Social Media: Employ 7 Cs of Effective Communication For Writing Social Media Content

The 7 Cs of effective communication are as applicable to social media as they are to any other medium. The 7 Cs are Clear, Concise, Concrete, Correct, Coherent, Complete, and Courteous. The idea is that your content should tick all these benchmarks. Although social media is less formal, following them will differentiate you from the competition.  You may be writing a caption on Instagram or writing a FB post, these points will guide your writing. 

Websites initially were text-based but now with Web 2.0 (e.g social media websites), they have become more visual. People create lots of content on social media both visual and textual but they are not aware of mass communication concepts. Therefore, most of the content is plagued with errors. Besides content errors, the content does not fit in the first place, logically, textually, or visually. Learn these basics of effective communication so that your next post is stellar from a communication perspective. Let's learn them one by one.

1. Clear: When communicating to the audience through text or visuals, be clear. Know what you want to convey. Reduce the ideas to a minimum, I.e., one or two. For example, when posting on IG, your goal is twofold. You are telling a story both with text and visuals. Use clear language and good-quality images and video. You may want to sell a product. Keep your focus on its benefits and how it will improve the user's life.

2. Concise: Don’t clog the reading with unnecessary verbosity. Avoid filler words e.g., for instance, kind of, you know, etc. Cut out unnecessary sentences and paragraphs. The ideal limit according to some experts is 150 characters for social media posts. However, you can experiment with lengthy posts to see how they perform. 

3. Concrete: Your message is concrete when the audience will know clearly what you want to communicate. They would not be guessing. For example, "I didn't like that show, it sucks!", is vague. It doesn't tell you why you dislike it. Be specific e.g., "I don't like the acting besides its idiotic storyline."

4. Correct: The facts and figures must be correct. Check for faulty grammar, typography, and punctuations. The visual content must be correct too. Color and fonts must be appropriate.

5. Coherent: All text and visuals should blend. Check if sentences and paragraphs move forward smoothly. Visually coherent means that all visual elements (color, layout, fonts, pictures, videos, and animations) communicate a single message. Being coherent will enhance the quality of your content.

6. Complete: The audience should have all necessary information to take action (buy, sell, contact, etc). Answer the 5 Ws and H. The 5 Ws are What, When, Where, Why, and Who. The H stands for how. For instance, if you want to tell your audience the movie review you should tell the following: What was the name of the movie and the plot? When did you watch it? Where did you watch it? Why that movie and not another? Who were the actors, director, and main characters? And how was your experience?

7. Courteous: Communication needs to be friendly. The audience must be feeling that they are valued and respected. But you don’t need to sugarcoat everything. Be honest. Visual Content must communicate the same thing. Don’t use visuals (photos, videos, and animations) that are biased. Tell clearly if you have rated content. 

Following these simple rules would make a huge difference for you. Your copy would shine. Though the layperson won't know why they like your content as compared to others but you know the secret!