“Discomfort is always a necessary part of the process of enlightenment”
-Pearl Cleage
There are many reasons to spend time writing quality social media posts for your business. Whether you choose to wield your own words, or borrow someone else’s, as in the above quote, a great caption can take your audience to great places, get them thinking, spark an interesting conversation around one of your products, or engage your audience in a way that says something about your brand, and who stands behind it. Your audience wants to believe and know you are thinking about something other than your bottom line.
One post or caption with accompanying video or photo can be all it takes for someone to engage, buy, call you, return for more, or pass on a good word.
Even though it’s not a lot of content, a short phrase or sentence, a good caption or post takes some thought.
To start, ask questions such as:
Am I giving my audience a reason to engage?
Am I inspiring them to think outside their own comfort zone, their own life bubble or sphere of influence?
Am I informing them about something that I think will help them in their life or their business?
Am I revealing something honest and real about my company/brand values that others can resonate with?
To begin writing:
Start with an intention. What are you wanting to accomplish with the caption—is this an introduction to your brand? Do you want to tell people what you do? Do you want them to start their own conversation on what you have presented? Do you want them to share?
If you ask a question, make it open ended. When was the last time you walked away from the spa and felt like a new person? What would your revenue look if your equipment maintenance could be finished a day earlier than promised? What is the best thing about a Friday in November? Spur people’s curiosity with a question they can’t help but think about, or scroll on.
Get to the point. If it’s too long, you risk losing and boring your audience. We all know this. Pay attention to what grabs your attention in your own social media activity and behaviours and work towards maximum engagement. If it’s a sponsored post, don’t forget to add a call to action.
Raise the stakes. If the audience doesn’t engage, what will they miss out on? A chance at a one-time promotion or sale, a chance to realize something about their own life or self-growth?
Support your caption with an accompanying image or video. As we all know, visuals are essential. They are what draw people in, prompt them to pause, watch, if only for a few short seconds.
360PSG also recommends keeping it short. They recommend, “Don’t make them click to see more…someone casually browsing Instagram is likely to keep scrolling when a lengthy caption takes them out of their flow.”
Something else that can go a long way is giving the caption a “clean” visual. 360PSG recommends burying the hashtags in the comments rather than in the caption.
Social media is a creative medium. Don’t bore your audience or turn them away with something too conservative. One thing to consider before you begin writing a caption—when you feel the impulse to screen shot something so you don’t lose it in the stream of your social media feed, pay attention to those moments. What caught your attention and inspired you?
Author: ChamberPlan.ca
