In a perfect world, you’d have a whole team helping you write social media content.
But we’re here to tell you that you don’t have to wait for the stars to align to get help with your content writing. You’ve already got a tag team for content brainstorming and writing across every social media platform—Jasper.
Here are 19 social media writing tips, including some of the ways Jasper can help you batch-create content in the blink of an eye.
Whether you’re an old pro looking for new tricks or you want to take the leap and start on a new platform, you can always bet on these tips to move you in the right direction. We’ll break them into categories for ease of use.
Getting started
1. Pick and choose your social media platforms
Don’t stretch yourself too thin trying to post on every social media channel. Instead, focus on two or three accounts where you know your target audience is, and build up your following before you add another account to the mix. This includes email.
2. Write short, simple content
Show your audience you value their time—each post should have one idea and one goal.
3. Aim for a sixth-grade or lower reading level
According to the APM Research Lab, more than half of Americans between the ages of 16 and 74 read below a sixth-grade level. You want to ensure your message reaches them. You can use a free content analyzer like Hemingway to check this.
4. Format your posts for skimming
Use headers, bullet points, and even emojis, images, or videos to help your audience grab the most important points of your post and draw attention.
5. Keep paragraphs short and sweet
Don’t be afraid of the one-liner paragraph. Shorter content (including short sentences) is easier for your audience to scan.
6. Always include a CTA in your posts
Where do you want your audience to go next, or what do you want them to do? Don’t make them do the guesswork—just tell them. A well-written call to action (CTA) will give them clear next steps.
7. Batch-create your content with help from Jasper
Do you want to know a secret from the Queen of Social Media herself, Rachel Pedersen? You can use AI to help you batch-create a month or more worth of content at once!
Jasper—one of the top tools for social media automation—can help you quickly and efficiently brainstorm and write anything. That includes everything from short tweets to longer posts for LinkedIn or other platforms, so you can spend more time creating, promoting, and engaging with your audience.
You probably already know that each platform and type of social media copy is nuanced. So the next 12 tips will guide you through the different stages of social media content creation.
Idea generation
Stuck staring at a blinking cursor? We feel you. Here are some ways to snap yourself out of writer’s block.
8. Gather together a swipe file for inspiration
A swipe file, or a collection of social posts, emails, or copy that you like and bookmark, is an easy way to keep inspiration for content that captivates and engages your audience.
When you’re building your swipe file, look at social post scheduling tools for potential jackpots when it comes to viral post ideas. For example, Hypefury, a scheduling tool for Twitter, includes Tweet inspiration for over 20 different categories, including thread hooks.
Here are some other great sources for social post ideas:
- Canva: Dozens of free Instagram post graphics to scroll through and get inspired
- Jasper: AI-generated templates and ideas to get your copy started for LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram captions
- Marketing Examples: Thousands of design and copywriting examples from across the web
- Really Good Emails: A curated collection of marketing emails from a wide variety of companies, from Allbirds to Zoom
Most importantly, stay plugged in to the sites and accounts that mean the most to you. Check out what’s trending on your favorite platform. You can even search for new memes that could be relevant to your niche, and use a meme generator to add your own custom subtitles.
9. Look for video inspiration around the web
You don’t have to brainstorm your next video ideas alone. There’s tons of inspiration to be found across the internet, including on YouTube.
Dan Carson, executive producer of the vidIQ YouTube channel, shares 30 of his favorite places to find video inspiration and ideas, including:
- Question-and-answer forums like Quora
- Google Alerts and Google Trends
- BuzzSumo and Exploding Topics
- Your own content—what’s gaining a lot of views or comments?
- Content by others in your niche that’s trending or going viral
- Search suggestions from Google and YouTube
These tips work not only for videos, but also for any other social media platform.
Content creation
Once you’ve brainstormed a few gems, it’s time to get to work. But you don’t have to go at it empty-handed. Try these tips on for size:
10. Use your Instagram caption to tell the story
Instagram is all about visuals, so if you’re going to spend time writing a caption, make it count. One trick to achieve this is to hook your readers with the story behind your photo.
Here are some inspiring examples:
- Nike’s post on the TSU Tigerbelles
- Bianca Rose Stephenson’s love story
- NASA’s post about stellar births
- Yes Theory’s behind-the-scenes reel
- Beverly Joubert’s giraffe mom and baby
- The ominous product shots of innocent orange juice
Improvising an anecdote doesn’t always come easily, though. To get you started, we put together five storytelling frameworks to help you take your readers on a hero’s journey or build them up with a metaphor.
11. Use psychology to entice clicks on your headlines
Jake Thomas, author of the Creator Hooks newsletter, which breaks down the magic behind successful YouTube titles, suggests appealing to the viewer’s curiosity and keeping things clear rather than trying to be clever.
An example he uses is the Essential Tennis video “Stop Standing HERE in Doubles! (why you’re losing).”
Why does it work? “[It’s] curiosity,” says Thomas in a Creator Hooks blog post. “Many tennis players think it’s good to stand at the spot shown in the thumbnail, so it’s counterintuitive for the creator to say stop standing there.”
12. Break your YouTube script into three parts
Nolan Molt of Think Media breaks his YouTube script creation process into three parts:
- The hook: Molt writes out his hook word-for-word, since the words he uses to catch the audience’s attention are critical.
- The content: The goal is to use bullet points to summarize your key points and then freestyle your videos. If you’re still writing scripts out word for word, you can practice freestyling videos by changing small sections of your script into bullet points to build your confidence.
- The call to action: At the end of every video, recommend another related video for your audience to watch. This could even boost your video’s ranking according to the YouTube algorithm.
13. Do your research before you write your YouTube video description
It may not seem like it at first glance, but your YouTube video descriptions can make or break your success on the platform. Some basic rules and keyword research can boost your rankings and help viewers find your content in the YouTube search engine more easily.
- Identify keywords: Identify SEO keywords and use them in your video’s title, description, and file name, as well as in your script so they appear in the subtitles and closed captions.
- Front-load keywords: Front-load your most important keywords into the first 200 characters of your description. This puts the most critical information above the fold—or, in YouTube’s case, before the description gets cut off by the “…more.” (Hint: Use an app or site like Word Counter to see if you’ve gone past your character limit.)
- Limit tags: Don’t stuff your description full of tags. While tags can help your audience find your content and promote brand awareness, Google says they “play a minimal role in your video’s discovery,” and an overabundance of tags is against YouTube’s spam policy.
- Include links: Include CTAs and links to your other social networks and websites. Do you have a newsletter? Add the link to your description and encourage viewers to sign up.
- Make your formatting skimmable: Use emojis, bullet points, capital letters, and asterisks to format your content. YouTube descriptions may not let you get fancy, but you can still design your content so visitors can skim it.
If you need inspiration for your video descriptions, try Jasper AI’s Video Description template. Enter your video title and the primary keyword you want to rank for, then choose your tone of voice to automatically generate a handful of video descriptions.
Also be sure to check your YouTube analytics to see what other videos your viewers are watching. This can help you figure out their interests and generate more ideas for future content.
14. Use your TikTok caption as a plot twist
Remember Rachel Pedersen? Her TikTok account has 1.1 million followers. One of the strategies she shares for growing your own account is to use your caption to play into a plot twist that leads people further on in the video.
Check out this example with the caption, “If ghosts aren’t real then explain this.” It’s intriguing enough without giving away the twist at the end.
The result is that viewers spend more time watching to see the big reveal.
15. Don’t use TikTok if it doesn’t make sense
They say everyone is on TikTok now, but are they really? Not quite. And for some marketers—namely B2B marketers—it likely doesn’t make sense to add the newest social media platform into your marketing mix just yet.
Heather Larson, a B2B SaaS social media marketer, notes that you shouldn’t focus so much on where successful social media content is posted as you should focus on what kind of content they contain and how those posts are created.
“Not getting on TikTok doesn’t mean you should ignore relevant market and content-consumption changes it has instigated,” Larson says. “It simply means you should meet your audience where they’re at socially and connect with them in a way that is currently relevant and effective.”
To do this, Larson recommends:
- Post TikTok-style short-form video on platforms where your audience is active
- Be spontaneous and authentic in your content
- Show (don’t tell) your audience what value your product or service brings
16. Captivate your audience with your Pinterest Pin descriptions
As with the other platforms, SEO is important for Pinterest. So dive into your favorite keyword research tool and also check to see what autofills when you search on Google. Make note of the best keywords you find, and use them in your descriptions to help Pinterest understand what your Pins are about.
Keywords aside, follow these tips to hit the sweet spot with your Pinterest Pin descriptions:
- Start with a question. Questions make great hooks and get your audience interested.
- Use bullet points or numbered lists. This will make your description easier to scan.
- Highlight your product or service. Are you promoting a product or service? Use the Pin description to highlight its benefits. (See tip number 18 for an easy way to write spot-on benefits.)
- Tell a story. Use Jasper to help you start spinning that yarn.
- Add a CTA. Don’t leave readers hanging. Add a CTA to the end of your description so readers who found your content valuable know what to do next.
- Make your voice consistent. Whether you use your natural voice or your brand’s voice, keep it consistent. This is where an editor can be your best buddy. (Or you can try Jasper’s tone editor.)
Content promotion
Done creating your content? Great—but don’t dust your hands off yet. It’s time to get eyeballs on your creations. Here’s how:
17. Batch create email subject lines with Jasper
Tell Jasper your email’s unique angle and decide on which tone of voice you normally speak in. This could be energetic, goofy, bubbly, serious, or something completely different.
Are you trying to mimic a celebrity? Tell Jasper whom you want to sound like. Our AI has scoured the internet and can help you craft content that sounds like your favorite internet celebrity. (Gary Vee, anyone?)
Fill in the blanks, then hit “Generate” to easily pick and choose the subject lines you like best.
For example, we tried the angle of a chocolate shop revealing its latest creations, and here are some of the email subject lines Jasper created for us:
- 🍫 New chocolate creations you HAVE to try
- 🍫 New Chocolate Alert!
- Our latest chocolate creations 😍
18. Create interest with copywriting frameworks
Are you ready to send out a newsletter promo featuring your new product, but you’re not sure what to write? Let Jasper help you tailor a compelling message using well-known and effective copywriting frameworks. Here are some common frameworks:
- AIDA: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action
- PAS: Problem, Agitate, Solution
- BAB: Before, After, Bridge
Each of these frameworks helps you craft and structure your copy in a way that’s proven to convert more people. That’s right, each one has been tried and tested for years—AIDA was invented in 1898!
19. Add dimension to make your copy appealing
Are you looking for a way to make your content more compelling? Copywriting pro and founder of VeryGoodCopy, Eddie Shleyner, says you should add dimension by “identifying the benefit of a benefit, again and again.”
Shleyner says you can do this by asking, “So what?” after describing a benefit. Do this three or four times to drill down into a granular, compelling benefit statement that shows readers exactly why they should use your product or service over competitors.
Pro tip: Let Jasper help you transform your product’s features into benefits. Give its Feature to Benefit tool a try.
20. Research hashtags on your and your competitors’ posts
Hashtags are a key part of social media strategy, but sometimes it’s difficult to figure out which ones are best for your content. Luckily, you can usually do hashtag research within the social network of your choice.
For example, the Instagram app lets you browse by hashtag and shows you the number of posts in each one. This tells you how popular your potential hashtags are. You can also check the Instagram Insights for your account to see how many impressions you earned from hashtags on a particular post.
Don’t forget to check out your competitors’ social posts and see which hashtags they’re using too. These could help you narrow down effective hashtags, instead of accidentally using a spam hashtag.
Need helping coming up with good hashtags? Try our Instagram Hashtag Generator.
As a social media marketer, you might be expected to be a jack of all trades. But that doesn’t mean you have to spend every minute of your day tackling social media content writing, filming, and scheduling.