The Guide to Writing Styles for Posting Content

I have talked quite often on my blog about the importance of curating social posts based on what platform it’s for. Check out what I think the answer to content uniformity is here. In Chapter 7 of “Social Media for Strategic Communication,” Karen Freberg talks about how to find your brand voice in your writing style.

During the chapter, the one part that really stuck out to me was the writing guide for social media. The guide had each platform broken down by what content is produced, who the audience is, how the voice should be spoken and writing style written and the approach to receive the best response. Here is the guide:

Platform	Content	Audience	Voice	Writing Style	Approaches
Facebook	Ad, video	Customers, marketing pros	Engaged and interested in purchases	Professional, product/brand focused, audience focused	Have a call-to-action statement and link to a specific place
Twitter	Tweet, video	Fans, media professionals	Entertainment, informative	Witty, snarky, conversational, informational, engaging	Media with specific hashtag or link to track
Instagram	Album, story, post	Bloggers, influencers, fans	Community	Educational, conversational, audience focused, product/brand focused, inspirational	Short update statement
Snapchat	Story	Generation Z, content creators	Experiential, humorous	Audience focused, entertainment	Visual storyboard approach
LinkedIn	Pulse post	Marketing professionals, business-to-business customers	Informative, approachable, educational	Professional, educational	Update with key hashtags tagging key words, and cross shares on Twitter and Facebook

I think this writing guide can really help understand how to write a post depending on where it’s being posted to. It’s important to put out content the audience will read and enjoy. In addition, it’s important for the team’s voice to stay consistent and have an open line of communication. Freberg suggests conducting a team brand voice audit. Performing the audit can determine the overall feeling and perception of the brand’s voice. In some cases, the brand might have certain writing guidelines they stick to.