The best social media copywriting practices based on platform
Some entrepreneurs and creators make using social media to grow the business look so easy. From the outside looking in, it seems like they were born with the gift of gab and an eye for irresistibly engaging content. The truth is these folks aren’t born with a natural knack for creating social media content—they know the ins and out of what content performs well and how to create messages that their audience will respond to. Each social media platform has its own personality. To succeed on any of these platforms, you have to know who you’re talking to and the best way to deliver your messages. Naturally, tailoring your social media copywriting chops to each platform is key.
To help you get started on the right track to creating more engaging social media copy that will get your audience to respond, we’ve created this guide on the best copywriting practices by social media platform. P.S. We chose the top platforms that can be beneficial to entrepreneurs and creators like you. Don’t feel pressured to jumping on each one at once.
Top social media copywriting tips by platform
Today, long captions for in-feed posts are becoming more popular over on Instagram. And many users look to the platform as a microblogging community. While more characters may work for in-feed posts, for Stories, Reels, and IGTV, it’s best to provide brief synopsis in both the captions and in-video text.
Character count: Instagram allows you to use up to 2,200 characters in captions. Since Instagram is excellent for microblogging, you may require longer captions depending on the type of content you share. No matter how long your caption is, make sure your words are enhancing the visual you post. The most important takeaway for your audience should be at the beginning of your caption. Also, be sure to provide a CTA (call to action) for your audience to follow.
Visuals: Without question, Instagram is a highly visual social media platform. But posts with written text like quotes or graphics tend to do pretty well due to people sharing them within the app. Don’t be afraid to create these short posts with text in the image but keep it simple, engaging, and inspiring. This way, people will want to read and share it on their Story with friends via DM.
Hashtags: Instagram allows you to use up to 30 hashtags on posts. However, it’s more important to use the right hashtags that cater to your audience and content. Up to 11 hashtags seem to be a sweet spot on this platform.
Pinterest is another highly visual platform where your use of imagery trumps words ultimately. On the other hand, Pinterest works as a search engine, so you must optimize your posts with the keywords users are searching for on the app. Most Pinterest users use the platform to find inspiration for everything ranging from food recipes to home decor. The most important thing to remember for copywriting for Pinterest is to use high-quality imagery with short text blurbs (on the image) that convey precisely what the user is looking for.
Character count: In the description for your pin, you can use up to 500 words, although in most cases, there’s no need to. The most critical text you need to provide in your description is the keywords that Pinterest members should be searching to come across your pin.
Visuals: Don’t be afraid to place the keywords in your pin description directly onto your pin. It’s encouraged as most members judge a pin based on the image and text directly on it versus the description.
Hashtags: For years, it’s been debated whether hashtags are helpful on Pinterest. At one point, it was recommended not to use them. Generally, hashtags aren’t something you should fixate with on Pinterest, especially if you make good use of your pins’ titles and descriptions. You may not get much more visibility using hashtags, but you can play around with it as you see fit.
Though most Facebook members use the platform to stay connected with friends and family, they also enjoy entertaining and news-related content. Additionally, Facebook is a big traffic driver to external sites, which is why many marketers stand by using Facebook for Ads. Whether you’re looking to drive traffic to your company blog or your “learn more” page for your next online course, Facebook is a place you need to be. And, that’s why it’s equally important to learn the best practices for social media copywriting as it pertains to the OG social network.
Character Count: The limit for a Facebook post 63,206 characters, while the ideal post length is only 40-80 characters. Though longer posts can do well, engagement typically drops off significantly after 80 characters. If you can keep your post short and concise, go for it.
Visuals: Facebook is one platform that an excellent visual can totally level up your post’s performance. Always share an image with your copy when you can. If you have a video that you can share, even better because Facebookers love a good engaging video and will share it for their friends and family to see.
Hashtags: Facebook is another platform that marketers and business owners debate the effectiveness of hashtags. At the very least, you can use branded hashtags (a hashtag that’s specific to you and your brand) and a couple of broad and niche hashtags to make your post more searchable.
TikTok
There were 115.2 Million TikTok downloads in March 2020—you read us correctly. It’s no secret that Gen-Z rules TikTok. The video-based app that allows you to create 15 seconds to 1 minute long videos with music, audio, and cool transitions, and has been all the rage since the top of 2020. And it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. Users can also go live on TikTok. The critical thing to know about TikTok is that users, besides their obsession with TikTok dances, is their love of hacks, stumbling upon interesting facts, and anything that is so insightful that it may seem too good to be true.
While you should take advantage of inputting text directly onto your video, you should make it super short and concise so it doesn’t distract the user from watching your fantastic video.
Character count: The caption limit is 150 words, which includes the use of hashtags. With such a limited character count, you need to choose your words and hashtags wisely.
Visuals: As a video-based app, in-video captions can help your audience get a clearer understanding of what you’re trying to convey in your video. However, you want to keep any text you overlay on your video short and sweet as it may become a bit distracting.
Hashtags: While using hashtags is welcome on TikTok, it isn’t going to make or break your content’s visibility. Posting using popular songs or sounds is more important than the hashtags that you use in your caption.
Twitter is all about who can say it the best and the fastest. As far as social media copywriting tips for Tweet, less is more. However, if you have a story to tell that requires more words (and adds value), take advantage of the “thread” function to create a group of small tweets that connect to tell a story, create a list or connect like thoughts.
Character count: The character limit is 280; however, shorter Tweets still do rather well on the app.
Visuals: While tweets with imagery tend to do very well on Twitter, tweets with images that have text directly on them don’t. Avoid it as most members will skip over these types of posts as they appear a bit spammy.
Hashtags: On Twitter, you can use hashtags in a tweet so long as it falls within the character count. However, Tweets with a ton of hashtags tend to look spammy and draw users away. The best time to use hashtags is when you’re joining in on a conversation like a trending topic or a live event (using the official hashtag of the event). Other than that, keep hashtags minimal on this app (one to three at most).
LinkedIn is all about sharing professional news, business industry insights, and anything related to one’s personal life. Since most people who run to LinkedIn are eager to gain knowledge and insight into their respective fields, longer posts are welcome so long as they provide the user with useful information.
Character count: Character count lengths vary based on the type of profile you’re posting from—700 characters on company page posts, 1,300 characters on individual accounts and 220 characters for LinkedIn headlines. On the flip side, articles have no real character limit.
Visuals: Sharing a picture with LinkedIn posts are a great way to capture a user’s attention. Also, don’t be afraid to share videos with your Linkedin posts, as it is the most engaging type of visual content on any social platform by far.
Hashtags: The official LinkedIn hashtag guide recommends using no more than three hashtags per post. Make sure to do a combination of broad and niche hashtags.
By following these simple yet effective social media copywriting tips, you can better understand how to deliver your message and content in the most powerful and meaningful way to your audience.