I was recently asked the question, how do you ensure content is tweet-worthy? In other words, how do you create content that will capture people's attention on the web and stand out?
The answer I gave was four tips:
1. Plain language is the most important thing. I know it sounds obvious, but it’s important to emphasize. If people don’t understand what you’re trying to tell them, it definitely won’t get their attention.
1. All social media posts should be written in simple, plain language. Avoid uncommon terms, acronyms, complex sentences, etc. To grab people's attention, they have to understand what you're writing about.
2. Tell them why it matters to them. In other words, the social media post should not be about your agency’s announcement, it should be about how that announcement will impact the individual reading the tweet or post. You want to tell the reader why they should care and how it will make their life better. (For example, instead of saying “Our agency is announcing new cleanliness standards for chocolate manufacturers,” you could say, “We’re making the chocolate safer and better for you.”)
3. Write in a first person voice and be conversational. Tweets and social media posts should be written to sound like you’re sitting across a coffee table from the reader having a conversation. This helps make your agency sound more human and approachable. (At EPA, we use first person, plural voice to represent our agency.)
4. Don’t be afraid to be creative and push the envelope. I know this can be challenging in the government, but little creativity can really make a big difference.
