Right now, social media is all about video–and video is definitely an eye-catcher. But do you know that 80% of adults watch videos with the sound off, and need captions (social media copy) to understand what’s being said?
So whether it’s video on TikTok, photos on Instagram, or a text-based Tweet, great social media copy is a must to keep viewers watching and readers reading.
Now down to the basics: let’s discuss the top social media platforms that U.S. adults use: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Twitter. (Note: YouTube is its own content beast that we will get into later.) Specifically, we’ll be discussing:
U.S. adults who use social media are on the following platforms:
- 68% Facebook
- 41% TikTok
- 28% Instagram
- 25% LinkedIn
- 21% Twitter
Sources: Hubspot.com, Statista.com
Use Your Social Media Copy to Create an Emotional Response
Ultimately, it is a human who is reading your content, and humans are emotional creatures who relate to posts that can do one or more of the following:
- Tell a story
- Make them feel special
- Make them want to do what everyone else is doing
- Help them belong
- Make them laugh
- Inspire them to reach their goals
- Fan the flame of the desire to learn
Ask yourself if you’re doing any of this with your posts–or are you just selling something and asking for money? If you are not informing, delighting, or inspiring your viewers by providing content that hits an emotional note, people will not follow you–much less care about you. Which leads to…
Develop a Call to Action (CTA)
These are short and sweet one-liners. Your social media CTA copy should always lead with an action verb, be specific, create a fear of missing out, and focus on the benefits.
- A carwash’s CTA might be: Get our limited time 25% off coupon for a Total Car Wash before the bug guts and bird poop start eating away at your car!
- A bookstore’s CTA might be: Buy the latest James Patterson this weekend for your free tote with purchase while supplies last!
Ask for Your Visitor’s Opinion
People love giving their opinion. Whether it’s someone trying on an Amazon haul to get people’s opinions about what to keep versus return (and also advertising the outfits), or Nutella asking people what their favorite Nutella combination is. People love to answer! (And this is great for your engagement numbers.)
Write Social Media Copy According to Why People Use That Platform
Keep in mind that not only are the social media platforms their own small universes, but they are all search engines–there are people who use a platform like Instagram or TikTok to search out information instead of Google!
The following are the most recent best practices as it relates to the five social media platforms we’re covering here today:
Facebook:
- Posts that have 80 characters or less have 66% more engagement.
- Some long-form posts do well, but they are the exception, not the norm.
- When you post, don’t share links in the post. Facebook doesn’t want visitors leaving their platform!
- Also, posts that have visuals do 2.3 times better than those without.
Instagram:
- Your first three lines are golden–that’s all that shows if someone is scrolling.
- Posts should be between 100-150 characters for best engagement.
- Aim to have anywhere from 5-11 hashtags, according to 2023 estimates.
- The maximum number of hashtags is eight for optimum engagement.
LinkedIn:
- LinkedIn status updates should be between around 100 to 140 characters.
- When you post, don’t share links in the actual post–the algorithm currently discriminates against links due to not wanting readers to leave their site. Instead, put links in the comment section.
- Posts as long as 2,000 words perform well on LinkedIn!
TikTok:
- The platform went from a 300 to 2,200 character limit in 2022–so optimize that space with words that boost the video’s SEO. Google indexes TikTok videos on its search engine.
- When creating hashtags, use trending ones and in this case, more is better! (Use a mix of general and specific.)
Twitter:
- The highest click-through rates belong to tweets that are between 120 and 140 characters (approximately 9 percent).
- Posts with hashtags vs. without receive double the engagement.
- Twitter has a low hashtag threshold–two is ideal. More, and there may be a drop in engagement.
You can probably figure out that this is only the tip of the social media copy iceberg. Hopefully, this has helped you get started with the current best practices to employ.
Reach out if you feel overwhelmed with what to do–because our team does!
digit-ALL is a full-service marketing company that focuses on the people side of marketing. We focus on websites, social media, blogs, newsletters, and even corporate event planning. We’re here to help when you’re ready for it.
SOURCES
“4 Super Effective Strategies for Writing Copy for Social Media,” Tabitha Jean Naylor, SocialMediaToday.com.
“9 Emotional Hooks That Will Make Your Content 10x Better,” Adam Heitzman, SearchEngineJournal.com.
“10 Copywriting Tips for Social Media,” Sam Alderson, Yoast.com.
“Captions Increase Viewership, Accessibility, and Reach,” Ondrej Klimes, NewtonTech.net.
“Distribution of TikTok Users in the United States in 2022, by Age Group,” Statista.com.
“How to Write a Great Social Media Call-to-Action,” Liz Stanton, Hootsuite.com.
“Instagram Hashtags: Ultimate Guide [+101 hashtags for 2023],” Christina Newberry, Hootsuite.com.
“Social Media Copywriting: How to Compose Text for 5 Different Channels,” Amanda Zantal-Wiener, Hubspot.com.
“TikTok Increases Length of Video Descriptions,” Matt G. Southern, SearchEngineJournal.com.
“What is the Best Length for Social Media Posts?,” Werner Geyser, InfluencerMarketingHub.com.
