How to Pick Words That Sell Your Social Media

Social media marketing relies on word economy, so the challenge is to pick the few words that will best deliver response for your tweet, Facebook post or blog info. A post on Target Marketing's blog recently summarized research on the subject, promising "38 marketing words that sell in social media." It should come as no surprise that studies generally support the basics of marketing copy: Keep verbiage short and simple; use more verbs and adverbs than nouns and adjectives; make a specific offer; and include a call to action. A review of the most "retweetable" messages came up with 20 words/phrases for success, including "you" (personalizing), "please retweet" (call to action), and offer words such as "free" and "how to." Facebook posts follow the same short-and-sweet rule to an extent, with posts of 80 characters or less getting 66% more engagement. But words aren't enough for Facebook fans. You really need a photo or video to juice response. The article cites KISSmetrics' findings that adding a photo to a Facebook post boosts "likes" by 53%, comments by 104% and clicks by 84%. For blog posts, research supports another traditional direct marketing copy lesson: Negative words are powerful--such as fear, kill and dark--and win viewers. The promise of learning also gives a viral boost, especially with novelty or significance--hinted by words such as science, smart, surprising and big. But avoid obvious promotion--words such as announcing, wins and grows--which can dampen social media response. For the full article (all 38 words), go to http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/blog/38-marketing-words-that-sell-social-media#