Watch Your Tone: Mastering Social Media Copy for Every Platform

Ever wondered why your one-size-fits-all social media posts aren't hitting the mark? Spoiler alert: it’s all about tone!

In our third installment of Social Savvy with Kristy, we dive into the art of tailoring your caption copy to fit each platform’s unique vibe. From LinkedIn’s professional polish to TikTok’s casual fun, we’re covering it all.

Join us as we break down the dos and don'ts of social media copywriting and share expert tips for boosting engagement on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok. Discover why posting the same caption across every platform is a major mistake, and learn how to fine-tune your messaging to speak directly to each audience.

Whether you’re managing a brand account or just want your personal posts to stand out, grab a pen and get ready to take some notes! We’ll share examples, strategies, and insights to help you nail your tone every time you hit "post."

Tune in for tips that will turn up your engagement and help you craft copy that truly connects!

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Chapters

• 0:00 Third Social Savvy Episode
• 2:16 Mistakes in Caption Copy
• 4:01 Things to Keep in Mind When Writing
• 6:03 Use AI as a Resource
• 7:17 More Tips for Success
• 9:40 LinkedIn
• 12:34 Twitter
• 14:33 TikTok
• 16:20 Instagram
• 20:03 YouTube
• 22:05 Facebook
• 24:01 In Review - Don't Overcomplicate It

Transcript

welcome back to another episode of the free dive podcast I am of course your host Kristy Billingslea thank you so much as always for being here um I'm really excited about this one guys I did some research and um I'm getting really into this social Savvy social media thing we've got going on I think it's going to be a really good um monthly thing for us and I was really excited because I got some good feedback on LinkedIn a few weeks ago uh that made me really motivated to keep moving with this so thank you for listening thank you for your comments um glad that it's helpful so in thinking about what to do next and what social media platform to do next like what do we do next um I did a whole bunch of research and I thought about my own social media Journey here with Seapoint things that I've struggled with and some of the feedback that I've gotten back and I just thought um I'm going to tackle something that I struggled with in the past and maybe it's something that you struggle with and maybe that would be helpful um so let's just dive right into it and keep this episode short and concise and to the point does that sound good let's do it so one of the things that in the past had been a mistake we're going to go into Kristy's mistakes ready we could make a whole separate podcast on that if you're interested let me know don't let me know um one of the things that I used to do that was a mistake when writing caption copy for social media posts uh would be to write out the copy and then post it across every social media platform so LinkedIn Twitter Tik Tok Instagram YouTube Facebook and would just post the same one across um and it took it took some time to realize that was a mistake uh any takers on why it seems like that should be obvious that that wouldn't fly but after some uh of our creative meetings that we had here we kind of fine-tuned that it was in fact not working and the reasons that it was not working well every social platform has its own audience right and um its own tone therefore caption copy is got to be different for everyone so that being said we're going to get into how to write caption copy for every platform differently what the tone is what the vibe is couple of examples sound good so whether you run a professional account um or you just want to see higher engagement for your personal account you might want to get out of pen take some notes uh or if you're driving and not in a position to do that lock them all away in your brain all right so here we go some things before we get into the specific ones we're going to go into some dos and don'ts and suggestions for Success so um let's do it so couple of a couple of things to keep in mind when you are writing caption copy uh number one we need to write like you're talking to a friend like all things on social media we have to kind of take into mind thing we've talked about this in the past do what you like to see um what I mean by that I'm not wording that well um the things that you like to see on social media do those things the things that you don't like to see don't do those things so um for readability we're going to get into how to how to enhance your readability write like you're talking to a friend start your posts with something engaging like a question uh or a bold statement important information comes first so we're going to grab the reader from the beginning make them stay read the rest um and don't be afraid to use emojis uh some statistic show that posts with emojis have a higher engagement rate I don't know people like emojis that just I I don't know why guys people it makes them happy I would say limit them don't go too hard on them uh use a few okay use a mixture of prompts resources and include a call to action so like all things we're making this with a purpose why why are you making this post what's the point you want them to do something with it you want them to head to a link uh you want them to go by something you how what's what's you want them to just like and comment what is it that you want them to do make sure you say that at the end keep it small short to the point so be as concise as you can you don't need to make it unnecessarily long we know people's attention spans are small take that into consideration when you're writing so more suggestions for Success use AI for help this is going to be a tip that we just keep on recycling through always so it's just the world we live in now guys we're going to be using AI um one of the ways I do that you can do that best way to do that um I'm a chat GPT lady anytime I have content that I'm stuck on that I don't know what to write I pop into my little chat GPT and I ask it um as I give it as much information as I can here's what my post is about whether it's a picture it's a video it's a Blog it's a podcast episode um here's everything I can tell Chat GPT about it here's the content and here's what I want to say about it uh here's how much I want to say about it here's the tone I want to say about it uh and here's the platform I'm posting it on give it to me very often what Chat GPT will give me back is uh maybe like halfway there at the at best and then you have to continue to refine but the benefit of that is it gets me started but use it as a resource tell a story to engage so we're all into uh we we get hooked by storytelling um if there's a story there use that to your advantage use your hashtags wisely we've talked about this in the past this is another one that we will continue to recycle through uh a mixture of long form short form hashtags um use a hashtag tool online if that helps you as well to find the best ones do some testing to find the best best hashtags for you use the wisely use plain language not complicated so what do we mean by that well we don't want to talk down to our audience no one's impressed by your fancy language it's irritating right um so you know we're not impressing anybody by these with these big eloquent words in fancy language just it's annoying speak in plain language be concise so don't irritate people use only as many words as you need so this is just kind of going back to keeping it short and to the point you're not filling out the whole thing uh you're not writing a Blog in your caption we're not doing that so um as long as you can fit in everything that you need you've got you've you've um you you you've created this template of uh starting with something engaging and in the middle you've got some kind of story you've got emojis in there you've got a call to action you've got some hashtags that is kind of the the template and the meat of a good post so now we're going to kind of get into the different social media platforms and the best way to write for them because like I said one size does not fit all here um this was a mistake that I had been making for a while and once I had realized that we can't just write one and you know this this has been something that we've been working on and refining for a while but you can't just write one post and then just post it across all your platforms and assume it's going to do the same we started to do better we started to get better engagement um and I'm going to give you the reasons why so Now's the Time for your pen and your note taking so we're going to start with LinkedIn so the tone of LinkedIn professional insightful slightly conversational so what's the best approach um we're going to share industry knowledge thought leadership success stories um this is a great place for um uh the the statistic I think I saw was uh sharing um empowerment about your employees uh which is fantastic because um especially as a business we really like to um one of the things we do here is we really like to celebrate people's work anniversaries if we're going to take a little step outside talk about Kristy's opinion because again why have a podcast if you can't share your opinion um I think it's super important for people to to feel seen heard appreciated I think that that goes such a long way in people's work ethic um and morale company morale so uh I push really hard for people to um just be celebrated I think everybody in life should be celebrated but the opportunities that we find to do that we do that so work anniversaries we really push out there and then whenever we get a new um a new team member we often do video interviews um but I have seen a lot of other agencies just do fun things like throughout the year like they'll do a uh a member highlight and they'll ask some questions and even just not even in a video but like in a uh like a carousel um those kind of things are great for LinkedIn high like just doing an employee highlight and those have the best engagement on LinkedIn just a little side point for you so um keep it positive empowering maintain professionalism LinkedIn is a place for professionalism um and being conversational so here's an example curious how digital marketing is evolving there's that question we're starting with here's how we've been adapting to new trends what strategies are you finding effective let's discuss let's discuss is the call to action did you catch that so it's concise it's shorts to the point um caught you with that first sentence with a question curious how digital marketing is evolving if you are curious now you're going to keep reading you're going to end it with the call to action about let's discuss and um that's going to lead you to I don't know maybe write comments uh if this did have a Blog to click or a video to click or any kind of link to click you're going to want to go and click it moving on Twitter the tone witty concise conversational so this is a big reason why um when I was making the mistake of just posting across all platforms this was not working for a lot of reasons a character limit for one uh but also Twitter's tone is so opposite of LinkedIn right like Twitter people are not using to be professional not why people are there um it is a place just for kind of witty content so the best approach here use Snappy eye-catching phrases stay on Trend Trends be relatable incorporate hashtags strategically come back to that engage in real-time conversations with timely content so Twitter is a place that does require more um watching listening and following along uh whatever's trending right now that's going to be on Twitter and you got to keep up you got to you got to keep up if you want to be engaging well on Twitter whatever the the trending hashtags are the trending memes are that's where you want to be and be engaging um example is anyone else still trying to master Instagram reals here's a quick tip that might help you out # social media tips super short super to the point uh had that engaging first question uh had one hashtag I love that I live for that um so and here's a quick tip it's like okay I'm interested in the tip and I will follow along so very different than what we were doing on LinkedIn uh and still relevant relevant to the platform that's on all right moving along Tik Tok tone fun authentic casual so again very different from what we've talked about this is kind people are on Tik Tok for entertainment um but at the same time you can post professional business content there you're just doing it in way more casual fashion so the best approach be creative and light-hearted humor works well here uh and engaging uh with the trending audios and challenges that helps boost your visibility a conversational tone sometimes even self-deprecating resonates well uh you know this is especially with trending audios those I often find can be self-deprecating humorous keeping it light keeping it funny keeping it real authenticity so here's an example POV you thought starting a podcast would be easy but here's what really happens behind the scenes there's some emojis mixed in there hash podcast life hasc Creator struggles so um these povs are are they do well here on Tik Tok it's like here's my point of view from the day of my work life whatever and it's relatable it's like this is my point of view of how um how I'm struggling that is relatable it's funny it's light um it makes me want to go because I relate to that I'm going to like it I might even share it with my friend who I'm podcasting with or I know they're a podcaster they like podcasts it's the sharability is high on this one instagram tone engaging relatable aspirational so the best approach depending on your audience because we have to know our audience who's following us and what our Niche is use a mix of friendly and conversational tones with personal storytelling personal storytelling be visually driven and pair captivating captions with strong calls to action or questions to Foster interaction so let's let us marinate on that for a second because sometimes a mistake that can be made past mistakes of the past uh is that Instagram reals and Tik Tok can cross promote sometimes they can okay sometimes they do sometimes they do not okay uh very often I mean the ongoing joke is that like real reals are like uh like a week behind from Tik Tok because everything from Tik Tok makes its way to reals some of them do and some of them should not um because again the tone of Instagram is a little bit more um aspirational instead of Tik Tok being like casual does that make sense following me if you hop on your reels I very often will find more of like these motivational meaningful like you know quotes and in instead of the very like like un unhinged silly things that I see on Tik Tok for a reason that's where they belong separate um but again going back to like on on a professional level um Instagram it again it was started it was started with photos it's always been for for visual right for visuals so we're going to pair captivating captions with good calls to actions and questions so here's an example thinking about switching up your social media strategy here are three things we learned from our latest post hashtag marketing tips I love that we're keeping our hashtags here short so you got that first engaging question um and then here are three things we learned from our latest post uh it doesn't feel like a call to action but it is it is because it goes you go in your brain what did you learn what are the three things I want to know I'm going to find it um so this is very short and I'm not saying you have to keep it this short this is just an example often I find what does well on Instagram too it bulleted lists breaking up the bulk paragraph no one's going to read it period you think about how you scroll Instagram when there's just like bulk paragraphs of text scroll them I don't care um but if there's a little bit like if you're going to feed me information in the caption bullet it up separate it out and maybe I'm more likely to read it um if you're going to give me more information in the caption you know what I'm saying okay moving on YouTube the tone informative entertaining conversational we could get a little bit more engaged in our caption here um because there's more content on a YouTube video so best approach directly address your audience this is we're talking straight to you blending education and entertainment incorporate humor or enthusiasm to make your content more engaging and encourage interaction in the comments we want people in the comments on YouTube that is where the engagement comes from YouTube sees comments and it goes shoot this video to more people people like it send it out to more people to watch you want more comments um a good trick when you post a YouTube video is to put a comment yourself and pin it uh with a call to action um with a question to then have people continue to comment down get the comment started as a way to um kind of propose people to comment got it okay so here's an example ever wondered ever wonder how top brands create virtual content here's the breakdown you need don't forget to subscribe for more marketing insights this is a short example um but it's giving us our kind of our sample here so another question that is kind of motivating to continue on have you ever wondered how they do this yes so here's the breakdown now I'm learning what I'm going to how that how you're going to answer this question don't forget to subscribe that's my call to action um and I will get more marketing insights if I do so very different tone from the others and Facebook the tone friendly engaging approachable so the best approach here using a community focused tone that invites engagement questions and comments so Facebook's more of the place for Community right so Community we're going to share stories ask opinion focus on relatable content that encourages sharing um so it's kind of funny because like all of these social social media they're all social right but they in certain ways they're kind of like slightly different um Facebook's about Community here's an example we're excited to announce our new podcast episode on mastering social media marketing we're excited here's for the community what platforms are you struggling with let's chat in the comments there's my call to action please chat with us in the comments um starting with we're excited gets you excited right we're talking to you like we are approachable it's a friendly sentiment um and it's engaging to to invite them to chat with us in the comments like we are so happy about this um it asks a question what platforms are you struggling with that's something that people could be chatting about in the comments so the caption is creating this whole like multiple opportunities of things that people could be doing in our comments um and sharing you know we're excited about this people may want to share this because they're excited for us um and it just it spreads the community so these are just some simple um examples uh the point you should be taking away from this I hope is whatever platforms you're on if you are on multiple platforms uh to be considering how to write your copy differently and it doesn't have to be complicated um even though I've broken it down in a way that might make it feel complicated um when and out ask AI always it just um it is such a a helpful tool and um we've had a few episodes on it and we will definitely have more but the best way uh to help you get started and um figure out uh questions that you could ask that's a really good way to use it um just when you're stuck that's what I do so um again in review um make sure you know your character length um use your brand as your voice right like all of these platforms share one thing in that authenticity is key you know your brand you know yourself uh so make sure that's coming through no matter what you're posting to keep everything short and concise um and including hashtags including emojis and you'll do okay so like all things refinement it takes time uh like I like I started this with we were not nailing it in the beginning and uh we're getting there even now we're just everything is everything is just a work in progress and um we're just all we're just all working on ourselves aren't we guys so I hope this was helpful to you um sometimes I explain things and I'm like is this only making sense in Kristy's brain or is this actually helpful and then I get some comments that are like no that was helpful and I got that and I I I liked that so please simply so that I know that this is not just utter nonsense leave me comments to help me feel like it's not utter nonsense um moving forward as we continue this uh social media social Savvy um I don't know what to call it is it like a I don't know what to this monthly thing and we're going to do um what you would like to learn about next uh we've talked about Instagram quite a bit um I have gotten some feedback from people that LinkedIn is kind of a struggle platform for them and so I was thinking about doing that next um but if that sounds boring and you don't want to learn about that totally understand because I don't I I agree it's boring and I don't really want to talk about it so but I will do it for you um so you have the power here you have the power uh but you do have to tell me so um if you're listening in Spotify you can comment in Spotify if you're listening in YouTube you can comment on YouTube uh wherever you are you can reach me it's not hard um and I appreciate you very much so thank you for being here thank you for listening I hope you're having a great day wherever you are uh apparently according to my statistics I'm getting listeners all around the World which is fantastic so wherever in the world you are I hope you're having a great day so we'll see you next time