If you are like most business professionals, you’ve spent a long time cultivating a professional writing style suited to memos and reports. Sadly, the social media writing style is vastly different – shorter, tighter, and more informal.

A great visual header and technical gimmicks are no replacement for developing an interesting, readable writing style. Writing is never easy, and informal writing is almost always harder than a professional paper or memo. You may freeze up in front of the screen, or your writing may become stilted and unnecessarily verbose.

So here are some consistent writing techniques you can use to make your social media posts more engaging and easy to read.

– Keep posts short, informative, and to the point – like an e-mail

In fact, social media posts share many similarities with writing effective e-mails, more so than with writing memos, reports, or academic papers. On social media, as with an e-mail, you’re addressing a specific person or a group of people, and you usually know something about the person you’re writing to. Most important – in both formats – you’re writing something short and to the point, containing information the reader actually needs or wants. As with e-mail, a social media post can expect to get some response to what is written.

– Write in the first person, and include links to other websites, friends, and resources

You don’t always have to use these techniques, but they make your posts more well-rounded. The shortest entry I’ve seen was a single word; most posts aren’t more than a few hundred words at a time.

– Inform your readers through humour and commentary

Think of your social media channel as a conversation that you get to start. Think about who your readers are (you should already have a good idea about who your client’s are) and what they are interested in.

– Keep your posts conversational

Try to write the way you speak. Avoid jargon, and don’t use a thesaurus. You may find speaking your post out loud helpful before trying to type it in – or read it aloud to yourself after you’ve written it. If you find yourself struggling or speaking unnaturally as you read aloud, think about what you might say if you were talking to a colleague or friend instead of writing.

– Write with a friend in mind

This tip relates closely to the conversational tone – write your post with a specific friend or customer in mind. Thinking of someone you know well and who might want to read your post while you write allows you to relax your writing style. As a result, your writing sounds more like you. Write your posts casually, as you would a personal letter or e-mail.

– Learn from others

Before you start posting, spend some time visiting other channels that are like the one you’re thinking of starting or already managing. Read one or two for a couple of weeks, and pay attention to things such as posting lengths, frequency, writing style, and subject material. You don’t need to copy them, but you may get some good ideas for your own posts by noting what you find interesting and compelling reading in others.