5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Posting on Social Media
Every social media post is an opportunity for your business to catch your ideal customer’s attention. But there are several things you’ll want to have in place to truly maximize each post. Here are 5 questions to ask yourself before posting on social media.
Now, if you do a Google search on this topic, you will find tons of things you should think about before making a post on your PERSONAL social media page. In fact, it’s unbelievable how many people have been fired over posting something inappropriate on their personal page!
So yes, definitely keep yourself in check when it comes to your personal page!
BUT… that’s not what we are talking about in this post. For our purposes here, I’m going to assume you can post on your personal page with tact. =)
Here. we are walking through some best practices to make your BUSINESS’S posts the very best they can be.
5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Posting on Social Media
#1. Does this post include a scroll-stopping visual?
Your visual is the image or video that you are using in the post.
In this day and age, social media is a very noisy place. There are TONS of things and posts that your audience could be paying attention to at any given time.
The best way to grab their attention is with the visual in your post.
There are a lot of ways to accomplish this. After all, something that “stops your scroll” isn’t always the most meticulously framed, photographer-worthy shot. Often, the unfiltered, real images can get the most attention!
Put some thought and effort into making sure that your photo or video will grab people’s attention.
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#2. Am I causing my audience to feel an emotion?
No matter what type of writing you are doing, the most effective way to grab your reader’s attention is by causing them to feel an emotion.
When you write the copy (or the words) for your social media post, really spend some time getting into your audience’s head. Try to write in a way that speaks to their emotions, not just their head.
One way to accomplish this is by using your own real-life example. You demonstrate to your readers that you were once where they are. Then you had a realization or a moment where you turned it around. Then you found success.
Let’s break that down a little more.
Step 1: Relate to where your audience is now.
Take a sentence or 2 (or a paragraph) and discuss the problem you had; the frustrations of being down and needing a solution.
Step 2: Talk about your turning point.
At some point, something happened. You realized something, learned something, or experienced something that made you realize that change was possible.
Step 3: Write about the success that you’ve found.
Since your turning point, you are now succeeding in this certain area. Explain, with descriptive words, what that feels like.
Step 4: Give your audience hope that they can find this same success.
What people need more than anything else is hope. Let their last emotion as they read your social media post be hope. They can do this too.
Now, before you think that each social media post needs to be a long emotional saga, let’s clarify….
You can apply this same thinking to every post, no matter your niche.
When you write a post that’s selling your gadget…. walk through this same idea! What problem did you need a solution for, and then this gadget solved it?
When you write a post where you are selling your hair products….. what solution did you desperately need for your hair before? What emotions and frustrations did that cause? How did the development of these products change all of that? What hope can you give?
When you approach writing in this way, it’s MUCH more powerful than simply stating the facts about your products.
When you involve your audience’s emotions, they become invested in you, your products, and the solutions you can offer.
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#3. Does this post have an attention-grabbing first line?
In writing, this first line is called a “hook.”
It’s not surprising that people scroll through their social media newsfeed VERY quickly. The first thing that will grab their attention is your visual. Now, you get 1-2 sentences to entice them to read the rest of your post.
That first sentence had better be compelling!
You could ask a though-provoking question. You could make a statement that grabs their attention.
As one of my favorite coaches – Alison Reeves – says, “Each sentence needs to make them want to read the next one.”
Look at your first sentence and make sure it really pops.
And… if you are looking for a fantastic blog coach, you need to look into Alison Reeve’s program. I highly recommend her Monetization Acceleration Program to really turn your blog into a successful business. Head here to check it out.
#4. Are you asking your audience to do something at the end of your post?
This is called your Call to Action (or CTA).
In some way, you want to end every post asking your audience to do something. This can be something big or super small.
The point is… you want to train your people to read your posts, and then take action.
You could be asking them to sign up for your program. You might ask a question, so that they will leave a comment. On Instagram, you might tell them to “double tap if you agree,” or something similar.
In some way, come up with a call to action to put at the end of your post. This is how you can maximize every word that you’ve put into the post!
Related Posts:
100 Questions to Ask on Social Media (and get the Conversation Started!)
How to Solve Your Customers’ Problems – so that they buy your product!
#5. Is this something I would want to see in my Feed?
Take a look at your post, and honestly answer this question.
Would YOU stop scrolling through your feed to read the post? If not, what could be adjusted?
Take some time to edit the things that need tweaking, so that your post is as attention-grabbing as you can make it.
Since we all have so little time to catch people’s attention on social media, we need to make sure every part of our post is doing the work of helping us out.
Start asking yourself these 5 questions before you post on your business’s social media, and watch your posts connect with your people!
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