We can set up the best SEO in the world but without great storytelling we can easily lose our audience in social media. Some business owners are uncomfortable about writing content. It’s just not their “thing”. That’s ok. We don’t have to be professional writers. We just have to know where to start and then follow some basic guidelines.

Focus on a product or service to promote and then consider the following steps:

1. Choose the type of message: Are we imparting knowledge? Are we sharing humor? Are we telling a story? Or are we promoting an event?

2. Keep the post short: Use up to 140 characters for a Tweet, one paragraph for a Facebook post, and one to three paragraphs for a blog or website post.

3. Use visual aids when possible; a great photo or short video will add color and excitement to posts.

4. Determine which senses best fit the topic: touching, tasting, smelling, hearing, or seeing? Writing to a reader’s senses allows her to experience a product or service immediately.

5. Use the active voice. Write as if we are jogging, not as if we have jogged. Got it?

6. Check for spelling and grammar. Knowing the difference between there, their and they’re will affect the way a reader understands a post.

7. Read it out loud. If it sounds awkward, it reads awkward. Write it as you would speak it.

For example, if you sell lawn mowers you can describe the muscular look of their design and the efficiency of their grass demolishing blades. It sounds dramatic but it’s more interesting than reading “they cut grass really well.” Wow. That’s hot. Is there a color you want to promote? Then don’t just call it red, call it fire-engine red. What about taste and scent? Would you be more interested in “ Our Saturday special: a dozen warm vanilla cupcakes loaded with sweet strawberry buttercream frosting” or “Our Saturday special deal: a dozen cupcakes”?

There isn’t a business we can’t write great content about. Language is the key ingredient to our social marketing success. Great content sets the tone for every conversation and breathes life into our shared passions. As business owners we cannot overlook the social power of the written word.

Meagan V. Albury