you might be adding unnecessary text.

As a writer, it is important to know the value of what can transpire in a single moment, and how it only takes that much time to grab your readers’ attention. Our team of copywriters here at Verz leverage on the power of social media marketing as a tool that can penetrate the minds of the masses. With our expertise on devising creative social media marketing schemes, we identify with your brand message and come up with the best ways to concisely convey them through strikingly compelling copy that could get your readers’ attention and eventually increase your conversions.

Interested in having captivating social media posts? Get in touch with us by calling at 6841 1680 or email us at [email protected] for a free consultation!