Social Media Writing: How to Write for Social Media Marketing

Social media writing is one of the most valuable skills you can have in today’s job market

It’s the gateway to steady income for new and veteran writers alike.

This niche for writing and marketing is:

In high demand: Every business needs it, and most still don’t make time for it
Lucrative
Consistent
Teeming with opportunities for growth and expansion.

Just check out the trend in how many people search “social media marketing” on Google.

Better yet, if you have used any social platform daily for at least a year, you have plenty of experience to start a writing side hustle or career on social media.

Keep reading for more on how you can leverage major social channels, post-writing, ad copy, tweets, log-form, and short-form content to reach new heights in job skills and income.

Why is Social Media Writing Important?

Because every effective social media strategy starts with great writing.

As a social content writer, you create the voice, messaging, and invaluable written marketing materials for businesses across social media networks.

Social media is one of the main ways businesses connect with their target audiences across a variety of platforms.

The content you write for your clients, companies, and brands on social media is critical in building a relationship, trust, and loyalty with your target audience.

Writing for social networks is typically executed in two ways

Copywriting
Content writing

What is a Social Media Copywriter?

A social media copywriter specializes in crafting messages that maximize social media engagement.

They write interesting, compelling social media advertising copy for brands and businesses.

The biggest goal of social media copywriters are to

Grab their audience’s attention with captivating social media copy and ads
Maximize visibility with their client’s target audience
Get the audience to take action: Click, buy, sign-up, keep reading, etc.

Social Media Copywriter Pay Scale

As I write this in 2022, I see a cross-section of pay for this career from the low-end for new copywriters in small towns in the US. The low end can start around $40,000-$50,000 per year.

The top end? Well, the sky’s the limit. If you’re great and have a proven track record of results, your earning potential can be $100,000 per year and beyond. Especially if you can show direct, big, quantifiable sales from your writing.

This is a broad range that mostly depends on you or your client’s geographic location, budget, how much social media copy drives results, etc.

Keep in mind this pay grade can go way higher than this, especially for contract and freelance writers.

The pay for writing a copy is great because it’s all about generating results.

If your social media ad copy directly gives your clients the results they want –– more clicks, traffic, subscribers, sign-ups, consultations, leads, and sales –– you can charge more.

I recommend using the pay scale tools on LinkedIn, Indeed, Glassdoor, etc. to evaluate the pay range for copywriting on social media.

Bottom Line: If your ads are driving sales and a positive ROI, you can charge even more.

How to Write Social Media Copy That Sells

First, social media copy needs to grab the attention and interest of your audience.

It should speak to your audience’s needs, challenges, pain points, fears, and desires of your target audience.

To write social media copy that sells, you need to understand everything about your audience and what they want or need.

Once you have this down, you can craft social posts and ads that speak directly to their needs.

Here are some best practices and quick tips for writing social media copy that sells…

1. Write Headlines That Make People Want to Click

Your headline is the most important part of your social media post or ad. It’s what will determine whether or not people even bother to read the rest of your copy. So, make sure your headlines are attention-grabbing and interesting.

Think to yourself, “If I was my target client and saw this, would I click on it? Or just scroll past it?”

Coschedule has a headline analyzer that will help you 5x the quality and click-ability of your headline.

2. Keep it Short and Sweet

No one wants to read a long social media post or ad.

So, keep your copy short and to the point. Get your message across in as few words as possible.

3. Speak to Your Audience’s Needs

Your social media copy should speak directly to the needs of your target audience.

What solution are they looking for?
What problem are they trying to solve?
What challenges are they facing?
What are their biggest fears and pain points?
Who is your ideal client avatar?
How can you meet them in their mental and emotional state?

People click and buy on emotion. It’s only afterward they rationalize with logic.

If you can clearly address the problem or challenge their facing and how your client’s product and service can fix it, you’re 90% of the way there.

Address these notes in your copy, and you’ll grab their attention.

4. Use Visual Media

You need to use images and videos that demand your audience’s attention.

Use them to your advantage. Images and video can be the difference-maker between someone stopping to read your ad or totally skipping it.

Create a simple style guide for each of your clients so you have a content creation framework to work with.

5. Use Calls-to-Action

Make sure your social media copy has a clear call to action. Tell people what you want them to do: click, buy, sign-up, learn more, etc.

If you don’t tell people what to do, they won’t know what to do.

Unclear messages create confused users.

Confused users abandon ship and keep scrolling.

Make sure your call-to-action is clear, direct, and easy to follow.

6. Use Data to Capture Attention and Backup your Points

Studies have shown that certain audiences can be several times more likely to stop, read, and click on social media ads that back up their claims with data surprising, shocking, and incredible data from credible sources.

Other Tips on How to Write Copy for Social Media

Here are some things to consider when drafting social copy:

While you’re scrolling, what would make you stop on an ad?
What ads have made me stop dead in your tracks?
What’s the biggest challenge or problem my target audience is facing?
What’s the clearest, simplest, and most compelling way I can convey that solution through ad copy?
What are the benefits –– not the features –– I or my audience is looking for?

Summing it up:

The best way to write good copy is to keep it simple.
Write headlines that clearly state the problem and the solution.
Fear and desire motivate consumers. Leverage both in your social copy.
Use formulas like pain-agitate-solution and the before and after the bridge.
Use clean, captivating images, carousels, designs, and videos that stand out in their feeds and fit your message.

What is Social Content Writing?

Social content writing is creating mid- to long-form social content and posts for social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn.

As a social content writer, capture the tone and voice of your client to create engaging social media messages, posts, captions, subtitles, and content.

Social Content vs. Copy

Social content writing and copywriting are two different things.

Copywriting is a type of writing that sells something or gets a user to take a key action –– subscribe, sign up, or buy. It is typically persuasive, brief, and direct.

Social content writing uses social media channels to connect with your audience, educate them, engage with them, and build a relationship with them. It may or may not be focused on making a sale as copywriting is.

Instead, social content writing is about creating content that is interesting, informative, and entertaining. You leverage it to build awareness, visibility, credibility, and brand.

How to Write Content for Social Media Posts

You have to be on brand when writing social media posts and content.

Your social media posts should reflect the voice, tone, and values of your client. They should also be consistent with the overall message you’re trying to communicate.

They should be engaging and interesting.

No one likes a boring brand or message.

Here are some tips for writing social media posts that are both on-brand and interesting. You’ll notice there’s a lot of overlap between writing great social copy and writing great social content.

1. Write Attention-Grabbing Headlines

As with social copy, your headline is the first thing people will see when they come across your social media post.

It’s important to make sure your headline –– or the first line of your post –– grabs their attention from the jump.

2. Use Captivating Visuals

Images, videos, carousels, designs, infographics, and GIFs are great ways to make your social media posts more engaging. They can also help communicate your message more effectively.

3. Speak to Your Audience

When writing to your social audience, never write above them. You’ll come off as pretentious.

Keep your messaging simple, and write in the language you would speak to them in. If you find yourself in a writing rut, ask yourself “what am I trying to say here?”

Speak it out loud, then write it down.

4. Keep it Short and Sweet

Think of writing social content like micro-blog marketing.

It’s a quick snapshot of knowledge, information, data, wisdom, news, insights, etc. relevant to you or your client’s brand that provides noticeable value to your audience.

5. Use Relevant Keywords and Hashtags

When writing social media posts, always use relevant keywords and hashtags. This will help you reach a wider audience and make it easier for people to find your content. Hashtag use is critical for getting discovered. Research hashtags that other businesses and creators in your market are using. See which they use most frequently and which of them get the most visibility.

Use Relevant Keywords and Hashtags in Social media writing

Note: I recommend checking out some influencers in industries you’re interested in.

Look at their Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and TikTok Feeds to see how they’re composing their social content and marketing themselves on these platforms.

6. Use Data to Back up Your Claims

If you’re trying to get your audience’s attention, make a point or persuade them, use data. Pull data from credible sources to help back up your claims, and include that in the written content, pictures, and video of your social content.

Social Media Content Writer Salary and Pay

Social media content writer salary and pay vary over a wide range, just like social copywriters.

For both fields, I’d recommend checking out pay ranges for social media content writer positions on:

Indeed
LinkedIn Jobs
Ziprecruiter
Glassdoor

To give you guidance on what industries, businesses, and niches to pursue or specialize in.

How to Get Started with Social Media Writing?

If you’re interested in becoming a social media writer, here’s your step-by-step guide to getting started

Put it on Your Resume and Job Profiles: If you have at least 1-2 years of experience as a casual social media user, I believe you should put it on your resume. Don’t lie that you’re a world-class expert on it if you aren’t. But if you’re a regular user of one or more platforms, you already understand their underlying functionality, navigation, and mechanics. That’s all the insight you need to start writing on social media for a living.
Join Social Media Writing and Marketing Groups: Join some online writing groups, engage other users, ask questions, learn as much as possible, offer help, and keep learning. Just don’t be spammy. Writing social media groups are a great way to build a network with other writers and find job opportunities, referrals, and clients.
Create a Swipe File: A swipe file is a collection of social media posts, ads, headlines, etc. that you find inspiring and that you can reference when you’re feeling stuck. Creating a swipe file is a great way to ensure you’re always creating social media content that’s on-brand and interesting. Anytime you’re browsing social media, save eye-catching posts to your social media account and/or clip them to your swipe file. I like Evernote, but you can use Google Drive or any cloud software you prefer.
Read the Top Books on Writing and Social Media Marketing: Social media is constantly changing, but the principles for creating quality content and high-converting copy are largely universal and adaptable. I highly recommend Copywriting Secrets by Jim Rohn, This is Marketing by Seth Godin, and Everybody Writes by Ann Handley.
Launch Your Own Blog or Website: If you don’t have social media platforms to showcase your work, start a blog or website. Use social media to drive traffic to your site, and make sure to include social media sharing buttons on your posts. This is a great way to build credibility and your client base while giving you an active success story you can pitch to new clients. This is also a great way to learn and experiment on your own.
Share What You Learn to Build Your Brand: As you’re reading social media books and learning new tips and tricks, share what you’re learning with your audience on your website with blogs. Then, share those blogs with your friends and followers on social media. This will not only help you build your brand as a social media expert, you may also pick up clients from your network on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.
See Which of Your Posts and Ads Perform the Best: Take a look at your social media analytics to see which of your posts perform the best. What do these posts have in common? Use this information to inform your social media writing and ensure you’re always creating content that your audience loves. You can put this data and your learnings on it in your portfolio, then leverage it to pitch and close new clients.
Look for social media writing and marketing clients or jobs on job boards: Scrape LinkedIn Jobs, Indeed, and other job boards for social media writing and marketing gigs. You can also use social media to your advantage by reaching out to companies and brands you want to work with and pitching them your social media writing services.

I highly recommend building out your LinkedIn and Indeed profiles to showcase your new social media skills. These platforms are ideal for building an inbound and outbound lead generation system for new social media writing clients.

In Closing

The demand for social media writing jobs is at an all-time high. That makes it an easy entry point for new writers or a massive opportunity for seasoned writers to grow their book of business or even build a small agency.

If you want to learn more about social media writing jobs, check out my free ebook on the 20 highest-paying jobs for writers. Inside, you’ll find information on earnings, skills required, and what it takes to become a great one.

Inside, you’ll find information on earnings, skills required, and what it takes to become a great one.

Additional Resources

For more on how to write social content and copy that drives engagement, clicks, and sales, be sure to check out

References

https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2022/09/26/2522134/0/en/Proliferating-Demand-for-Social-Media-Digital-Advertising-Services-Will-Open-Huge-Opportunities-for-Advertising-Service-Providers-Says-Fact-MR.html
https://www.zippia.com/social-media-manager-jobs/demographics/
https://www.marketingweek.com/steep-rise-demand-marketers-digital/
https://www.marketingweek.com/social-experts-digital-specialists-marketing-jobs-market/
https://www.oberlo.com/blog/social-media-marketing-statistics