Three Questions to Consider When Writing Social Media Posts

Jenn Taylor

Throughout my internship at Obsidian, I have been given various assignments. From the basic intern-type tasks, like collecting the newspapers in the morning, to the more in-depth tasks, like formulating a media contact list, there is one particular task that I feel has grown on me quite a bit. Researching content for social media posts is an assignment that I consistently do every week. While working on these projects, I have learned that there are three very important questions everyone should ask when writing these posts. 

The three questions are: 

What audience am I trying to reach? 

I believe this question is the most important of all because if we do not know to whom we are speaking, how could we possibly know what content would be of interest? For example, we would not want to write about fashion or about celebrity updates for an accounting firm. The update on the latest E! network show, “Eric and Jessie: Game On,” is probably not going to be beneficial to the firm’s current and future clients. Considering the audience not only shapes the message, but also the tone of any post we craft. 

What is relevant, and what is currently trending? 

Something that I did not think about when I first started writing social media posts was that, yes, we need to ultimately use the company’s information and updates to write the posts, but we need to also remember that important events and holidays are occurring outside of the company. This approach helps pull in your followers who may not be completely invested in the company’s everyday posts but could easily relate to a general “Happy President’s Day” post. If anything, the most basic and timely posts can help keep those followers engaged through a possible retweet on Twitter or a share on Facebook. 

What is the overall mission/message the company wants to communicate? 

We have all visited our fair share of company websites to learn more about a company. Usually, one of the first things we read about or notice on the website is the company’s mission statement. The mission statement lays out the purpose of the company or organization and its reason for existing. It is vital to understand the mission statement of the company you are writing for to ensure consistent implementation of the company’s values and beliefs into the content. This will also help connect to an audience that may be alike in those values and beliefs. 

With social media becoming a popular communication channel for businesses and organizations of all types, I believe this newfound knowledge will be useful to me in my future career in public relations.