How To Write an Engaging Social Media Post

A few days ago I presented on “Social Media Writing for Maximum Engagement” at the LMA Eastern Canada Region Conference in Toronto. I provided tips on how law firms and lawyers can write a social media post to capture people’s attention and encourage engagement with it.

Let’s banish posts like these from the social media accounts of law firms and lawyers:

• “Our firm has published its monthly newsletter: [link]”
• “I was quoted in the [name of publication]: [link]”

In both of the cases above, for those who don’t know you, they may likely scroll past your post. So what can you do to capture someone’s interest and increase an interaction with your post?

For starters, think about who your audience is, and what they would care knowing about and why. Then provide information in your post or tweet to address those points.

Here are some ways for you to be more informative in the text portion of your post or tweet:

• Include a quote (or part of a quote) from the article or interview, such as a quote relaying an important message that would be of interest to the audience
• Identify who would be interested in the newsletter, article, or interview
• Summarize in plain English a key point referred to in the newsletter or article, such as a key finding in a court case discussed in the newsletter
• Place hashtags at the end of the text to continue conveying your message (e.g., hashtags of the areas of law or who would be interested in your post, or a hashtag to express a sentiment)

Also, use words to compel the action you want your readers to take. For example, do you want them to “read”, “click”, etc.?

So with the first example above, write something like this instead: “Read how Bill [X] affects employers, and what you need to do now, in our latest newsletter: [link] #StayUpToDate #EmploymentLaw”.

Take that extra minute to be more informative in a single sentence or two. This little bit of effort may result in someone taking the time to click on a link and read what you have to say, and then realizing that you do have expertise in the topic you wrote or were interviewed about. The reader may even like your post or share it. That in turn will increase awareness of you, and may even lead to new followers, direct messages, or calls.

Now it’s time for you to review how you’ve been writing your social media posts, and see how you’ll change your writing style to improve engagement.

(Thank you, Jessica Horowitz, for the featured photo.)