October 14, 2021
The evolution of writing copy for social media has been a dynamic and sometimes confusing journey. The days of winging it are long past us and now specific and sometimes prescribed styles of creatives and copy will resonate with specific social platforms and brand profiles.
While this may sound like it stifles creativity – I’d argue otherwise. If anything, it pushes social media copywriters to explore different styles and techniques to maximise their message while operating within the confines of a social platform or brand profile.
To help you on your journey to levelling up your social copywriting across platforms – I’m going to be diving into some of the nitty-gritty details of writing copy for different platforms.
First up – let’s go through some simple and quick to action tips for getting the most out of the B2B behemoth, LinkedIn.
Hit them with a Headline
Out of all your potential targets on LinkedIn – only a small number will follow and engage with your brand. While this is the same as every platform – many LinkedIn posts utilise more copy compared to other platforms. This means your audience is getting bombarded with copy every time they scroll through their news feed.
To counterbalance this – think like a tabloid.
Love or hate the famous redtops of the British press – there’s one thing they’ve always excelled at: Eye-catching headlines. Now, this isn’t to say that you need to be controversial or risqué, but as your writing your LinkedIn copy, think about ways to distil your post into a neat few word intro. Catch your audience’s interest before someone else does.
Understanding the Fold
People frequently go to LinkedIn with a purpose. They want updates on their network and the industries/markets they work in. This means they’re often a bit more engaged when browsing when compared to other networks.
This has led to social copywriters using LinkedIn as the platform where they can ramble away on their posts. Now, while you can write more than other platforms – this isn’t an excuse to waffle without reason.
One of the key reasons to not waffle is the ‘Fold’. Every LinkedIn post allows for a chunk of visible copy on the platform before it gets cut off with ‘Read More’. This means it’s important to either keep your post brief – or to front-load with the best bits right at the start.
You only have 200-250 characters before you hit the ‘read now’ limit. That’s less than Twitter. So next time you’re curating copy for LinkedIn, always remember the fold.
A CTA Isn’t Always the Best Ending
Following on the trend of keeping everything short, sweet, and frontloaded – Let’s talk CTAs. So, we’ve just covered the fold and with most writers saving their CTA for the very end – more than often, it’s hidden to the user unless they’re invested enough to click ‘read more’.
To prevent this from happening – if you post is turning out on the longer side of things, consider peppering your post with a few gentle and short CTA’s. Don’t forget to utilise tools such as bit.ly to ensure your CTA is shot and not overtaking your entire post.
So, there we have it, a few tips to get your LinkedIn copy popping. While this obviously isn’t intended to be the most extensive or definitive guide out there – these few little tips will help elevate your copy on LinkedIn, resulting in more engagements, more conversions, and a stronger, more concise brand identity.
Till next time.