You Know Your Social Media Post Sucks If It Sounds Bad Out Loud

"The Rebel Yell" by Pascal is licensed under CC0 1.0 Universal

A lot of blog posts I read mention that I should write more "engaging" social media posts. They tell me to ask my audience questions or post an interesting photo.

That advice is all well and good, but how do you actually write in an engaging way?

I have a simple trick I use when I'm writing: Read your social media post out loud.

Here's how you can tell if you've written a bad post:

• It sounds like a headline.
• It sounds like an ad.
• It sounds robotic.
• It just sounds bad.

And here's how you know you've written a good post:

• It sounds like something someone would say in real life.

Bonus points if it sounds like something you would say in real life. (That takes time to develop, so write a bunch of variations of each post to practice!)

 It's really that simple. Social networks aren't billboards, despite how hard some brands try to make them that way. Social networks are conversation spaces. So converse. Like a human being.