Social media started out as a sort of frivolity that was targeted at teenagers, students, and other young people. MySpace pages would have carefully posed pictures with a top 40 song playing in the background, and Facebook was closed to anyone who wasn’t currently at a university or college. If you told a successful business owner that social media would become one of the most important tools that a business could harness, they probably wouldn’t believe you. Today, it has become obvious that social media isn’t going anywhere. Businesses both big and small use it in their daily operations to connect with customers, clients, and fans. Millions of people log onto Facebook every day to chat with friends, play games like Farmville and Mafia Wars, and look at galleries of photos they enjoy. This is a prime time for a savvy business to give them an offer that intrigues them. With the right skills, you can snap up customers and bring in new streams of business. However, it’s not as simple as writing a status. You have to be clever, and follow the rules of psychology. You also want to attract the customers in the demographic you’re aiming for. For instance, if you’re aiming for a 18 year old male, that’s a different process than going for a 40 year old female. While there are subtle differences in pulling in these two different demographics, you can also use tools that work on most people. Traditional business writing skills can be adapted and used in social media for great results. Read on for three great writing skills that really shine on social media.

Grab the Reader’s Attention and Don’t Let Go With a Snappy and Engaging Title

Most people are on social media for fun, and they’re quickly scrolling through endless pages of material. Business writing skills teach you to start a report with a sentence that piques the readers interest, and the same thing holds true for social media.  You want to be able to grab them with something that really catches their attention. The key is to be engaging, to the point, and exciting. It also helps if you can provide something relevant to the average reader’s life. Here are some examples of engaging social media titles that make a reader stop and pay attention.

 

• 6 Mind Blowing Discoveries Found in Places You’d Never Expect
• How Leaving the Scene of a Car Accident Can be a Stupid Mistake
• 5 Writing Exercises That Make You More Creative
• Buyer Beware! This Consumer Fraud Can Give You a Scare

 

No matter what age, gender, or demographic someone is, these are all titles that make people click. Understanding the psychology behind these titles is important, because once you know how to construct an engaging title, then you can tweak it to draw in the demographic of your choice.

The Title Makes All the Difference in the World

These titles all have one thing in common – they make the reader interested. If each title was written in a dryer, more authoritative tone, they’d look something like this:

 

• Archeological Discoveries Found in Unusual Places
• Leaving the Scene of a Car Accident May Open You Up to a Lawsuit
• Exercises That Help You Work Creative Skills and Refine Your Art
• Avoid Consumer Fraud By Reading the Fine Print

 

Would you click on any of those titles? It’s not likely. Use business writing skills to spice a boring title up and pull in your target audience.

Be a Trustworthy Source Without Repelling Your Target Audience

When many people try to apply traditional business writing skills to social media without using any tweaks or changes, they can come across as a fish out of water.  Savvy business writers know that you have to adapt to the new audience. This means relating to people on their level and being ready to start a conversation. Titles should encourage readers to click, but the tone of your social media content shouldn’t be as though you’re pronouncing a verdict from on top of your ivory tower. Instead, you want to appear relate-able. Think about American presidential campaigns. People often talk about how they’d love to get a beer with one candidate, or how the other candidate is a stuffy prig who is out of touch with the common person. Try to apply that same line of thinking to your social media campaigns. You want to relate to your target audience, not repel them!

Why Overusing Authority in Social Media Communications Can Backfire

When people are browsing through social media, they are in a different mindset than when they are on your website. If someone goes to your company’s website looking for a good way to decorate their patio, improve their car’s mileage, get a discount on training courses, or any other number of services and products, then it makes sense that they are looking for an expert who is telling them what to do. On social media, the atmosphere is more relaxed and casual, and therefore you don’t want to come across as being too firm. You want to grab your target audience’s attention and gently reel them in, not overwhelm them with a stern tone and relevant statistics. Play it cool for the ultimate pay off of a new customer earned through social media.

Give Your Customers an Incentive to Use Your Services, and You’ll Get Huge Returns

Facebook and Google Plus are both full of companies who are giving their customers small incentives and deals regularly, like a stream of benefits. 10% off a product here, a free trial of a service there, or even early access to certain goods adds up fast. Customers love getting in on these deals, and they will return to your page to see what else you offer. Even better, people have a sense of ‘fairness’ ingrained in them. When you take the time to reach out and give someone a favour, they’ll respond with loyalty. Business writing skills can convince customers to shell out their money once, and giving them a discount or a trial can make them a customer for life.

 

Business owners need to get on top of the social media trends and master the ins and outs of communicating with customers through this medium. Luckily, business writing skills give you the tool set you need to grab people’s attention and get them to click your links. Use these traditional skills in a digital medium for big results and new customers.