Originally published September 10, 2019 , updated on September 6, 2024

Have you ever considered the dynamics of business and what it is that makes each approach different? What makes one company stand out while others fade into the background?

The simple answer is communication – or better yet, persuasion!

When looking at writing for social media, many might insist that it all comes down to talent and innate creativity, a professional touch and well-rounded experience – truth be told, however, that is not the be all and end all of great writing.

When putting pen to paper (or fingers to the keyboard), even inexperienced writers have the potential to be fantastic at what they do, and with a few tips and tools to arm yourself with, you can transform your hesitant writing skills into a panoramic display of marketing ingenuity!

Despite how it may appear at times, the internet is not actually a great void that sucks in content and spits it out somewhere random. There are in fact numerous lanes and paths followed by like-minded individuals, and the first step to creating successful content is finding the right path.

So, when staring at the countless possibilities for your writing and wondering how to make that first step – fear not! These helpful tips and tricks will help you navigate the precarious do’s and don’ts of the social world:

Free Flowing Foundations 

We tend to have dozens of writing and marketing ideas and details circling around all at the same time, and by trying too hard to control how it all comes out it could end up showing in your final outcome.

Therefore, it is important to picture what you want the end result to look like, when first getting it all down take a moment to remind yourself that editing and refining can come later; right now just let it go and you’ll soon find you actually have a pretty decent writing voice.

Crystal Clear Baby!

A common mistake found in social media writing is the use of unnecessary jargon or elevated vocabulary because the writer wants to ‘impress’ the reader, when in actual fact; what usually happens is eye rolling and a few prize comments about pompous reflections- even some confusion and an eventual drop in your following.

Why is this happening? Because people do not enjoy feeling stupid!

To ensure this does not happen to you, you need to keep your wording clear and concise. Say-It-Like-It-Is… Say something real and let your readers know where they stand!

You want to wow them with your services? Then tell them exactly how great the said services are, but in the name of successful writing stay away from empty phrases like “Driving Innovation” or “Building a better tomorrow” what does that even mean?!

Say Something Interesting When Writing for Social Media

Remember the first point? This is where we start the mentioned ‘refining’ process. You’ve hammered out all of your ideas and pretty much figured out where you stand on any given topic, so the question is what is worth sharing and what isn’t?

In writing, interest is everything and sadly many readers have it in short supply, you need your content to GRAB their attention from the get go and basically convince them they NEED to continue reading. How?

• Cut to the chase and only use the relevant points of your thought process.
• Write with a purpose, take all of your ideas and create a reading path your readers will want to follow.
• Add in interesting facts, and statistics.

E.g. Did you know… That throwing in some facts and statistics is a great way of adding both context and credibility to your content?

See what we did there?… you just had to know, didn’t you?
Works every time!

Make Your Readers Feel Good

A very important thing to remember is we all strive to achieve those feel good vibes in everything we do, and reading social media content is no different.

Paying attention to your content style and writing format is a must! Here’s an example…

People do not enjoy reading long sentences or paragraphs that go on and on and on without any proper punctuation or flow. Giving them too much information in a short section will not only lead to them losing interest and getting headaches but will eventually end up with them completely disregarding you and what you are talking about.

Woah…. Mental breath right here!

Paragraph spacing and punctuation not only avoids this problem; but can actually lend a higher sense of class to your writing, even if you’re writing about donkeys! And for those who aren’t quite there with their formatting skills, there are many tools and programs that can help…. But we’ll get to that.

Done with the Tips – Let’s get to the Tools for Social Media Writing!

So as mentioned there are numerous tools currently available online and via purchase that are perfectly designed for any type of writer; whether just starting or a master blogger.

Now, let me tell you, there is no shame in using them… Why? Because they are fantastic!
Not only can they lend assistance in getting your grammar, style and headings just right, they actually teach some amazing things along the way…

But enough hinting… let’s get to it, and you’ll soon see for yourself!
Here are some amazing choices for social media writing:

Grammarly

If you find yourself having the very frustrating problem of not knowing your , from your . and your ; from your ‘ Then our first runner is up perfect for you.

Classed as a digital writing tool easily accessible through a quick web search : www.grammarly.com

Grammarly literally handles all of your grammar and punctuation needs with a simple copy and paste. Thereafter its your choice to follow the provided corrections or not, but in most cases it truly can transform a piece of content.  They even offer a Thesaurus function!

The Title Capitalization Tool

Especially designed for those who struggle with title cases and professional headings, capitalization offers solutions for all heading problems and is also just a quick web search away. This online tool is adapted and perfect for creating a number of heading styles in perfect accuracy.

Including: APA, Chicago, Wikipedia, NY Times and MLA… You simply paste your heading text into the input bar, select your style and Voilà! You’re good to go.
Give it a try : https://capitalizemytitle.com/

The Hemingway App

For social media writers looking to tighten up their act and provide the same amount of information without all of the extra wording… the Hemingway App is for you. Classed as a minimalist but powerful tool designed to improve writing styles, it offers a colouring feature which helps writers understand exactly where they stand.

To break it down here are a few examples:

• Sentences that are too long get highlighted in yellow.
• Red highlighting indicates meandering or confusing wording.
• Purple shows your word choice could have a better alternative, and so on.

It is a fantastic and hands on assistance; especially for those who are still learning the ropes. So give a try and you’ll be surprised by how much you can learn.

It even offers word counts and readability levels!  http://www.hemingwayapp.com/

Nailing Down Your Potential as a Social Media Writer

When trying to get something out right, one can get lost in the semantics of the task and lose sight of the point. Social media is meant to be fun! Therefore any writing done for it should be fun too, yes being professional does come hand in hand with this but that does not mean you need to get bummed out about getting it right from your first stroke of the keyboard.

Just like in other tasks you take on, your writing muscles can be trained and strengthened to become strong, agile and sufficient; as they say, practice makes perfect!

So the next time you take on a writing task, keep these tips in mind and make use of these glorious tools – You may just find your writing, character, accuracy, and presence getting better and better every time.

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