How to Write Effective Content for Social Media

Each major social media platform has its own style, its own niche, and its own expectations for compelling content. What’s suitable for LinkedIn might not work as well on Facebook, just as a simple tweet can convey information faster than a lengthy blog post.

The best content will be educational, straightforward and fun—no matter what platform you choose. It’ll shed light on your personality or brand while enticing readers to follow or subscribe to your content for more updates and information. Here are a few tips to keep in mind for creating effective content across each social platform:

1. Be Relevant and Provide Value

Social media content is about more than just commenting on trends. To be effective, your content needs to be relevant.

What are some problems your customers face? What solutions do they regularly seek out? Can you answer common questions in a fast, fun and meaningful way? If so, you’re already on the way to providing compelling information that can increase your user base.

2. Go Easy on Self-promoting

Using social media as a platform to spam your users with daily deals and discounts is a sure way to lose readers and turn off potential customers.

Not everything needs to relate back to a service you provide or a deal you’re offering. Sometimes just commenting or retweeting something funny or informative is enough to spark an interest in your brand. A promotional post every now and again is ok, but make sure you don't go overboard.

3. Keep it Simple

Whether it’s a quick laugh that leads to a new subscriber, a thoughtful quote that’ll encourage critical thinking, or a helpful reminder to schedule a dentist appointment, keep your social media content brief.

About 80% of all time spent on social media happens on mobile. Aim for generating simple, succinct content that’s both eye-catching and easy to digest.

4. Work on your Headlines

An enticing headline is the difference between someone scrolling past your content or clicking on it.

So, how do you make sure your post stands out among the millions of others? The best headlines are short, catchy and immediately capture the value of your article while telling the reader what to expect.

5. Engage your Audience

Active participation on your social media account proves you’re more than just an automated bot uploading the same content on every platform.

If your favourite brand asked you specifically for your honest opinion or feedback, wouldn’t you be compelled to say something? Poll your users for feedback, then open up a discussion. Ask and answer questions in the comments or forum, and use “you” whenever possible. Retweet something funny from your followers, or drop a friendly message on someone’s wall.

6. Use Data to Improve your Success Rates

You can apply customer data in a variety of ways to ensure your content is as effective as possible. You can track which posts receive the most likes or comments, and further contrast and compare them to find out why that’s the case. Data can reveal whether your content is worth sharing or reading all the way through. From there you can tailor increasingly better content until you find a winning formula.

Just be careful not to write yourself into a corner. While data is insightful, writing nothing but listicles and so-called “clickbait”—no matter how popular such articles may be—can sabotage your efforts to write genuinely knowledgeable and personable advice.

Write effectively on every social media platform

Useful content will continue to attract people and drive long-term results. Ultimately, the more people that click-through to reach and follow you, the more likely they will be to call up your services when they need it.

At BabbleHub, we help you do more with your social media content. If you’re struggling to stay active on your social channels or unsure of what content will engage your customers, then BabbleHub’s professional social media content service can help. Our team of content writing specialists can help revitalise your content and set you on a path to social media success.

Join BabbleHub for free, or contact one of our social media specialists for more information.