I’m not going to lie, I’m not a huge fan of writing content for social media. Although it’s a service I offer, social media management can be quite a niggly task, involving lots of regular content in bitesize chunks. It’s probably why a lot of people outsource it, to be fair.

If you don’t have the budget to task a professional to do it for you, though, here are my top tips on writing content for social media…

Engage With Your Audience

Do you know your audience? If not, it’s time to get to know them (not in a stalky way, you understand).

Keep an eye, though, on the comments and feedback from your customers, though - learn what makes them tick, as well as what doesn’t - and try to feed them content you know they will enjoy.

Take time to reply to the comments they leave on your social media pages, too; opening up a dialogue with your customers can help shape your content later down the line.

Keep it Simple

Don’t force content for the sake of it; if you don’t have anything relevant or interesting to say, don’t bother posting.

Your customers’ attention will be being pulled this way and that, so it’s important to keep their interest when they do land on your social media pages. Make your content short and snappy and use relevant imagery to ensure it stands out on their Facebook feed or Twitter timeline.

Collaborate with Similar Businesses

Without linking to direct competitors, it’s always a good idea to create something of a community of followers based on similar social media pages. Link to relevant content and ‘share the love’, as it were, for other creators. It isn’t necessarily about bringing more traffic to your site, but about bringing the right traffic to your site - and giving fellow businesses a pat on the back in the process.

So, for example, if you run a gardening business and you know your followers are also interested in all things interiors, why not team up with a home décor business to create a fun series of social media posts together? As a freelance Yorkshire copywriter, I’m not adverse to pairing up with other people in the same - or similar - arena; connections and collaborations can be key.

Try Something New

If what you’ve been doing so far just isn’t working, try something new - whether that’s asking customers for their opinion on key business decisions (which packaging design should you opt for, for example) or running a promotion or giveaway.

Has this blog post helped you with your social media strategy? Let this friendly Huddersfield copywriter know by commenting below. Or say hello!

Until next time…

As you might know, I’m a tea drinker. There’s nothing better than a proper Yorkshire brew. In fact the only thing I like more than a decent cup of tea in the morning is a decent cup of tea in the afternoon, along with a slice of cake.

As far as I know, tea is a wonderful, warm beverage devoid of moral standpoints or political leanings. So colour me a biscuity-shade of surprised when I opened Twitter this week to find hundreds of thousands of
angry tweets about and directed to the Yorkshire Tea account.

It’s all based on a photograph somebody else had taken of their product in the hands of a politician. As a brand that stands firmly to their “we don’t discuss politics, we are tea” code of conduct, it’s been hard
for them to combat claims that they support the individual who took the photo, or the party they represent.

Some Twitter users have reached out to tell Yorkshire Tea that they are handling this situation incorrectly, and that they are disappointed with their support/denial of support of the individual and/or their party.

As you can see, it’s all gotten very confusing and ridiculous very quickly, and as a social media community manager, I can only imagine how stressful it has been to take care of Yorkshire Tea’s accounts this week. Although this response really made me chuckle:

Over the years there have been a number of social media storms that have caught brands out. The truth is, no matter what your content is, you can never tell what’s going to cause the next big controversy. Sometimes it can be as out of your control as a current event giving your planned hashtag a different meaning, and sometimes — as in Yorkshire Tea’s case — it might not even be something you did at all.

In light of this, here are my top tips on keeping things calm when your notifications are blowing up

Take Some Time Before Responding

Fires thrive when there’s oxygen around. Think of your crisis as a fire, and your attention is the oxygen. Every new Tweet or response you create will feed that fire, and thanks to the rapid speed at which information travels on the internet, soon it will become out of your control.

Before you react with an apology or a defence, take some time to think about why your customers or followers are unhappy. Talk to your teammates and put together a considered response that follows your corporate
guidelines. Then, once you’ve sent it, mute responses for a little while, so that the only response available is your official line.
Be Honest and Accountable

If you’ve made a mistake, hold your hands up. If you’re sorry, apologise. If you’ve done something silly, admit it. Nobody is perfect, not even a social media manager. If you’ve made a mistake, don’t try to muddle through it with a brave face. You’ll only damage your own reputation and that of the brand you’re representing.

Double check your plans to rectify the situation with your brand manager or team leader, and compose a post that shows your humility and/or the reality of the situation. After all: you are just a brand on social media, being made visible by a human being. There are limits to what you can do. Sometimes people need to be reminded of that.

Take Care Of Yourself

Being the subject of thousands of replies-worth of abuse online, even with the protective mask of a brand, takes a lot out of a person. It can be extremely upsetting, and in my experience even just a couple of
disgruntled individuals who got the wrong end of the stick can rattle your confidence for a little while.

Take some time out. Get a brew (or a hot chocolate if you’re the Yorkshire Tea manager — sorry, that’s not funny!) and a fairy cake. Go for a walk. Speak to your managers about how it’s affected you and what you think you need to do next to boost your confidence again.

And always remember — this isn’t about you. You are doing your best.

Make a Crisis Plan

The best way to nip any social media crises in the bud is to have a watertight crisis plan ready to be put into action at the earliest signs of trouble.

Work with the whole team to devise strategies That’ll help diffuse any difficult situations, and put together some posts ready to amend and use should the need arise.

Make sure you build in some community manager internet safety information and self-care techniques within the plan too. Everyone who has to deal with abuse online needs to know that there are structures in place
to keep them safe.

I hope this has helped to show you how important planning
for the unpredictable bad side of social media is. If you have any more tips, please do share them in the comments! And remember:

Until next time…

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