The average person’s vocabulary has around fifty thousand words. For some life essentials, like playing Scattergories, this is fantastic. When you’re trying to narrow it down to the most effective 140 characters for your brand’s latest tweet? Not so much.
Luckily some wonderful people have done the research for us and found the following, most bang-for-buck words to use on social media. And to help you remember them, we’ve added familiar movie stereotypes to channel for each one. You’re welcome.
Facebook
Who doesn’t like to talk about themselves? As the most popular social network in Australia, Facebook is full of folk just waiting to give you their two cents on anything. Leave them an opening with words like comment, post, where, when and tell us. If shares are what you’re after, tell them what your post is supposed to do: use “warn” if you’re giving them something to be worried about, or “amuse” if you’re putting on the funnies.
Movie stereotype: Be your inner psychiatrist – ask open ended questions and let them pour out their souls. The friendly tourist looking for a good beer also works.
Twitter
Apparently, the best words to get your content shared on Twitter are “please retweet.”
#shocker.
If you’d prefer not to resemble everyone’s favourite Overly Attached Girlfriend meme, “new blog post” and “check out” still work nicely while toning down the desperation. Giving something away (whether prize or knowledge) also helps: “free,” “help” and “how to” feature high on the list.
Movie stereotype: The friend-zoned buddy who totally gets the girl at the end – be helpful, smart, and willing to appear a little needy, and you’ll win them over.
Competitions
Social media competitions aren’t entirely “free” for your followers– they’re paying for entry with valuable real estate on their perfectly constructed profiles. To get your brand in amongst those selfies, stay positive: the top words for getting those entries are “winner”, “win” and “winning”. Words like contest, competition and sweepstakes discourage followers. Read our blog on why no one entered your social media competition for more hints.
Movie stereotype: The aggressive coach from every American high school movie. Keep their eye on the prize. Competition? What competition? Losing is not an option.
Research thanks to Quick Sprout References.