I saw this post in my feed the other day and it reminded me of a post I had been meaning to write for ages. The title: The top 10 laziest phrases in social content marketing.

But, after I saw this post, I decided to amend that headline. Because there’s only one phrase that can be labeled “the laziest” in social content marketing–and I’m not sure it’s close!

Two words–“Check out…”–has to be the laziest phrase in modern-day content marketing.

I see it used almost daily. And, it’s awful. But, it’s not surprising. Not considering the circumstances. Think about it. The content machine is now in overdrive. Communicators are tasked with coming up with multiple pieces of social content daily.

So, that drives laziness.

Then, consider the fact that many people who are writing and developing social content aren’t even communicators! Sometimes it’s an HR person. Other times, it’s an admin. Yet others, an ops person.

That’s driving laziness.

Finally, social media has, in many ways, chipped away at the art of writing. We see so much laziness in social media content. SO MUCH. And, it’s a product of volume. We have so much content to get out there now (I’m always a huge advocate of “less is more”), that it almost forces laziness in our writing.

Like I said, I’m not surprised.

But, we can do something about this. We can recommit to our writing! Especially when it comes to writing these intro posts that tee up an article we’re sharing via social (see above), because that’s where I see this lazy phrase used the most.

Allow me to suggest a few tips so you, too, can avoid using the laziest phrase in social content marketing history.

1 – Use a quote from the article

Simply pulling out one of the more interesting or compelling quotes from the article can be a great way to tease the post. For example, using the Gravie post above, why not go with — “On average, employers spend 400 hours annually managing health benefits, and that is likely to go up as the complexity increases. Having a good pulse on where you are spending time, money and expertise is critically important to managing one of the most expensive line items on your budget.”

2 – Use a data point as a hook

In many cases, a simple data point is more than enough to pique readers’ curiousities. Again, using the Gravie example, what about — “Employer spend 400 hours annually managing health benefits–do you know where all those hours are going?” Wouldn’t you want to read on?

3 – Think about your post like a broadcast intro

Think about the way broadcasters tee up stories on the 10 pm news. Wouldn’t that be a great way to reframe social posts like these? Again, using Gravie, something like this would work much better than using the dreaded “check this out” language:

Whew–Open enrollment season is now in our rear-view mirror. Now, read how our head of HR, Amy Spartz, believes a healthy post-mortem is essential to making next year’s event even more effective: https://www.tlnt.com/before-open-enrollment-becomes-a-memory-do-a-post-mortem/