Your brand message is foundational to how your audience relates to you and your business. That message shows up differently depending on the audience and how it is delivered. If you are a speaker, and you’re up on stage, your tone is conversational and easy to follow. If you are writing up a brochure, how you state and deliver something will be more condensed and to the point.
This holds true when it comes to your social media and website copy, too. Both platforms present your brand message in a very visual way. How the content is presented, how it’s written, and the visuals associated with it play into reinforcing the written content to elevate the message.
Website copy is influenced by social media content. Your online visitors expect your website content to reflect your personality, be conversational, and directly relate to the reader’s challenges. Social media is short bites of information that tell mini-stories and hook your readers to want to read more. Website copy needs to do the same thing. To engage your website visitors, your message ultimately needs to be about your reader. To be effective, it should allow them to see themselves and their challenges in your message and to understand that you could be the expert that helps them through their challenges.
Here is a list of differences
Website Content…
- Tells your readers about your expertise and your business, but in a way that they can see themselves in your content. We like to use questions or concepts that allow our readers to self-select to read more. In other words, speak to their challenges, and allow them to see themselves in your words. Your content should easily flow between “YOU” and “WE”: You have this challenge… We have this expertise. Here is a customer example of this done very well. Review Betsy’s opening website content. She is grounding her expertise in a way that allows someone to say, “Yes! That is my challenge!”.
- Is designed to be interactive. Your images, design elements, fonts, and color, should all be working to reinforce your message. Images can automatically float into place, fonts and color can be used to invoke motion, and design elements are meant to reinforce your core messaging. Betsy’s site is also a good example of automation inclusion – scroll down the homepage to see the way content and images move into place to engage your eye down the page.
- Should be written to rank your business offerings. SEO is such a foundational service to all business websites. Your content should be reflective of the way your customers are searching for your services. Remember, you can’t grow your business if your digital presence is not reaching new customers.
Social Media Content…
- Should be… social! Your content should be conversational and engaging. You should lean into your business expertise as well as show the human side of your business.
- Should use storytelling to reinforce your messaging. Remember your brand foundation and who your audience is – and tailor your social content to inspire your audience to follow you.
- Is meant to engage your audience. It’s meant to be informal, authentic, and true to your brand voice and values. Keep it light, informative, and relevant to what is important to your audience.
- Gives your business a platform to build community, and consistently publish to your fans. To be competitive today, all businesses need to embrace technology and use the proper social media channels that make sense for their audience to promote their business offerings and build confidence in their expertise.
Example of an Inspirational Post
Tomorrow is Malala Yousafzai’s 25th birthday – a Pakastani, women’s rights activist who has herself witnessed the dramatic change in women’s rights with the bravery and perception she persistently brings to the forefront of global social issues.
Nothing impacts a society more than supporting women’s rights and their ability to be part of the economic fabric of society. As of 2021, women-owned 31% of small businesses or franchises in the US – and each year that number climbs. But that wasn’t always an easy option.
Did you know that it was only in 1974 that women were allowed to apply for a credit card? The Fair Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 made it illegal to discriminate against applicants based on their religion, race, national origin or gender. Before this, it was hard (or impossible) for women to get a line of credit in their name – married or single.
Without a line of credit, most women could not start their own business. My mom owned and operated her own successful seamstress business in Marco Island, Florida for over 25 years. The Fair Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 allowed her to get the credit needed to buy the sewing machines to operate her business. My mom’s example of being a business owner inspired me to open my own business, Blue Zenith, in 2009. Let’s pause and appreciate the progress we have made, and applaud the women that go out each day to make a difference in their lives and the lives of their communities.
Post Details
This post reached 131 Instagram accounts, 59% being non-follower accounts. Getting out there!
Example of an Engaging Post
I’m excited to announce that my new website is live! After only a few weeks of very hard work by Blue Zenith Design + Strategy, I’m thrilled to finally share it with the world.
Here is the link: www.Coach2Strengths.com, let me know what you think!
Post Details
Betsy’s post generated a total of 298 impressions and 38 active engagements with comments on Facebook! Amazing start for a new website release!
Example of a Connecting Post
Before starting Blue Zenith, Donna was a software engineer in a small business that provided real estate insights to real estate investors. That business went under during the housing crash of 2008.
She was laid off and out of work, so she decided to put her faith into her own hands and start her own business. We all got here by failing at some point. Big brands bring those failures into their business story. It helps humanize where we came from.
You know Bill Gates started Microsoft when he dropped out of Harvard, and a business he co-owned also failed? That failure allowed Microsoft to be born. What is your failure that spawned the beginnings of your business?
Post Details
This quoted post received a total number of 60 engagements on Instagram, and paved the way with a question in the caption for followers to answer!
Example of an Actionable Post
Do you know your success numbers?
You started your business to have more money and freedom, but there is more to running a business than working hard. You want to make sure you are setting yourself up for the life you want, now and in the future. The best way to do that is to make sure your numbers are working for you and not against you.
Checkout Donna’s gift to get your numbers where they need to be to experience more freedom and a worry-free future..