In previous blog posts, we wrote about the importance of graphic design in creating unique and memorable posts on social networks. Before that, we clarified several strategies for small businesses that have proven to work and give us a very clear perspective for communicating with potential customers via these platforms. In this post, we want to look at the importance of words and writing and what effect they have on customers, because we have to admit that visuals are in the first place, but without words, they are incomplete.
Depending on the goal, which we set when creating a certain post – caption, copy or in Serbian, the description below the picture should follow the intended goal and make it clear to the one who sees that post, what is expected. CTA (Call to Action) is an indispensable part of all posts and it can invite customers to do different things – from liking to sharing and commenting, to answering questions or tagging friends.
However, if you are not someone who engages with social networks every day and at least once a week reads a blog about news on them or changes to the algorithm, then it is probably all very confusing to you and you do not know where to start. Although some use only a few of the most popular social networks (it is not easy to write a caption on them either), sometimes it is necessary to look for an audience on other, less-known networks, which further complicates the research of the concept of description, style, tone, and language.
Luckily, we have prepared for you some of the best tactics for writing captions, which can be helpful and which you can look at as a kind of formula for composing a description that everyone will like. Let’s see what makes a good caption.
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Prepare guidelines for your social media brand
Let’s start with the most important thing – guidelines about and for the brand. In the beginning, it is of the utmost importance that you make a decision about how your brand will be presented on social networks. If we think about the brand as an individual (which is a great approach) then you need to think carefully about the tone with which you will address customers, whether you want to sound corporate, relaxed, or creative. Ask yourself – will I have a unified approach on all channels or will I still have a different strategy on social media?
Profiles on social networks, as well as the audience on them, who want to see a slightly more fun approach, can be a great place to show your brand in a different light. A copy can be fun, visuals can be in bright colors, Instagram stories can show your employees in a more relaxed light or you can opt for the good old take-over approach. Whatever you choose, words are needed to complete each post.
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.Set a clear goal for each post
While it’s very easy to set a goal when it comes to social media advertising and creating posts for that purpose, it seems to be a bit more difficult to do so when organic posts are in your posting schedule. But we try to think in exactly the same direction and choose from the following options:
- posts aimed at raising brand awareness
- posts that aim to bring as many clicks as possible to a specific link
- posts that encourage content sharing
- posts that will lead us to the client’s site and their ultimate goal is the conversion
- posts with which we increase the number of followers on the profile
- posts that encourage followers to like
- posts where the CTA is directed towards as many comments or DMs as possible
Once you set a goal, then you will be able to evaluate the performance of the specific post, as well as the key element that caused certain parameters to increase.
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Write for the target group on each network separately
Remember this: each network is created to meet the needs of its target group and they are quite different from social network to the social network. You never reach the same people on all networks, it’s just that – not all of us are active on all networks. This is the main reason why you should consider writing different copies for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Remember the guidelines we mentioned above? Be sure to define in them how serious you want to be on the networks and use that for LinkedIn, and then determine how informal you will be and transfer it to Instagram, somewhere in between will be Facebook, while for Twitter you need to study the community well.
Let’s take a corporate New Year’s party as an example and learn via this example how to communicate on each of the listed social networks.
LinkedIn: It’s always a great pleasure to host @client1, @client2, etc. Our New Year’s corporate party is always a great occasion to toast new business and future successes. So be sure to tag them and post a photo.
Facebook: Copy from LinkedIn can also work here, you can only tag more people and put more photos.
Twitter: Since this is a network where you need to write what is happening in real-time, then post a photo, or two already during the event and write something like: Our company’s annual party has begun. We look forward to all this year’s successes and toast to next year. See you in 2021.
Instagram: Happy New 2021 and may it be our most successful yet! Just like Twitter, you can use this network for posting in real-time, so a carousel of the most beautiful photos from the party is a perfectly fine choice. Be sure to make an effort to make your IG story as lively as possible, so engage your followers in the conversation and increase interaction via stickers with quizzes, questions, etc.
4.Encourage engagement
We love social networks because they allow us two-way communication and instant response from our followers to content. Everything that other channels can’t do, social networks can do. So, involve your audience in your posts – ask them questions, encourage them to comment, and engage with them and their interests, instead of just promoting your brand. Advertising quickly gets boring and followers start to leave, but to prevent this from happening, give value to each post and allow followers to engage in a chat with you.
5.Complement the visual with appropriate copy and you will have the perfect post
What most B2B brands could do is just this – connect visuals and copy in a better way. But it’s not that brands that address customers directly don’t have a problem with this :)
The solution to this problem can be in the cooperation of designers and copywriters, in order to work together on one message that will be communicated both via visuals and its description. One without the other does not make an engaging post, one without the other is just a pretty visual without a compelling copy.
6.Use hashtags and emoticons wisely
Hashtags still work as they did in the beginning. It just seems that some people are using them in the wrong way, so it seems to us that they are not doing anything concrete. Create your own hashtags, share content by the campaign, and group posts within those campaigns right via them. That way, when others click on that hashtag, they will see content that can be useful to them.
Be sure to be consistent when it comes to using hashtags and don’t put 20 in one post and only three in the next or forget about them. It is important to stick to some rules, which you will also define in the guidelines from our first point.
As for emoticons, they can also be a great way to encourage followers to interact and comment. Of course, we are not talking here about simply sending hearts and other typical emoticons, but about the meaningful expression of opinion in a comment, which only gains additional importance if it is completed with emoticons.
Bonus tip: Just start writing the strategy once
In the end, like any copywriter, it’s yours to write, so let it be. Come up with a strategy and get to work. Write several versions of the copy before publishing. Offer yourself and others alternatives from which to choose the best version. Plan, plan at least a month in advance and then you’ll have time to work on the copy lightly without pressure.
If you still want us to write your social media copy, create compelling visuals and manage your social media profiles, you know where to find us.
Until the next post, be sure to read our other blog posts and share them with your colleagues.
