🐚 The Salty Shell: How to Easily Write Social Copy

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🧂 Salty Insights: You're Doing Too Much

Over the past several weeks I have been auditing social media copywriting, paid and organic social strategies, data, calendars and reporting and one of the biggest things I find myself tearing apart and repeating the same feedback is the copywriting. Whether it’s written by AI or a human trying way too hard, it’s obvious.

One thing I mentioned was “it looks like either AI wrote it or this was the very last thing you had to do before it went to the client so you pulled it out of your ass.” They agreed it was a bit of both. Just like calendars and reporting shouldn’t be painful, copywriting shouldn’t be either.

Copywriting is easy if you have the proper elements in place.

In order to easily write sensical and simple copy you need a strategy. Everything you need to know is in your strategy – at least it should be:

Engaged AND Target Audience demographics: Who are you trying to reach? Who actively engages with your content? How does it vary per platform?

Audience Interest and Pain Points: What does your audience like? What do they engage with? What content has “performed well?” What are their pain points and how does your product or service solve that problem?

Brand Voice and Personality: This really makes copywriting easy since it runs consistently through your brand’s communication – social, website, blog, emails, ads etc. The voice is your brand’s personality and the tone is how you express it.

Objectives: When copywriting, 99% of the time the post should line up to one of your objectives. These can range from growing an engaged community, driving traffic, conversions etc.

⚓️ Anchor Your Success: Less is More

Objective

What is the objective of this post? Why are you posting it? If it’s to fill a gap or just because – throw it out and don’t post it.

Be Proactive

What are you trying to tell your audience? What questions could they have after reading it? Instead of having answers on hand, write a caption that leaves people feeling fulfilled, without questions or uncertainties.

Instead of saying “Closing Ceremonies is Saturday” for Little League, state the day, time, field, when players need to be on the field, what they need to be wearing, what happens during closing ceremonies and about how long they can expect to be there. Be even more proactive and remind them to get there early because parking will be busy.

Compelling Hook

Not all captions can start with a compelling hook, but if you want them glued to your copy – tease something intriguing. Think of all of those TikTok videos you’ve watched where they suck you in as soon as they start talking and then you’re waiting…waiting…waiting for the answer and sometimes it never comes – don’t be that person, but do suck them in!

Be Concise & Clear

Check your copy for unnecessary phrases and redundancy. Is it written in an active voice? Are you using words just to use words? Avoid filler words and extra nouns and verbs.

Version 1: Here at Restaurant Name, we are thrilled to introduce our new special burger! It’s made with a juicy, all-beef patty that’s grilled to perfection and topped with melted cheddar cheese, crispy bacon, fresh lettuce, ripe tomatoes, and our signature house-made sauce, all served on a toasted brioche bun. We believe this is the best burger you’ll ever taste, and we can’t wait for you to try it! Visit us today to experience this mouthwatering creating for yourself. Click here to learn more.

Version 2: Want more bacon? You got it! We made the NEW Bacon Bliss Burger with our signature smoky sauce just for you.

Get to the point.

Proofread and Edit

Yes, they’re different. Proofread for grammar mistakes, spelling errors, punctuation or typos. Edit to improve the overall quality of the copy: is it clear? Coherent? Structured well? Is it easy to read and understand? It may need to be rearranged or completely rewritten – and that’s okay.

Analyze

Are all possible questions answered? Is anything left up for interpretation? What is the reader going to get out of seeing this post? Are they going to be confused as to why you posted it or what it has to do with your brand (like jumping on a random ass trend or meme)?

🌊 Brain Waves: How to Use AI as an Assistant

Sure, ChatGPT can write your captions, but everyone will know and they’ll know because they’re weird, use words we don’t usually use and don’t really get to the point. If you’re stuck on ideas or are looking for a unique twist, you can use AI for inspo.

Say you’re a hot dog brand – there’s only so much you can say about hot dogs, so here are some example prompts:

“Suggest engaging topics for social media posts about our hot dogs” Response includes: beverage pairings, side dishes, dessert ideas to complement a hot dog meal, cooking tips and techniques, collaborations, creative and unique hot dog recipes, gourmet toppings and combinations

“Here’s my draft for a caption for a hot dog post, how can I make it more exciting?”

“Write 10 captions about hot dogs and major league baseball” - Batter up and relish the moment with a classic hot dog at the ballpark - Hot dogs and home runs: the perfect combo for any baseball fan You can tell AI wrote those but they can give you some puns or structural inspiration.

“Is a hot dog a sandwich is the great debate, what other funny questions can I ask hot dog fans, like that?” - Is it okay to eat a hot dog with a fork and knife?

“Does this caption make sense?” or “How can I improve this caption?”

Happy writing & see you next Wednesday.

Have a question or want to suggest a topic for a future issue? Reply to this email or submit here.

Chelsea

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