Module 16 Flashcards
There are now many social media avenues by which technical writers could use to provide the information required by their target audience.
Social media for technical writers
Documentation Debate
Should paper documentation still be provided alongside social media channels?
Are readers more likely to consume documentation electronically or on paper?
Electronically, especially on devices like Kindle, iPad, iPhone, Android, Nook, blogs, webinars, and podcasts.
Quick access to information, perform searches, send comments and questions anytime, anywhere
Accessibility advantage
Links such as tweets for immediate responses from Subject Matter Experts
Communication with SME’s
Keeping stakeholders informed about critical situations, new knowledge, and events
Stakeholder Engagement
Not all information can be shared on social media, especially confidential data
Confidentiality concerns
Each organization must decide which documents can be shared online and which should remain in paper or elsewhere
Organizations decisions
Social media facilitates easier accessibility to SMEs, users, and upper management
Technical Writers’ Benefit
Quick communication with customer service via text or tweet for problem resolution
Customer service
Positive interaction on social media adds to the credibility of the organization and its products.
Credibility and support
changes traditional technical communication by turning a passive, reading audience into active, contributing participants.
Social media
7 Social Media Content Writing Tips
- Do your research
- Speak their language
- Develop your voice
- Be positive
- Keep it short and simple
- Use images and videos
- Add a call to action
- Increase your success with these social media content writing
If you want your audience to notice and engage with your social posts, you need to make them highly relevant to your target group.
Do your research
Take your research further and learn what language your ideal clients use to communicate their needs or challenges.
Speak their language
Although you should write social media posts in the language of your target audience, the overall message should be written in your own voice.
Develop your voice
This doesn’t mean every post needs to be happy - there’s a huge difference between positive and happy.
Be positive
People value their time. If you want your audience to give you their attention, you need to show that you value their time also.
Keep it short and simple
Great ways to keep it short and simple
• Making your content and posts easy to read by writing at an eighth-grade reading level
• Using headings, bullets and lists where possible to make your content or posts easier to scan
• Keeping paragraphs to only two or three sentences
• Being as succinct as possible when writing on your topic
Visual content is more engaging, and can often tell the story quicker and more succinctly than words alone.
Use images and videos
At the end of your content or social posts, consider prompting your audience with what you action you’d like them to take next by including
Add call to action
CTAs come in different forms and have different purposes. For example, you can motivate your audience to take actions with these CTAs:
• Ask them to like or share your social media posts
• Ask a question they can answer in the comments
• Direct them to another piece of content
• Send them to a landing page
• Direct them to your website
• Get them to subscribe to your newsletter
• Ask them to connect with you on other social media channels
The competition for your audience’s time and attention can be fierce.
Increase your success with these social media content writing
Biggest Challenges of Social Media Management
- Finding time for everything. …
- Creating fresh and meaningful content for each audience. …
- Getting executive or client approval. …
- Having great ideas but a lack of resources. …
- Switching up the voice and tone for different channels. …
- Simply developing a strong and distinct voice.
Biggest Social Media Marketing Challenges
- Lack of sufficient time to discover and create interesting content
- Targeting the right platforms and audience for maximum engagement
- Originality and lack of design resources
- Ensuring right sizes for social media graphics
- Keeping up with the ever-changing world of social media
- Adopting a unique platform-specific approach
- Aligning social media strategies throughout different departments
- Staying up-to-date with latest trends on a daily basis
- Balancing the daily tasks
- Sorting across the most engaging content
- Getting to know your audience
- Limited social media budget
- Keeping up with the unwritten rules
- ROI on social media
- Scaling up the social media efforts
- Developing an effective social media strategy
- Dilemma of choosing between quality and quantity
- Managing and growing your community Tweaking the strategy for each social media platform
- Staying inspired, optimistic and consistently creating and executing strategies
- Lack of details from clients
- No proper funnel set
Social media is its own monster that needs care and attention to serve you in the way you intend (with the right strategy, of course).
- Targeting the right platforms and audience for maximum engagement
One of the most challenging parts of social media management is coming up with new content ideas to stand out in the sea of sameness.
- Originality and lack of design resources
Honestly, I think the biggest challenge I face right now is creating content that fits all social networks.
- Ensuring right sizes for social media graphics
Probably the biggest challenge that I experience as a social media manager is keeping up with the latest updates of each social media platform because each update would impact our social media process.
- Keeping up with the ever-changing world of social media
There are many challenges to daily social media management, but so many of them can be bundled together under the problem of creating meaningful content that ignites a spark with audiences across various social platforms.
- Adopting a unique platform-specific approach
Another problem for any social media manager is getting other areas of the company to share what is happening in their business.
- Aligning social media strategies throughout different departments
Social media is continually changing, so one of the biggest challenges can be staying up to date with everything daily.
- Staying up-to-date with latest trends on a daily basis
As a social media manager, one of the biggest problems we face is balancing #allthethings that need to get done in a day.
- Balancing the daily tasks
Sorting across the most engaging content which can be scheduled for the social media pages is the big challenge for Social media managers today.
10 Sorting across the most engaging content
While social media managers have metrics for engagement, too often that extends only to company posts.
- Getting to know your audience
I believe that there are many challenges a social media manager faces in their day-to-day operations.
- Limited social media budget
I would say that keeping up with the rules, especially the unwritten rules, is the biggest challenge.
- Keeping up with the unwritten rules
