Note from Jennifer: More and more these days, content marketing clients are asking for a social post or two to go along with deliverables. I’m a good writer but writing for social media is not my specialty. That’s why I asked Cat DiStasio to share some advice for content marketing writers who need to craft social posts for their deliverables. Cat’s previous guest posts include tips on finding potential interview sources and reducing your research time. Visit Cat’s website and blog for more informative posts like this one.

By Cat DiStasio

Ideally, each piece of content you produce for a client will be promoted on the company’s social media channels. In many cases, that task may fall on the shoulders of an in-house social media manager, but as companies look to streamline content creation processes, another trend is growing. Some companies and brands are starting to ask freelance writers to include a few social media posts when they submit content marketing deliverables. This is particularly common with posts for a busy blog with multiple authors.

You’re already a great writer, so you may think writing social media posts will be a simple task, but it doesn’t come easily for everyone. After all, the concise nature of social posts is quite different than penning an 800-word blog post.

Before you sit down to flex your Facebook finesse or try out your best Twitter tricks (and after you decide whether you need to increase your rates to include these social posts-that’s another blog post), read on to learn a few tips for creating social media posts that complement the high-quality content you’ve already produced.

5 steps for social media posts your clients will love

1. Familiarize yourself with the brand or company’s current social media content and tone.

Many brands have already established a social media ‘personality’ and the posts you craft should reflect the same tone. Note that, in many cases, this will not be the same tone of the content marketing deliverable. Skim over the most recent posts to get a sense of the brand’s social personality, the same way you would before writing a blog post or email.

2. Use one of a few tested formulas for producing an effective social media post.

If the perfect tweet-worthy post doesn’t immediately flow, start by deciding what kind of post you want to write. Here are a few examples:

Ask a question: Could wireless technology help your business save money?

Lean on data: Businesses using wireless technology report a 27% increase in productivity.

Restate the premise: 6 ways wireless technology can increase business revenue

3. Include a few, but not too many, hashtags.

You don’t have to use a trending hashtag to gain traffic for a social media post, but including between one and three relevant hashtags can make a big difference. Additionally, your clients will appreciate your social media savvy, even in its most basic form. You don’t need access to the company’s analytics to figure out which hashtags to use. The same SEO keywords and topics you used for your deliverable may also make good hashtags, if you want to take a shot in the dark. If you’re feeling stumped, use a tool like Hashtagify.me to look for popular and related hashtags before deciding which are the best fit for your post.

Examples:

Could #wireless #technology help your business save money?

Businesses using #wireless technology report a 27% increase in #productivity.

6 ways #wireless technology can increase #business revenue

4. Use humor and emojis sparingly, unless it’s a trademark characteristic of your client’s brand.

Unless you’re an actual comedian, you’re probably not that funny on the internet, and it’s even more challenging to be funny in 280 characters.

More brands are using emojis now than ever, but that doesn’t mean audiences love it.

5. Include tags for relevant brands or organizations.

If your content marketing deliverable is a customer case study, take the time to look up the customer’s social media profiles and include them in the tweet. Make it a seamless part of the post, or tag them at the end.

Examples:

Find out how @AcmeCompany cut costs with #wireless #technology.

Businesses using #wireless technology see a 27% increase in #productivity, according to @AcmeCompany

6 ways #wireless technology helped @AcmeCompany increase revenue

Working through these five tips may seem time consuming at first, but once you master the tone and network of a new client, writing social posts will become an easy addition to your content marketing deliverables. And your clients will love you for it.

Have you been asked to write social media posts for any of your content marketing deliverables?