You’ve made your social media content for tomorrow.
And now you're ready to post it! (Or so you think).
Tomorrow rolls around and you post it.
A day passes.
18 likes.
2 days pass.
23 likes.
The end of the week rolls around.
Yet despite having 536 followers, your post gets a measly 28 likes and 9 comments.
But why?
You’ve been engaging, so thosefigures should be wayyyyy higher.
And you’re 100% right.
But, the problem doesn’t lie with engagement, nor does it lie with the value provided.
The problem lies in the post itself.
And the lack of EDITING.
“But, I made sure there were no typos or wrong punctuation”.
That's proofreading, not editing.
You have to go a little deeper to edit.
But if you're confused, don't fret.
Here are 4 things I look out for as a copywriter when editing.
1. Content Readability
Read your writing out loud when editing content.
You'll hear parts of your text that are hard to read and don’t flow.
Hard to read + lack of flow = friction for readers.
And no reader will force themselves to understand you.
They'll keep scrolling.
2. Sentence/Paragraph Length
Sentence length affects the rhythm of your content.
A varied rhythm will keep your reader engaged.
What do I mean by that?
“My name is John. I am 33. I drive a car”
VS
“I’m John. I was born March 2nd 1990. I currently drive an Aston Martin V12 Vantage.”
You be the judge of which is more engaging.
Also, don't do paragraphs for content.
3 lines maximum.
When was the last time you got excited to read a big block of text on social media?
3. Get Rid of Adverbs
You’ll probably still get your point across if you remove adverbs.
Re-read that sentence but remove the adverb “probably”.
4. Simpler Words
If I posted my first draft of this article, 78% of you wouldn't understand it.
On social media, that's a lot of people who will ignore you.
English may be the lingua franca.
But it isn't a native language for MANY people.
If a word has a simpler alternative, then use it.
The general rule of thumb is "write as if you were speaking to a 5-year-old".
If you look out for and improve these 4 things, I guarantee your content will shine.
That's all from me for now. Thank you @socialredefined.co for having me :)