What do I mean by this?
Let me explain with a story from 1998.That was the year I began to work full-time as an online writer and copywriter.
By that time hundreds of thousands of companies had already launched websites. Generally, they looked reasonably good and worked reasonably well. But the writing was not so good. What many of them did was simply cut and paste text from their old print materials.
They didn’t understand that writing for the web was different. And that was the message I shared with my audience and my clients.
The developers and designers had done their part. But to make websites achieve their potential, these companies needed good writers who understood the medium.
To give you a sense of what it was like back then, writers were rarely involved with the creation of a website until after the developers and designers had done their part. Sites were pretty much designed and built before writers were asked to fill in the gaps. It was crazy. It took years for companies to understand that it’s the words that drive sales and collect leads.
Social media is at the same point today as the web was back in 1998.
The geeks have built the social media services.
Platform experts and gurus have looked under the hoods of each service and explained how it all works.
Content marketers have hammered home that social media success depends on having something to say, and great content to share.
But it’s just like it was back in 1998. It is only just occurring to marketers that to make social media really work they need to use writers who truly understand this new medium. They need to understand that it’s not the tools that drive social media, it’s the words.
I know, in certain verticals, like fashion, images can be as powerful as words. But for most industries and businesses, it’s the words that do the heavy lifting. (The core of social media is engagement and conversation…and that means words.)
This opens up a whole new opportunity for writers and copywriters who take the trouble to study and learn about social media as a marketing medium.
In the same way as I did back in 1998, you can jump in and say:
“It’s time for the love affair with the tools and platforms to end. It’s time to understand that words are the key to social media marketing success. And writing for social media is different. I can help you with that.”
As a social media writer and marketer you don’t need in-depth expertise in every single social media site. Those sites are just the tools in your toolbox.
What you do need to know is how to use those tools to communicate in a genuine and authentic voice.
Social media works. Now the industry needs to focus on the quality of writing, so it can work even better.
And yes, this is a huge opportunity for online writers and copywriters who want to make their mark as social media writers and marketers.
Related program: How to Make Money as a Social Media Marketing Expert
About the author: Nick Usborne is an online writer, copywriter, author and coach. Read more…