Maybe Instagram is your happy place. Maybe you love nothing more than pouring your heart out to your followers and watching the little heart icon light up with notifications. Or maybe you find yourself sitting at your computer far too regularly…staring at the blinking cursor and wondering how you can cram into 4 inches why and how you are the best in your niche. If the latter is you, then you need these copywriting tips for social media.

But, before you scroll on by, they’re not your common and garden social media tips. If you’ve been around for a while, then you’ll know I believe in the power of sharing your values. Your politics, principles, or whatever you like to call them. I believe in the power this brings to your business. The way it helps your audience connect with your brand. The authentic gleam that it gives your content.

And so, here we’re going to go through 8 ways that you can use your social media copywriting as a window into your brand values. So that your followers can be confident you share in the things that are important to them. And be happier opening up their wallet.

Why social media copywriting matters

When a tragedy happens, do you feel like you have to stop selling “out of respect”, but then you realise tragedies are happening every other day and you need to pay your bills?

Do you want to talk about the issues that matter to you, but don’t feel like you know enough, and what if people ask you questions you can’t answer?

Do you worry about being polarising because the last time you had a political conversation with someone Aunt Stephanie stopped sending you Christmas cards?

Our businesses don’t exist in a vacuum. And on social media, our posts jostle for space in between the campaigning organisations our followers are keeping an eye on and the latest influencers peddling shapewear. It can be tricky to find the line where sharing the issues you care about becomes shouty preaching about recyclable coffee cups.

That’s the power of copywriting. By taking some of the key principles I use when I’m writing for clients, you can speak about the things that matter to you with empathy and conviction. Even when you’re nestled between videos about cats.

Bored of following all the social media copywriting best practices?

There are about a million guides to social media for business. This is not another one of those. Because most of those will tell you to pick 4 key pillars to talk about online – your brand’s most important messages. Then rotate between the following:

• Behind-the-scenes content (you know, “look how untidy my desk is, I’m just like you”. Or “we’ve asked everyone in our marketing department what their favourite cat was and these are the results”.)
• Educational content (explaining things to your audience that they need to know so they can engage with your product better)
• Promotional content (Look how great our stuff is!)
• Social proof content (look how great other people say our stuff is!)

This is all useful stuff to work out when you’re designing a social media content strategy. If you have a clear idea of who you’re talking to, what you want to say, and how you want to say it, then you’ll have a more engaged audience.

But it’s getting harder and harder to fight the algorithm. And if everyone else is following these strategies, then how do you stand out?

By making your values a key part of your message. Values that your audience connect with, that get them excited, and that leave them wanting to know more about what you offer.

My copywriting tips for social media in this article are all based around my framework on How to Talk Politics Without Pissing People Off.

Easy-to-follow copywriting tips for social media

Social media copywriting is a tricky beast. You have limited space, you’re competing with a million other colourful squares on an endless scrolling platform. You have to grab people’s attention, engage them, and get them to take an action. All while they’re sitting on the loo or trying to get their baby to eat porridge.

Work out what really matters to you

Let’s face it, there is no shortage of things to get annoyed about right now. But what are the issues that you just can’t stop thinking about? The ones that keep you up at night or directly affect those you love? Those are the ones you need to be talking about in your social media content.

So, rather than trying to address every single thing The Guardian puts on its front page, here’s what we do:

• Grab a pen and paper,
• Write down the 3 issues you want to start discussing.
• Brainstorm what you want to get across to your audience – what do you want them to know about the issue?
• Start practising what you want to say and how you want to express yourself on the issue.

Get to know your audience

Now you’ve got your values ironed out, you need to think about the people you’re speaking to. If you’re running a business, then you should have a basic idea of who you’re marketing to already. But ask yourself this: What things do they care about? What are they always talking about? What’s going on in the world right now that affects their lives?

The answers to all of these questions influence how you talk to your social media followers. And how they’ll engage with your value-based content. This is good old Voice of Customer research – a cornerstone of copywriting practice. And it’s sooo important if you want to connect with your ideal people online.

Be prepared for dialogue

You’re talking to actual people, not shouting into the ether. So you need to be prepared for someone to talk back. This might just be one of your followers asking a question, or it might be a loud disagreement. How you deal with this is important.

The thing is, we’re not used to seeing people disagree agreeably anymore. Social media algorithms have reinforced this “us vs them” idea. And we are much less likely to have thoughtful conversations with people who think differently.

It is possible to have a constructive dialogue with people who disagree with your post, where each of you goes away having learnt something. It might also be the trigger for you to go away and rethink some parts of your brand messaging. And the easiest way to get to this point is to keep in mind that you’re talking to a human being.

My tip? Pretend they’re your nan. Sure, you might think she’s wrong, but it’s almost impossible to shout at her!

Don’t try and cover everything

We all have a LOT of things we care about. And, if you dedicated your brand’s social media platform to every one of them, then people might not know you were selling anything. Which kind of defeats the point of having a business at all.

You do not have to address every single issue or event that pops up on your breaking news notification.

This is why I advise you to pick 3 (ish) and focus on those. That way your messaging stays consistent. And your audience knows what they’re getting when they engage with your brand.

Consistency is key

One of my biggest bugbears is companies jumping on the latest “international day of” bandwagon. There are a few reasons this sort of thing has become more common.

1. With the algorithm changes, it became easier to be seen if you posted more often. Coming up with quality content more than twice a week can be tricky. Social media gurus have encouraged smaller brands to use these “international day of” calendars to plan their content, so they don’t run out of things to say.
2. Larger brands saw the opportunity for increased visibility by using hashtags associated with things like Black History Month, or Pride Month, and would put out content during these times to take advantage of the event.

The problem is, we’re not as easily fooled as we used to be. If you’re posting about LGBTQ+ rights today, and you’ve never mentioned it before, then your audience knows you’re not really committed. Also, if you’re a larger brand, then the internet has made it pretty easy to find out if you’re putting your money where your mouth is.

Sticking to a few key messages or causes means you can be consistent all year round. Not just because your calendar says so.

Take breaks

In addition to helping with your consistency, choosing a few key causes helps your mental state. The world is a busy and stressful place. And there are a lot of things going on that can cause much anxiety and stress. Keeping up with them in real life is hard enough, but keeping up with them in order to weave them into your messaging adds an extra layer. There are also particular issues that may hit us hard.

So, it’s important to be realistic about how much you can engage. If things happen, like a school shooting for example, that you just can’t talk about. Then don’t. You are not a journalist. You are allowed to take a step away and come back when you’re ready.

Be kind to yourself.

Be a human

Which brings me to my final tip. Be a human.

When you’re talking about a cause close to your heart, or a value you hold, you don’t have to pretend you’re Stephen Hawking. You don’t have to be the expert who knows everything.

Write your posts like you’re talking to a friend. As if you were explaining to someone you care about why this thing is so important to you.

Write like a human. And the humans who read your posts will feel so much more connected with you and your brand.

Want more support?

If these copywriting tips for social media whetted your appetite and you’d like to find out more about weaving your values into your messaging, then you’re in luck.

I’m building a membership to help businesses share their politics without chasing away their audience. So you can feel authentically you when crafting your social media, your blog articles, and your web copy.

Sign up for the waitlist and be the first to know when we go live.

Carry on reading