3 Steps to Writing Fun Promotional Posts for Social Media




SHOW NOTES

Hey y'all how y'all doing?  Thank you all for joining in today. I'm Latoya Garrett I am a vision
strategist and I also call myself a vision director and what I currently do is, help you plan, position
and promote your live events and your offers with more clarity and efficiency and I've really been
using my gift of writing, storytelling, event producing and brand communications to help
Visionaries turn their internal ideas into an external expressions.  So, I'm all about bringing your
vision to light. So today, what I want to do, is share some of that knowledge with you and give
you three steps to writing fun, promotional posts for social media but I also want to make sure,
before we go any further, that this master class applies to you, so you're not wasting any of your
time. So let's get right into it.
  
If you struggle to come up with the right words to promote your offers in your events,  


If you feel like your promotional post are not being seen by other people, 


if you feel like you put something out but nobody really responds, they don't like your stuff, 
they don't share your posts or you get to reading your own stuff and you feel like, “I'm saying
the same thing as Joe blow over here or Susan Schmuk over here.


Or if you're a visionary who has multiple ideas and you want to learn ways to say what you mean
and make it make sense, then you are definitely in the right place. 


So what I want to talk to you about today is basically the importance of creating creative copy
and what that looks like.  Also the mistakes that I see people making when they put out
promotional post, on social media, then we're going to get into the three steps that will make
it a little bit easier for you to write fun promotional post for your offers and your events.  
And then I'll share some next steps and then I'll be open to any questions that you may have,
okay? So you may want to get a notepad and ink pen, I'm pretty sure Karma, has already told
you this because I like to talk and I go pretty fast, so hopefully you can write things down and
write your questions down.   Now, if you stay to the end, you'll be able to grab my free cheat
sheet of 85 fun words to use in your promotional post. And what this cheat sheet is, it just
gives you creative words and phrases that you can use in your posts throughout the rest of
October. I'm not going to be selling anything at the end of the class but you can still access
the freebie and like I said. I know you're probably going to have some questions along the way
so, if you'll just post them in the  comments, I'll try to get to them and answer them at the end
because I currently cannot see what your comments are because I have my screen on full blast.  


So I’m not a fluffy type person so rather than take 20 minutes to talk about myself, let me just
go ahead and give you some of the highlights of me and what I'm all about. So with me, I
basically grew up around my  life with musicians, artists, things of that nature but I never really
felt like I had a voice.  I've always been just an imaginary dreaming type person and I’d catch
myself writing different story then talking myself, to like, far away places using my words putting
my words to put pen to paper and whenever I felt like I wasn't being heard by other people I
would just let my pen, I would let my pen speak for me and it would create the words that I
wanted to say on paper.  And I didn't know at the time, that my love of words and my gift of communication would actually become my career and lead me to basically working in the
nonprofit arena for almost 20 years. I've developed over 10 entertainment businesses and
brands, being a contributing writer for Slay magazine as well as our weddings magazine. I've
hosted and assisted with approximately 1000 event since 2004 and I've done all types of events
like carnivals, parades, dance shows, stage entertainment to stage plays and all of that.  I've also gained features in the Dallas Examiner with my very first full-length stage play. I've managed celebrity opening slots for artists artist that I've managed and I've had three, I've had three dance teams ya’ll. A performance group, two rap artist and a basketball player. I've been doing a lot throughout my writing in entertainment journey. I’ve had sold out shows, multiple times and I’ve
also helped my clients fill their seats as well. One of my clients, in particular, was hosting her
stage production, she did it once before and then she came to me for assistance with putting
out the right words to sell her tickets.  So before we started working together, I asked what was
your percentage rate before we started and she said 65%. That was usually how many people
she got in attendance, so after we worked together, I asked her the same question, she said 95%, so basically I gave her helped her to increase her cells from 65% to 95% just getting more creative with the words and the way that she was writing her promotional posts on social media. So I
thought that was really amazing. I've also written and produced plays that won me and my cast, drama stage Play of the Year and currently, I’m called the storyologist but I've been previously coined as the word doctor as well.  And the craziest part of my journey, was having Tony Grant
from Tyler Perry's, Love Thy Neighbor. He appeared in my stage play, three times and to this
day we are still friends. So that was like the craziest part of my journey. My events, my writing,
my entertainment journey has been filled with so much excitement, disappointments, failures and unexpected surprises but I can honestly say the journey has been amazing and a tremendous learning experience for me and for the people that have been around me and I am not done yet!
I'm still going. So that's enough about me, let's dive into, why it's important to be more creative in your copy. This is where you need to start writing things down just in case you have something
that comes up and you have a question about it, Okay? So when it comes to writing on social
media you always want to keep in mind that there are a good ga-jillion, like so many entrepreneurs and business owners showing up and promoting their stuff.  So in order for you to stand out among everyone else that requires for you to get like, a little bit creative and that allows you to use your natural talents to shine through your writing. And I know most people hear the phrase get creative and they think that you have to be some kind of wordsmith or something way over the top in order
to put out quality copy but it's so much easier than you may think and all you really really really
need is a clearer understanding and a process for writing your social media post. And there are
a lot of reasons why getting creative with your post is important but I'm only going to talk about
three, cuz we're on a time schedule.  


So let me get into those three.   


First you need to be able to express who you truly are in your own words and I don't know if you
remember when I told you earlier that I used to get lost in my words and I would dream and let my
writing take me to far away places?  Well to me, that’s a form of self expression that I can put into
my posts on social media.  


Number two, you can stand out from other visionaries by sharing posts and stories that are lying
with your life experiences so let's say the reason you decided to start your business was to help
at-risk youth, develop real life skills.  Let's just go with that example and the reason you chose
that particular market to work with, was because you came from a limited income family yourself
and your parents really couldn't afford to put you in activities that taught you your for life skills.
So, if you look at that example you can see how your stories and your posts centered  around
your life experiences, can help you stand out. I hope that makes sense.


The third thing is, you, getting creative in your copy, will also help you to reach the right audience
who is actually attracted to your posts.  Let me say that again, “getting creative in your copy, your
words will also help you to reach the right audience who is actually attracted to your post.  So I
love to give examples, so let me give this example. Let's say that you're into cosplay. Cosplay is
very popular, you know it's a big thing right now, so let's just say that you're into cosplay and you
posted photos of your amazing weekend, in a costume..  Well, someone who follows you, may
also be into cosplay and because you decided to get creative with what you put out you now have
a potential new fan because like attracts like. Okay? So let me give you a quick example of what
creative copy actually looks like.  So, this is Delia is a life coach and she's also a previous client of
mine. She works with (she works with midlife women who are in transition, who need to be
reminded of how valuable they truly are.) That's pretty much what her niche is. So last year,
what she did, she grabbed a copy of my “October words.” the cheat sheet I was telling you
about and she decided to try it out in some of the copy, for an offer that she was promoting. 
Well these are some of the posts that she decided to put out and she actually got really good
response. Because she decided to step outside of her box, and get creative. So the first post is.
“I can show you how to remove the cobwebs from your interior closet.” This was post that she
connected to an offer, that she had called Makeover Monday and this offer helped women clear
out the mindset blocks that women had while moving forward. But you see how she was able to
take some creative words and apply them to something as basic as life coaching.  And, she put
out another post that said, “don’t let your negative past haunt you because it might have a ghostly
effect. So, I really hope this is making sense for you.


Alright, let me take a drink of water.  Alright so now I want to talk about some of the mistakes
that I've seen people make when writing promotional copy for social media and now I can I get
it I truly, truly understand that most people aren't writers, so it's not necessarily their fault because
they haven't been shown the right way yet.  But you, you get an advantage because you're here in
this masterclass today and you get to learn somethings. When it comes to writing, your 


Number one is spaghetti strategy and I really don't want to call it- I really hate calling it a strategy
because when you're posting just to be posting that means you don't even really have a strategy. 
But now putting out a post without a plan, without a reason, is what I want to call Spaghetti
strategies. You're just throwing stuff out and you're hoping that someone will respond to your stuff.
That's a no-go.

Number two regurgitated copy.  That's when you see someone else putting something out and
because it works for them, you think it'll work for you.  So you decide to borrow it and I'm doing
the air quote with my hands. You borrow their stuff and you put it on your own platform.  To me,
that is not strategic and it’s not cool to be grabbing somebody’s stuff and putting it out as your own.
And the only exception to this, the only exception to this is if you're inspired by someone else’s
work and you share it with full credit it to that person.  Then, You can do that but make sure you're

crediting other people when you're putting out their work.


Number three, is showing up  like a car salesman and post you put out is asking for the self.  
Buy my product. purchase my tickets, grab this bundle, get this program. Act fast while it’s on sale.
All of those are  just car salesman type posts. The only time they are posting is when they want you
to buy something and let me tell you, let me tell you what's going to happen if you keep doing things
like that.  People are going to hide your post, they're going to remove you from their newsfeed and
they'll probably unfriend you. So make sure you're putting out different types of posts that inspire
people, that educate, nurture, make people laugh, things like that.  This is how you’re going to get
some attention.


Number four is one of my favorite and being Wordsmith, yes I am wordsmith,  I had to make a
password so randomosity. Randomosity means putting out random posts that don't apply to
your business,  don't apply to what you offer, what you do or who you're supposed to be talking to.
Randomosity, can also mean showing up every now and then with a post or two, not being
consistent.  So let me just say this to you, people see you. They have to know when to expect
you and I'm so guilty of this as well. When I don't take time to plan out my stuff, I show up
very inconsistent.  So let me give you an example of this, think about your favorite TV show.
You know exactly what day, what time and what channel its coming on every week and either
you're in front of the TV or you know when to record your favorite show.  Right?
The point is, you know when to expect your show and so the same should apply for your
social media. Let people know that you'll be coming on live, every Tuesday at noon,
so they can start expecting you and wait on you to come.  


So first things first, start with a goal.  You have to have a goal. You need to know what your reason
is for putting out that educational post or that inspiring post or that funny post.  Everything is
intentional so know the purpose of the. And of course I’ve got some examples. So some
examples of goals that you’re trying to accomplish is, you might be trying to build brand awareness. 
These types of posts let people know that you and your brand exist in the world. Then you have a
post that might help you to increase engagement. This is when you get people to like, comment
and share your posts.  Maybe you want to drive traffic? Driving traffic means that people are clicking
on your links and checking out your stuff. Or growing your following. When you put out posts that
help you grow your following, this is when people start to become part of your community.  Let me
show you, what a post would look like for each one of those goals.


I'm going to give you a jewelry  brand to build context. That way you can get the full context of
each one of those types of posts. 


 If you were trying to build brand awareness, you could post a jewelry cleaning tip or
something like, “I love the way things are coming along for the XYZ jewelry expo.”


If you wanted to increase engagement, then maybe a post that says, “by as show of likes, how
many of you would love to rock this bangle bracelet.”


Or if  you were hosting an event and you were trying to increase engagement, you could say,
“Do you love attending events as much as we do?  What are you plans for “whatever day, is
the day of your Expo?” 


I hope this is making sense for everybody.  If you wanted to drive traffic to your offer or your
event then you can just say something like if you're looking for a trendy bangle bracelets for
your next girls night out check out my fall bracelet collection to find the one for you.  Okay and
growing your following, it comes after you build your brand awareness, engaged your audience,
drove traffic to your offer or your event.


You’re here at this phase where you want to grow your following so you can post something like,
“join the jewelry bandit community on Facebook.  We can’t wait to meet you.” Or, “calling all j
ewelry junkies to receive updates on our events and new releases.” Now remember, these are
made up  examples, so don’t start searching for Jewelry Bandits on Facebook. Now, if you’re a
jewelry brand, and you like some of these ideas, you can feel free to use them, cause I just made
them up as I went along.  But I do want to give you one quick tip. Start with one goal at a time.
It will keep you on track and it will keep you more focused on what you’re putting out. For example,
you can focus on a brand awareness post, for the first week.  The second week you can focus on
engagement boosting posts and then so on and so forth.  


You always want to have a mix of certain styles and different posts so people don’t get bored with
what you’re posting.  So, have you some traffic driving posts, some community building posts and
then mix it up with educational, funny, inspiring etcetera.  And remember, if you have questions or
get confused on what I’m talking about, make sure to write your questions down and I will definitely
answer them at the end.


Alright,  the second step  to writing fun, promotional posts is to make sure that you’re talking to the
right people.  Having a certain group of people that you’re writing for, will make writing not only fun
but easier.  Believe me, I know. So, let me give you some examples of what I’m talkng about.  
Let the audience is married stay at home mothers who want to spruce up their look for their mate.  
The posts that you are going to put out for them will be totally different from an audience of single
women who are getting back into the dating scene.  So, married women who post about buying a
piece of jewelry to match that Red Dress if there were going to a speed dating event or something
like that. So you want to make sure that the post you're putting out is talking to your target
audience.  What if your audience was corporate professionals looking for upscale pieces?
They may like to attend a jewelry expo or something, featuring other professionals, like them
and they would be very intrigued by a menu that had hor d’ oeuvres and top shelf wines,
so you would want to in your post.  


Now, if you’re targeting somebody like budget conscious buyers, that want affordable, quality
jewelry, then a post about 50% off of your fall sale or buy one ticket and get one free for a friend
would be very appealing to those group of people.  Now you see why it's important to know who
you're talking to and how you can make your post stand out when you have that focus. Cool,
capeesh? Now we’ve got it all right?


Step number three.  Give them the next step we need to be told what to do.  We’re human so we
absolutely need to be told what to do.  It’is just who we are. It’s just our nature and it will be up huge 
shame, it would be such a shame, if you were to put all this time, into setting goals for your post,
getting clear on who you were who you were talking to, only to have people to show up, read your
post and then go on to the next thing without leaving a comment, sharing or clicking on your link.
That would be a big shame and it wouldn't be their fault, because you didn't tell them what to do.
So, they didn't know they weren’t supposed to go somewhere else after they've been encountered
your post.  So, give them a call to action and if you don't know what that looks like, hello I have
some examples for you. Of course that's what I do, that's what I do That’s what I do.. Any kind
of brand can tweak this as you see fit. So, here are some good call to actions. Things like, visit
my shop. See the new collection. Like our page, download the free, grab the checklist, cheat sheet,
share with a friend, subscribe to my channel, raise your hand if…, blah blah blah, share your
thoughts.  

And one thing about Facebook, they are starting to get really really crafty and monitoring the
words in your post and they don't want you sharing your post in the news feed if you
using words like comment, type yes and so on, so make sure to try and get creative and
try to start using phrases like, raise your hand or type. I'm down or something like that, to
get people to engage in your post.  Okay and because I love y'all, yes I do and I want to
see you winning with your words. I have a bonus step for you, so your
bonus step is to just be creative. Just being creative, use your imagination and come up with
ideas for your post just think of ways that you can stand out in your niche, in your industry and
if you need some help you can look at other Industries and see what they're doing to get
inspiration for your own post. I do that a lot. I do communication and writing but I may
go look at the real estate industry to see what they're doing that would be very creative for
my industry, that my industry hasn't thought up.  So it's okay to go look at other Industries for
inspiration, when it comes to coming up with ideas for what you're trying to put out with your
boyfriend and you can get creative with things like memes, analogies, you can use
storytelling, you can put out a post that has jokes on them, stuff like that. Just things you feel
like your audience will enjoy from you. Just remember not to be putting out selling
things all the time. Don’t always put out a post about a sale. And if you think about it, any
time you put something out, you’re marketing your brand so, everything doesn’t have to be
about buying something. So if you understand what I’m talking about
and you get all of this, So far, say got it, got it, got it.


  1. So here are some things to remember:
  2. Have a goal, for your promotional copy because you need to know where you’re headed.
  3. Know who you’re talking to and make sure your posts apply to your people.
  4. Give them something to do because folks need direction.
  5. Think outside the box and try something new.
  6. Even if you’re using templates, you can steal get creative
  7. A thesaurus is your best friend, when it comes to changing out the words or finding
different ways to say the same thing.
  
And if you need some help with some words, yes, I’ve got you covered.  Remember the freebie I
was telling you about earlier, I have that available for you, 85 fun words for October and you can
get it right after this class,.  All you have to do is say October Words in the comments and I will
drop it into your inbox, when I finish with the class. There is no email required, for you to get
this freebie.  And I know that October is almost over with, but you can still be creative with
writing in your posts for the rest of the month.  

Now before we get in some questions, make sure you’re following me on Instagram,
Facebook and I’m going to try and get into Twitter.  I don’t know yet, I’m still thinking about
it but I do have an account @TheStoryologist.

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