Social Media
Definition
If you want to connect to the people, you need to go where the people are. And in today’s digital world, the people are on social media. Social media is where users can connect, communicate, share ideas, and express themselves through the internet.
How this genre is used in business communication
Social media is meant to connect the business with the consumer. More than 75% of the population uses social media daily, so a business can post on social media and have a high chance of it being seen by consumers. The types of posts made vary from one platform to another. This section contains guidelines on posting on Facebook and Instagram.
Facebook is a text-based platform and is used more by older generations. It should be used to convey more detailed information about a topic, potentially with a link to a press release that gives even more information if the user is interested.
Instagram is an image-based platform and has a much younger user base. It should be used to convey small amounts of information quickly, with most of the information in the image itself. The caption should support the information, and the post itself should be eye-catching and use engaging language.
Things to keep in mind when writing in this genre
Users often scroll social media quickly, and therefore information must also be communicated quickly. Especially on Instagram, users may not take the time to swipe through multiple panels of information or read through multiple paragraphs. Posts must be short, concise, and eye-catching.
Across all platforms, engagement is important. Posts that receive a lot of likes and comments cause the algorithms on social media platforms to push the content to more people, therefore more people see it. Businesses can increase engagement by urging users to like or comment on their posts, or even running competitions where to enter, users must like, comment, and follow the page.
Links to real life samples of this genre
Evo 206 Coffee Co. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cpp48BBOKOj/