social media – MEMORANDUM

5 Tips for Writing on Social Media

man holding smartphone with social media alerts — Image courtesy of Adobe Stock

5 Tips for Writing on Social Media

By Erica Turner

Social media is one of the most popular communication outlets people use in the 21st century. Many utilize social media as a way to develop their brand or business and to reach people all over the world. As writers, we have to be innovative when reaching vast audiences and getting them to view our brand or business. Here are five tips that can help improve your performance:

Write Great Headlines. A headline is the first thing, if not the only thing, a prospective reader will see when they scroll upon a post. Make sure your headline is impactful and states the real purpose of your post or page.
Use Action-Oriented Language. The purpose of using social media is to get your audience to do something, whether it’s to attend an event, purchase something or watch a video. By using interesting adjectives or even posing a question, you can draw in your reader to doing exactly what action you want them to perform.
Tailor Your Message. How you write your posts on Facebook should not be the same way you construct your posts on Twitter. Tailor your message depending on what network you are trying to reach your audience on. The content you share will perform differently depending on the social network.
Post with Purpose. Make sure that you’re not posting things blindly and that there is meaning behind what you post. Always keep in mind why you are posting, and make sure your content reflects that message.
Put Share Buttons at the Bottom of EVERY post. After you’ve constructed a beautifully written and innovative post, make sure the post is easily accessible for readers to share. By placing social media share buttons at the bottom of all posts, your content will then have the potential to spread to reach a wider audience.

With these tips, you can create social media posts your audience will find captivating and shareable.

From Bar to Brewery: Alumni Interview with Jay Haywood

By Lexi Waldon

Jay Haywood, a graduate from UAB with a BA in English-Professional Writing, has built his career by maneuvering through the restaurant and bar business since the day he graduated high school. He made his way from restaurant gigs and bar-backing jobs to becoming a Sales Representative for Cahaba Brewery here in Birmingham.

Because there are only two members on the sales team for this swiftly growing company, Jay’s responsibilities lie beyond those of a typical sales rep. With his service industry experience and his professional writing skills, Jay proved himself to be pretty useful to a newly established brewery in a town where many competitors have already made their mark. To learn more about Jay and his line of work, MEMORANDUM met up with him on his own turf.

Jay began his journey in Columbus, Georgia where he began working various restaurant jobs after high school. At the age of 24, he decided to move to Birmingham and begin his college career at UAB.

With a major in Secondary Education and a concentration in English, he found himself enrolled in a few Professional Writing courses and became increasingly involved with the program. After establishing a relationship with one of his professors within the PW program, he decided to shift directions and begin working towards a degree in Professional Writing.

While earning his degree, he continued working restaurant jobs to stay afloat—all the while making connections and building long-lasting professional relationships.

During the beginning of his senior year at UAB, an old friend from a previous job called him up and asked if he’d be interested in running the bar at a new brewery in town—Cahaba Brewery. This put Jay’s foot in the door of a fresh company with a quickly increasing demand.

For the remainder of his time in school and the beginnings of his time at Cahaba, he began to push the company to host events and create an online presence for itself. Once the company realized the impact of social media in today’s society, its presence became imperative. The company saw the need for this and Jay saw the opportunity to fulfill it, so he began curating online content and creating a social media following for the brand.

As the online following grew, so did the sales, thus creating a new job position for Jay as a sales representative and professional social media guru.

Jay plans events, books bands and food trucks, posts on Facebook and Instagram, updates the website, writes press releases and coordinates with distributors and graphic designers to make sure the concept of the brand remains intact.

Jay calls sales meetings, meets clients, coordinates donations for non-profit events and hosts tastings at restaurants in the state. He’s the guy shaking your hand at the end of a meeting, the guy sitting behind the computer screen booking the band for the next event and the person making sure the food truck shows up for “Good Lil’ Wednesday,” a charity fundraiser Cahaba hosts every Wednesday night for a local nonprofit organization.

He stays in contact with those who drink the beer and makes sure that the people creating it understand how crucial it is to keep Cahaba Blonde in stock. He reaches out to the other breweries and restaurants in town, making sure not to host any specials on the same night as them.

When asked how he stays in the know with the community and the customers, he says, “Because most of my work is done outside of these walls, I get to experience the people of our brand and feel more connected to our customers. It feels very close knit that way.”

Because Jay is still fairly new to this position, he is eager to learn more and create more. He is always thinking of new ways to engage with the community, whether it be through planning new events, promoting a new beer on social media or helping a nonprofit put on an event of their own. These things not only drive customers directly to the Brewery itself, but allow the personality of the brand to be experienced, which is one of Jay’s priorities when it comes to his work.

Swing by Cahaba to see how professional writing and beer can come together to form a unique and exciting career.

The Impact of Social Media on Professional Writing

By Genni Boatwright

Kalyn Wolfe

It doesn’t seem that long ago that social media was just starting out and people were still reading a newspaper or turning on the TV to get the news. I remember when Myspace first started and was more of a dating site than a way to connect with friends. I was on Facebook when only college students were allowed.

It wasn’t long after Facebook began that we saw the social media explosion. Now, there are so many social media sites that I can’t keep up with them all. Social media is no longer just a way to connect with friends and family. It has seeped into professional writing world. It has changed the way we receive our news and advertisements. So many people now rely on social media for their news that news outlets are being forced to adapt their methods of delivering content in order to stay relevant.

Interview

To get more insight on the effects of social media on professional writing, I spoke with Kalyn Wolfe. Kalyn is a weekly columnist for the Pensacola News Journal, freelance writer for the New York Times and the Digital Media Specialist for Meyer Vacation Rentals. One of her duties for Meyer is handling their social media accounts; their Facebook profile alone has over 200,000 followers. We spoke about what caused the shift in social media and the impact it had on professional writing. She says,

“Links are what really affected professional writing. Things are now easier with a click of a button, eliminating steps. You only have so many characters to get your audience’s attention. People are learning to work with less but providing more impact. Also, we have new ways of gathering information and people have become less inhibited.”

Professional writers must be careful to avoid writing with the sole intention of getting followers and likes. An article’s title is important, but writers need to avoid being considered clickbait by not giving misleading headlines. Kalyn says,

“You can be a little tongue in cheek with a headline but don’t get too cutesy. Don’t treat it like a teaser and state the facts.”

I asked her what advice she would like to give young professional writers:

“Stay authentic. If you write a story to get more followers, then you won’t be your authentic self. Also, don’t be afraid to have fun but know that as a writer it comes with responsibility.”

Social Media: Personal Branding

Social media marketing is everywhere. Professional writing majors can easily take advantage of this continually growing job market.

Before you apply for a social media editor position, you need to use social media to market yourself. Create a strategy similar to one used by a business, but tweak it to attract companies to you! There are several different platforms you may want to consider to distribute your personal image.

Linked In is an essential network for making professional connections with peers and companies alike. It is also has myriad advertising opportunities for businesses, so those considering a career in copy writing or social media will want to have a strong presence and understanding of the site. Writers can also publish content on Linked In, providing a portfolio presented in a professional network setting. Publishing on a social network and demonstrating an ability to engage others can be extremely valuable when applying for jobs.

Twitter has been around for a while, but this real-time social media site still has so much potential. Be specific in the content you post and retweet. No one wants their feed clogged with photos of your dinner; post tweets that provide engaging content. Always read articles before posting to ensure legitimacy and relevance to your target market. This can also be a vital tool in engaging followers for blogging.

Though Facebook has allegedly been on the downswing with younger audiences, a great majority use this site daily for news and entertainment. In addition, Facebook advertising is extremely profitable. You can also personalize your Facebook to carefully portray your brand image. Above all, take time to edit and filter old posts, or if high school you was just “2 kool 4 skool,” or equally as embarrassing, delete the whole thing and start fresh.

Snapchat’s story feature can be used as a way to personally engage readers in visual rhetoric. For example, Lucky Magazine Editor Eva Chen will create a story full of visual content from events she attends, such as New York Fashion Week. This social media app makes brands, and personal brands, have a story-telling component with very few words. This can be a valuable tool for creating a relationship with consumers, as there is no “following” but only “friends.” You may not want to “friend” all the companies you want to work for, but it is nonetheless the newest thing for company image branding.

Creating an effective personal brand presence can result in a social media editing position. Apply for social media internships after establishing a social media portfolio (your personal brand) and see what happens.