Five Copywriting and Social Media Mistakes You Are Probably Making (And How to Fix Them)

The hunt for the best caption, the wittiest copy, the punchiest tag line is always on. Every day, in an effort to be memorable, social media managers make small mistakes that are easily avoidable. If you’re looking to improve your copywriting, stuck in a rut, or just looking for a fresh perspective, we’ve got you covered! 

Here are five copywriting mistakes that you’re probably making, and more importantly, how you can fix them!

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1) Missing your audience: It's easy to sit down to write a social media post and just start writing. A catchy caption, a quirky call to action...and no engagement? Too many social media managers jump to writing captions or LinkedIn posts without thinking about the most important part: your audience! The best copywriters are able to formulate posts and captions that hit the mark with their target audience. If you're engaging a certain demographic for a new product release, find out what grabs their attention. What trends can you use that will stop the scrolling and direct more customers to your call to action. 

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2) Bad formatting: This may sound silly, but social media posts are held back every single day by their formatting. To fix this, first understand how your platform of choice displays the promotional material. LinkedIn, for example, shows just the first two lines before requiring the audience to click to expand the post. Instagram promotes posts with more than five relevant hashtags, but they can look clunky to your audience if you don't hide them at the bottom of the post. Tinker with your formatting and make sure that your message is being accentuated, not hindered, by the platform of choice. 

3) Too much fluff: Content writers often make the mistake of over describing or explaining their offering. Instead, let your visual content do the talking and keep the caption short, pithy, and punchy. What is the most impactful bit of information you can deliver in one sentence? Anything more than a short message structure and your caption can lose its effectiveness and your customers lose their interest. 

4) Passive voice: If your captions are written in passive voice, chances are that your audience is missing all of the big things you're talking about! When copywriters make this mistake, they focus on pointing customers to the past, instead of encouraging them to imagine the present and future with their product or service. For example, "Homeowners loved our real estate agency last year for our ability to sell their home quickly." Using active voice, we could try copy that reads, "Customers trust our agency to sell their homes quickly and unlock the next chapter of their life!"

5) Rushing to post: This is a mistake that every single content writer has made, likely multiple times, through their career. The solution? Slow down, read it out loud, and take the extra second to make sure that punctuation is correct. No one wants the perfect post ruined by an errant comma or misspelled verb.

If you’re wondering how you can apply these tips and continue to level up your copywriting skills, let’s chat! Our team spends hours every single week working on branding for our clients. We’d love to walk you and your team through our process in a free consultation!