Many businesses are turning to social media to engage with their potential customers (yes, guilty as charged). Here are a few tips to ensure that you get the best out of those articles.

Write for Homer (Simpson) and not Hawking (Stephen). Keep the content simple and not too technical. Nothing stops people reading your content more than having to look up large words on Google.

Be yourself – Your customers are likely to be similar to you, so sell your personality. Social networks are exactly that, social! So, let your personality come through.

Don’t be “vanilla” – People like “opinions” (although avoid Brexit for now!) In all seriousness, opinions will divide people but also provoke debate on everyday subjects. But don’t make it personal.

Start with a question – A great way to grab your audience’s attention. If the answer is yes, then you have them. Better still, answer the question immediately in the next line. “Do you want to save money? Click here to find out how.”

Keep it short – We live in a world of 280 characters. Keep it punchy and direct.  

Love the ellipsis – An ellipsis is what you call three full stops in a row. Using it at points in your article, it demonstrates that there’s more of the story to come… (The reader should click on the link to see the rest…)

Test Facebook’s call to actions- Monitor the responses from various calls to actions. This allows you to measure the response of who is looking at your articles and driving traffic to your website.

Post regularly – Not only do social media companies like new content, they also love content that makes people interact, comment or click on CTA’s (calls to action). It promotes you on search engines and is the easiest way to improve your SEO.

Social media allows you not only to find potential customers, but to connect with them on a more individual nature. Whether you’re a small café, manufacturer of goods or in the service industry, your customers are often like-minded people and social media allows you to filter those you are most likely to foster good business relationships with.

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