Last month one of our client relations interns, Ada Erlandson, wrote an informative piece about recent social media shifts and trends.

She referenced statistics from the Pew Research Center that indicated social media in 2015 was used by 90 percent of those between the ages 18-29 and by 35 percent of those 65 and older. In sum, younger generations increased their social media use by 78 percent in ten years.

Due to this high volume of traffic on social media, it is essential for businesses and organizations to not only go where the audience is, but also write compelling, engaging social media content. To help you gain balance when crafting your social media content, here are four steps to keep in mind.

Post with a Purpose
Invite your followers to join the conversation by keeping your audience’s needs, concerns and questions in mind – the main question being, “Why should your audience care about what you have to say?”. Being genuine and using strong action-oriented words, such as “build, create, expand or imagine”, will help you make the most of your call to action. Also, keep in mind that avoiding repetition and streamlining your content keeps your purpose and message clear.

Make the Content Shareworthy
After you have captivated your audience with a clear purpose, your next goal is to have them help you disseminate your message. One way to do this is creating share buttons at the bottom of your posts because people are less likely to return to the top of a post to share. In addition, the use of eye-grabbing headlines and polished photographs help amplify your topic, evoke curiosity and arouse emotion as you gain and retain attention.

Don’t Forget to Edit
Due to social media’s immediate nature and constantly changing trends, it can be tempting to rush through the posting process and pay little attention to grammar and punctuation. Unfortunately, nothing harms the credibility of a business more than grammatical and editorial mistakes, especially if they are simple errors. To help avoid this pitfall, strive to keep your writing style consistent. Once you learn the basic patterns of correct grammar you will be able to catch and correct mistakes quickly.

The Rule of Thirds
One tool you can use to help add variety to your social media posts is the Rule of Thirds. It goes something like this:

  1. Spend one-third of your time promoting yourself by featuring your products and services and highlighting what your business brings to the table.
    Reasoning: As this is what you do every single day, this rule should come pretty naturally.
    Steps to Take: Share internal blog posts, new products and services, conferences attended, contracts/partnerships acquired, etc.
  1. Spend one-third of your time featuring ideas and stories from your industry and other like-minded businesses.
    Reasoning: This shows your audience that you know your industry like the back of your hand and are confident enough in your own brand to acknowledge the competition to be a well-rounded source of information.
    Steps to Take: Share news articles, case studies and research reports, legislative measures, events and conventions to attend, etc.
  1. Spend one-third of your time building personal interactions and your personal brand.
    Reasoning: This shows the more accessible, human side of a company in contrast to the “all business, all the time” facade companies can have.
    Steps to Take: Highlight new hires, share customers’ stories, answer people’s questions, encourage individuals to be brand ambassadors, etc.

In the end, the name of the social media game is community engagement. Go where your audience is, generate content that stands out, post accurate information and cover all of your bases.

If you need help with writing for social media, give Absolute a call at 701-478-1111 and ask to speak with a marketing advisor or visit absolutemg.com/contact. As always, we would be happy to help.