Why You Need a Professional Writer

Why You Need a Professional Writer
22Jul

You probably haven’t thought about how much web copy you see online, but take a minute to think on it. Every line of text you scroll past was written by someone, and if what you’re reading seems well-written, there’s a good chance it was written by a professional.

Between the copy you don’t think about and the long-form content you read, there are a lot of words that need to be crafted in just the right way, and that’s where writers come in. I’m going to explain why, contrary to what your ego may tell you, you absolutely need a professional writer on your team.

It’s a Lot
You probably don’t think your business needs a lot of writing done, but trust me, it does. Website copy will pile up before you know it. This includes things like product descriptions, “About Us” sections; everything that’s small individually but comes together to build your perfect website.

That’s before you get into the world of ad writing, creating content, and crafting social media updates. You might be able to hang on for awhile if you’re the least busy business owner in the world, but otherwise, you’ll be much better served by leaving it to the professionals.

It’s More Complicated Than You Think
You can write! You’ve written papers, text messages, and that one love letter in eighth grade—so why can’t you handle your business’ writing?

Because it’s hard.

It isn’t just writing one social media update or the single product description for your new launch. It’s creating and adhering to a tone that fits your company’s branding and values, it’s refreshing old copy to keep up with the changes of your business, and it’s researching industry trends to keep the conversation going with your audience. No matter how tight your budget is, you simply can’t skimp by without a professional writer.

Grammar Is Tricky
Knowing the difference between “your” and “you’re” isn’t enough to create great digital content or copy. Not only are there a lot of grammar rules for you to master, but they’re not going to be the same everywhere. Your professional writer will work with you to find and stick to a specific style so that your business’ writing can be consistent and clear across all channels.

Why does this matter? It might not seem like much, but readers are going to notice when your blogs alternate on using the oxford comma or use “gray” and “grey” interchangeably. They’ll catch on, and their impression is going to be that your business is sloppy and amateurish, and neither of those are words that you want floating around your brand!

Keeping It Fresh Is Tough
There’s more to writing than creating content—there’s also creating a content mix. That means posting more than the same promo with a slightly skewed wording. It’s sharing news, tips, and things that your audience is going to enjoy beyond calls to buy from your brand.

That extends beyond your social media updates, too. Your website copy will need to be updated as you roll out new products and just generally find better layouts. Staff changes will also call for writing new bios, and nothing will ruin your team’s credibility faster than flat, unimaginative bios!

So even if you had the time to dedicate to all of these writing tasks, you’d quickly find yourself struggling to create new, compelling content that wasn’t just a rehashing of the previous week’s work. In short, you can rest assured that your writer will have plenty to keep them busy and justify your investment in them!

Do the Write Thing
It’s normal to want to cut corners by not hiring a writer, but that doesn’t make it a good impulse. Instead, invest the extra resources in having a qualified writer handle your online presence. You’ll be glad you did when you’re not spending every waking moment juggling writing with your other responsibilities!

You might not be completely sold on the benefits of hiring a professional writer. Schedule your free consultation with the Go! Agency and we’ll talk about it!

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5 Things to Have Your Professional Writer Work On

5 Things to Have Your Professional Writer Work On
21Jan

Now that you know how important it is to hire a professional writer, what do you actually have them do? I hinted at a lot of writing tasks in my last blog post, but there are definitely some areas you need to have a writer work on more than others.

Based on what I’ve seen with our clients, I’ve got five areas your writer should be working on ASAP. This doesn’t mean you should limit them to just these tasks, but this list is where you’ll want to start having them work on building your brand!

1. Website
This is number one on my list for one simple reason: You’re not going to draw in any customers or make sales with a bad website. It just isn’t going to happen. If people are reading about your products and finding awkward sentences and typos, you’ll lose the sale every single time.

You’ll want them to write (or re-write) a description of your company, your products/services, and anything else that your site needs. A good strategy is to look at your competitor’s website. You don’t want to copy their formatting or ideas, but this can be a good baseline for figuring out what information your customers are expecting to find on your website.

2. Bios
This is your chance to show the personal side of your business, so don’t waste that opportunity. You want compelling snapshots of your team’s lives, and that usually requires someone with a good bit of writing experience. If your team already wrote their own bios, just have your writer massage them a bit to make them more appealing to potential customers.

If you don’t already have bios up, I’d suggest sending out a questionnaire to your employees and letting your writer use those answers to create entirely new biographies. Then all that’s left to do is get some headshots, post them, and enjoy the new personal appeal that your business has!

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3. Blogs
If you aren’t rolling out blog content, now is a great time to start! Foremost, it establishes your brand as an authority in your industry. It also gives you something to share on social media that both shows off your business and creates real value for your readers.

As a bonus, blogs are surprisingly great for SEO. Keywords come and go with frequent changes of search engine algorithms, but the thing that consistently improves ranking is thoughtful, relevant content. So if you’re looking to improve your search engine rank, set your writer to work on blog posts!

4. Ads
People focus on having a writer for social media updates, but having someone to write your ad copy is just as important. More than just choosing the right type of ad, you need to have a professional write compelling copy that works toward your business’ goals. Even if you’re sure that your ads are fine, just have your writer take a crack at it to make sure!

5. eBooks
Like blogs, ebooks are great ways to establish your business as an authority. They take in-depth looks at issues relevant to your business, so they need to be well-researched enough to bring real value to your readers.

This is also a great way to get leads for your email marketing strategy. Offer your ebook for free and let people download it, provided they give you their email address. This sets you up to keep the conversation going with your audience, and they get quality content at no cost to them!

Get Started Write Away
Now that you know how to get started, don’t be afraid to dive in! Use this list to help you guide your new writer, and you’ll see what a huge difference having a professional writer can make!

Are you still a little lost on how to direct your writer? Schedule your free consultation with The Go! Agency and we’ll talk about it!

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5 Secrets To Writing Engaging Social Media Posts

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21Nov

Ever since the early days of the newspaper, people have studied the power of the headline. Writers carefully selected each word so their paper would pull in readers. Social media marketing has evolved this concept. Thankfully, we don’t need people shouting “Extra!” on street corners. Instead, we have to make sure our updates are noticeable on the web.

Internet communications changed the way we write and promote our brands. What strategies work the best for social media users? The following five types of updates are sure to pull in readers! 

1. Lists. Whether your post is “Top 10 Restaurants in Nashville” or “The 5 Most Important Documents For Estate Planning”, people love lists. They are easy to read and get right to the point. 

2. Definitions and industry terms. Does your industry have specific terminology? Teach them to the audience! For example, “The Legal Terms You Need To Know!” is an excellent way to spread a wealth of knowledge. 

3. Casual tone. Today’s consumer likes a casual and conversational tone for marketing. “Check out these…”, “Come see our…” further strengthen your brand’s approachable feel.

4. Questions. “Could These Foods Help With Alzheimer’s?” Crafting a social media post in the form of a question is always a good way for readers to click and search for the answer.

5. Powerful vocabulary. Finally, no matter what way you craft your message, your words need to pack a punch. Don’t waste room on weak words. Instill a sense of urgency and importance. 

Does your marketing team have writer’s block? Contact us! Our copywriting department will be able to craft your brand’s message into a professional and effective piece of marketing. 

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The 5 S’s of Social Media Copywriting

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19Oct

When was the last time you checked one of your social media accounts? Chances are, it was less than an hour ago. Do you remember all the posts you scrolled through? Most likely not. In fact, you may remember 2-3 pieces of content you read at max. Why is this? Has the internet made our attention spans that bad? You better believe it. What’s a marketer to do?

There is literally an ever-growing number of posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the other platforms. Every minute, a countless number of new ones are published, thereby sending other pieces downward. This, in a nutshell, is why it is essential to make sure your writing is worth remembering. Is this possible? Absolutely — but you need training. The following five “S’s” are absolutely worth remembering as you attempt to write memorable copy for your business’s social media pages.

1. Short – While research shows that people are reading more, that doesn’t mean they want to read a lot. In fact, the longer your post, the less likely it is people to read the whole thing, much less engage with it. Keep things short. Yes, Twitter handles that for you because of its 140 character limit, but that in no way means that you need to always have 138-140 characters. Say what you need to say in as few words as possible while maintaining an appeasing style.

2. Simple – Speaking of style, it is important for writers to note that you aren’t writing poetry. Keep things simple, concise, and transparent. Readers shouldn’t have to decipher your message, but rather have the convenience of a clear message.

3. Specific – As a marketer, it may be your instinct to create a message that can appeal to as many people as possible. However, social media is about reaching your target audience. After all, every business has a specific demographic audience. Advertising can help deliver your specifically-curated message to the right people.

4. Sharp – Crafting your business’s message is the writer’s responsibility. You need to sharpen your message with concise and compelling copy. Cut away unnecessary words such as adjectives, and unneeded fluff. Directly address your audience, speak about a specific subject matter, and most importantly, provide a call to action such as a directive and a link.

5. Strategic – Finally, you need a strategy. It does not have to be overly elaborate, but you must plan for the future and consult your marketing team on the direction you need to take. Whether you are trying to promote a new product, build up an email list, wish holiday greetings, or direct your audience to a new podcast, you need to figure it out before you hit the keyboard.

Are you starting to get the picture? Social media marketing calls for hard-hitting content. There’s not room for ambiguity or longwinded rants — leave that for your personal page.

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How To Start Your Social Media Copywriting Journey

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26Jul

When you first set foot in the world of social media marketing, you have some “company soul searching” to do. You have to reassess what is important, which services you want to promote most prominently, and perhaps most important, what you want your customers to remember the most about you and your team. All of this is of course conveyed through the written word in all the fields that the social media platforms provide.

This is the time to start talking about yourself. Every company needs to make sure their social media profiles are optimized with the most relevant, updated, and essential information so a customer does not have to make an effort to find the information needed to interact with your brand and in the long run, make a transaction.

Fill In Every Field.

Creating a social media profile for your company from scratch will force you to go back to the drawing board for certain items such as “mission statement” and “company objective.”  Other times, you will (and should) have all the information immediately available. It’s important to fill out every single field the platform offers. Some sites such as Instagram will require very little information to achieve a 100% optimized profile. Others such as Facebook will have request quite a bit of writing. Additionally, others may have certain functions hidden behind a paywall or only allow so many details before you have to upgrade to a premium account. Regardless of platform, be as thorough as possible.

But here is the good news – a lot of the heavy lifting may be already done for you through pre-existing marketing and general information you have created for your company for other purposes.

However, if you are writing from scratch, ask yourself what you would want to know about your company if you were stumbling across it as a customer for the first time. What is your team’s work ethic? What do you hope a customer can take away from their experience with your company? What products are your pride and joy? Consider these questions when trying to define your business and what makes you stand out.

Keep in Mind the Keywords!

In the world of social media marketing, we often talk about keywords when referring to content. Yet keywords also help you when you are in the early stages of page optimization. When you are filling out your company’s About section, Company Overview, Mission Statement, etc., keep in mind the words that people would use to search for a business like yours.

For example, if you run an auto repair shop in Miami, you should definitely incorporate “auto repair,” “Miami,” “Florida,” “automotive,” and other relevant words in your copy. You may want to even consider some top-performing hashtags. Just make sure you don’t overuse them and ensure they are evergreen. In other words, make sure they are hashtags that stay relevant and do not depend on the time of year or a temporary element of your business.

Set Hours and Mark Your Location

Consider social media your online “open / closed” sign. Many people use company’s social media pages as resources for information and perhaps one of the simplest requests is to figure out if a location is open or closed. Simple, but very effective.

Another vital aspect of optimizing your social media pages is to set a location. Yes, this may seem obvious. But I cannot tell you how many companies I have interacted with that have not added a location to their Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram pages. These companies miss out on location service and targeting audiences. This is particularly useful for mobile users because they will be able to see what companies are in the area that offer a particular service or product. This is also very helpful when companies who wish to delve into more advanced advertising techniques, as locations, zip codes, and regions are all instrumental in finding the right audience.

Time Travel and Stockpile

Let’s face it – no one will like or follow an empty page (except for Apple, which hasn’t shared a single tweet, but manages hundreds of thousands of followers thanks to its name). You will want to create a ton of content and, if the platform allows, backdate it. This is only a function offered by Facebook and a select other platforms, but it proves to be useful when you are trying to position your business as legitimate and modern.

You should also stockpile content that you can start sharing, including tweets from industry influencers that are available for retweeting and quote tweeting, news articles you want to share and comment on, and ideas you may want to later talk about in the form of a blog or note.

Pin Your Spotlight Content

After you have been created content for some time, create a piece of content that you are particularly proud of and pin it to the top of the profile. This will be the first post that your followers see when they visit your page. This should be a piece of original content that expresses just what your company is all about, whether it’s a promotional piece or a useful piece of content that can be used a resource.

Later down the road, you can use this prime piece of real estate as a spot to promote a sale, holiday greetings, or other time sensitive information. Yet when you are just starting out, pick your best content and start pinning. This post should be switched out on a weekly basis.

Invite Your Regulars And Start Following Prospects

Now that you have your social media page fully optimized, you are ready to invite followers. Think of it this way, you have cleaned up the house and set up decorations, now it’s time for your party guests to come by and enjoy what you have prepared! There are many ways to start gathering a large following on social media, many of which will come as you start sending out relevant content and generate a large amount of user-generated content and feedback. However, when you are first starting out, you need to do a lot of the heavy lifting.

Offline, you need to ask your loyal customers to like your pages and share them with your friends. Encourage employees to do the same. Have social-media-exclusive incentives and sales only to be found online and make it known at your location. Train your employees to tell customers and clients about your pages. Most importantly, your content and copy should be a homing beacon for these people to come because of the “takeaway” they will receive. This is why you cannot just write promotional posts. You need to become an informative, educational, and entertaining resource that people will welcome into their social media sanctum.

Online, you can start following major influencers and those who follow them. This will introduce your newborn pages to new people and social circles. Try to be selective about who follows your page, but do not be too picky because you never know who those people will know and they will be able to see your content if and when they share it.

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4 Ways Simplicity Is Best For Social Media

4 WAYS SIMPLICITY IS BEST FOR SOCIAL MEDIA
9May

When people log on to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or another platform, they are immediately bombarded with enough content to make their head spin. With millions of tweets to read, comments to like, and live videos to stream, just viewing social media could be a full-time job! This, in a nutshell, is why simplicity is key.

People do not have time to try and decipher your message. They like clear-cut, concise ideas that are presented in the most convenient fashion possible. How can your brand adapt this simple philosophy?

Check out these 5 methods of keeping things simple with your online marketing.

1. Short, punchy sentences.

When you are writing social media content, take a step back and try to determine which words are absolutely necessary. Take out anything extra and while you’re at it, replace weak words with stronger ones. This will help your message get across in a reader-friendly fashion.

2. “Iconic” imagery.

A rule of thumb in the world of graphic design is “if your design can’t be recognized when it’s on a billboard and you’re speeding by a 70mph, then it’s not an effective design.” Simplicity is the answer for designers and as such, your visuals should be instantly recognizable as online viewers “speed scroll” through their news feeds.

3. Call to actions.

Don’t make your readers have to go very far to visit your website. Provide a link and most importantly, make sure it takes them to exactly where you want them to go, whether a homepage, landing page, contact form, etc.

4. Numbers and bullets.

Imagine this article without these ideas being broken down into numbered points. It would be just a blocky mess. Breaking down information, specifically blogs and social media articles help your reader to take easy, digestible bites and understand the overarching takeaways.

So, let’s not waste any more time. It’s simple. Get to work on social media marketing!

Need help with social media? Contact us today!

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How To Avoid Writing Clickbait

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26Apr
Ah, clickbait. We’ve all seen it, whether it’s part of an online marketing campaign or simply a scam lurking around the web. Most of us have fallen for its trap at least once. If you’re unfamiliar with the term clickbait, you’ve still experienced the practice without even knowing it. It’s essentially social media posts, news article headlines, and online advertisements, that entice the reader to click to learn more information. However, it’s often a veil for low-quality content. If you’re a social media copywriter, it’s a frowned upon practice that needs to be avoided at all costs.
The reason clickbait has such a stigma in the world of copywriting is that it’s disingenuous and frankly, a cheap trick to get engagement. It’s a way to get your audience’s attention and get some interaction with your profile or site, and while that sounds ideal for an online marketer, it makes your brand look illegitimate in the process.
Here are the top 3 signs that a piece of writing is clickbait. Are you copywriters guilty of them? 

1. The Answer Lies Within

“You will never believe what Apple has in store for the new iPhone! Click here to find out.”

Yes, marketers want people to click and interact with their content. But the above example has no substance or “take away.” It’s simply a way to get people to visit your site for the answer. Often times, blogs and companies won’t even have the answer to the question they pose. They will instead utilize the keywords of a trending top, like “Apple” and “new iPhone” and extort it for clicks. While you should always try to incorporate appropriate trending topics, this kind of approach isn’t the best.

2. Explosive Vocabulary

“You’re MISSING OUT on this UNBELIEVABLE sale!”
One of the first rules of sales writing is to use strong verbiage – which makes complete sense if you want to present your brand or product in an appealing light. However, if you use words of such exaggerated magnitude that it looks like you’re a used car salesperson, then you’re going to look like a scam artist very quickly. When you use words like “unbelievable”, “amazing”, and “once in a lifetime”, you’re almost setting your brand up for failure because you’re putting it on a pedestal.

3. Unnecessary Suspense

THIS is what happens if you don’t have your computer files backed up!”

If a cyber security company created a piece of content with the above sentence, they might get a few clicks from interested viewers. However, instead of luring readers to your website, simply present ideas, facts, and honestly up front. Your writing represents your brand’s code of ethics and as such, transparency is key.

While it’s true that clickbait has the power to create short bursts of engagement, your company will suffer from this type of marketing in the long run for the following reasons:

  • Overuse of these tactics will cause your audience to be annoyed and regular customers to question your legitimacy. Would a huge, established company use this type of advertising? Most likely not. Then neither should you!
  • Your bounce rate will go up. A lot of

    clickbaitwill either lead viewers to an irrelevant website, or it will drag the reader down a rabbit hole of sketchy sites until they finally, maybe, get to the article, which will no doubt be riddled with ads and hard to navigate. Because of this, people will spend a VERY short amount of time on your website and then leave. As a result, SEO and social media efforts will suffer.

  • Clickbait has a tendency to attract the wrong audience. This is particularly the case if you “highjack” a trending topic on social media and try to take advantage of it by shoehorning your own content around it. Subtle, powerful, and clear writing is always the way to go.

To the core of every social media and online marketing strategy is writing. Make sure yours is worth reading and clicking! Even though a short and powerful burst brought on by clickbait may be enticing, clickbait will only hurt your marking efforts in the long run because it has a high chance of annoying and turning away customers who will actually turn into conversions.

Your brand deserves effective and professional copy. Contact us today to see what our copywriters can do for you!

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Social Media Writer’s Block? Try These 20 Inspirational Post Prompts

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26Oct

Many writers know the pain that comes with a blank page. Social media writers aren’t any better. Whenever that update field is blank, or there are still 140 characters remaining for a tweet, there’s a gut-twisting feeling.

Sometimes, marketers need a little push in the right direction. Well, consider this a shove. These 20 post prompts are helpful tools that will get your marketing mind moving!

1. Host a Q & A Session.

2. Explain why customers go to YOU and not THEM.

3. What is your “bread and butter” product?

4. What is your NEW product?

5. Incorporate a lesser-known holiday into your brand. (Trust us, every single day is a holiday, you just need to research.)

6. What did you do this time last year?

7. Host a flash sale.

8. Host a contest.

9. Offer free advice.

10. Incorporate a current event or trending topic.

11. Provide a snippet of the company’s history.

12. Promote a real life event hosted by your company or partner.

13. Provide preventative or helpful tips.

14. Showcase a new employee.

15. What will the upcoming season bring to your company?

16. Describe your company’s ethics.

17. Post something light-hearted / entertaining. (As long as it’s in good taste.)

18. Share news related to your industry.

19. Share your company’s support for a charity or cause.

20. Share a success story of a satisfied customer / client.

Did that get your brain spinning? The best part of social media marketing is the diversity the form allows. It’s so great to be able to share a wide variety of content with your following. Try a few of these prompts and the rest of your strategy will come along quickly.

What type of content has worked best for your company? Comment below!

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The Top 5 Social Media Marketing Strategies For B2B Businesses

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22Oct

B2B Business professionals know they need a special approach to marketing. Their companies are often quite serious in tone. After all, their target demographic is other professionals. But that doesn’t mean social media marketing isn’t for them. Over 50 million businesses now promote themselves via social media marketing, many of these are B2B. Find out how your company can gain new leads, talent, and visibility through these methods!

1. LinkedIn. The social media platform specifically for professionals is ideal for B2B. Of all sites your marketing team should spend time on, it’s LinkedIn. But what makes LinkedIn truly effective at spreading the word is LinkedIn Groups. You have the ability to connect, network, and moderately promote through fifty individual communities.

2. Community Outreach. While other businesses are your primary focus, you also want to have a positive tone and consumer reach. Mix in updates that are community-centered. This will promote your office’s work culture and can show your potential clients that you care about their end goal as well. This type of marketing can be done on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Snapchat. Don’t forget these platforms!

3. Set Clear, Achievable Goals. Whether you’re marketing through LinkedIn, Facebook, or even Snpachat, discuss with your team what exactly your goals are. It also helps if these are quantifiable via data analytics.

4. Blogging. Blogging is important in B2C industries, but they’re particularly useful for B2Bs. Prove you know what you sell by showcasing original articles centered around your field. Then, promote them through all the previously stated avenues.

5. UGC. User-generated content (UGC) is excellent for a business focused on other professionals. Whether it’s a review, testimonial, or even success story, incorporate your pre-existing clientele into your marketing strategy.

Your ideal customer base is already online. Make sure your business is properly represented on the world’s most popular communication sites!

We’re proud that many of our clients are B2B companies. We help these professionals gain new leads, referrals, and customers! Contact us today to see how your business can also benefit.

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8 Top Tips For Powerful Social Media Writing

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13Oct
What would Shakespeare or Hemmingway say about Twitter? What would Dickens’ or Tolkien’s opinions be about hashtags, likes, and character count?
I think the literary greats would be amazing at writing for social media marketing, albeit with some heavy-duty training. Social media marketing requires creativity, but writers and marketers may have to rewire how they work. The following tips are excellent starting points to become a social media writer.

1. Ultimate efficiency. Even if you aren’t writing for a platform with a character count such as Twitter, you want to be as sharp, precise, and “to the point” as possible. Sorry, there’s no room for a prologue. You need to hit your audience with your message with as little words as possible.

2. Hashtags. What words or phrases do people use to find content such as yours? Do your research. Discover what’s trending and take advantage of the hashtag system with moderation.

3. Buzzwords. Hashtags aren’t the only important words in your social media composition. Make sure you use relevant, searchable words. Try not to be too wordy but rather add words with strength and potential. Each business has different verbiage that should be incorporated. Their industry, location, time of year, subject matter, and type of content will determine which work and which don’t.

4. Hyperlinks. Always leave room for hyperlinks. Your social media updates should be a gateway to more information. I suggest using Hootsuite’s ow.ly links so you can study their effectivity through analytics.

5. Add imagery. Writing for social media marketing isn’t just about words. Your well-crafted sentences need to compliment a piece of imagery. Whether you add a video, picture, GIF, or a simple emoji, you need visuals.

6. Speak in the “we.” A good rule of thumb for Facebook, Twitter, and other updates is never to use “I.” You are, after all, representing your team and brand. This isn’t your story to tell, but rather the business’s that you represent.

7. Have energy. Having energy doesn’t mean you have to be super perky and happy. Instead, make your updates pack a punch with visceral vocabulary. Use exclamation points, question marks and colons. Avoid ending an update with a period as much as possible.

8. Utilize the power of blogging. Does your heart long for a longer format? Your answer is blogging. A company blog can significantly benefit from a blog. There, you’ll be able to post longer pieces of writing, just be sure to promote them with a social media post.

Do you have writer’s block?  Our team of copywriters creates expertly-crafted social media posts every day. Contact us today to see how professional writing can help you.

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