Social Media : Writing Tips & Tricks
A picture is worth a thousand words… but how many words are sufficient for social media captions? Today on the blog we’re discussing writing tips & tricks!
Connection - It goes without saying that the purpose of social media is connection. So, why captions? Obviously all of us are up against the “mindless scroll”, but if someone has stopped on your picture long enough to read your caption, you have their attention and you want to create a connection as much as possible. Think about your audience & use social analytics to understand what their needs are (or what you’re trying to tell them). You can ask questions to increase engagement, suggest followers leave their opinion(s) or experience(s) & also, genuinely encourage others that have stopped by your page. It’s always a good idea to give a call to action when possible & direct attention to further resources & websites you suggest. Some additional ideas for captions are telling story that will appeal to your targeted audience, asking a follow up question, adding in a statistic/fact, or shouting out collabs on pictures/projects. The world wide web has our attention, let’s use it to our advantage!
Balance - All of the above ideas are great, but too many ideas + too many words are confusing for a reader. Try to stick to one idea per caption & make the communication clear. Anything too complicated is going to lose reader interest!! Make sure you’re coming up with new content enough + new caption ideas enough… I highly suggest tracking the data on which posts are doing the best on your feeds & trying to figure out why. Sometimes, less is really more & it’s imperative that you pay attention to what’s working & what’s not working. Remember that everyone has a slightly different feed (thank you, algorithms) so don’t compare your best engagement to someone else’s.
Authenticity - Above all else, you don’t have to try to be something or someone you’re not. That is super hard in a culture that only puts all the shiny life moments on social. (It’s also why I try to utilize things like Instagram stories, to show people what a day in the life really looks like!) Authenticity needs to translate into your words just as much as your photos. If you wouldn’t confidently say a caption out loud, I would suggest not using it. Big words are only impressive if they are genuine. That’s the whole premise of social media before we all got caught up in the comparison game anyway— be you!
Eyes - Over the years I’ve learned to rely on a short list of people who understand me, my business, & the goals/passions I have for the future of SEP. Their eyes on my posts & captions help keep me in check with aligning my content with what I’ve established as values for the company. If you have a close friend or two who are aware of these things in your business it’s really as simple as letting them know they have your permission to give you feedback. It’s been a game changer for me & a large part of how I decided to hire my assistant- someone who has had close eyes on what SEP has been up to all along.
Grammar- Time for some tough honesty here. If grammar isn’t exactly your strong suit, study up on it or ask for help! There are a ton of great resources that can help you improve your comma or apostrophe usage, capitalization, & word choices. There’s nothing wrong with admitting that you’re not great in this area. Use the resources that are available in this age of instant access to help you grow. Some commonly misspelled or misused words include: their/there/they’re, your/you’re, breathe/breath, it’s/its, lets/let’s… the list goes on!