Writing an engaging post in 280 characters is the newest form of poetry. It is an art form that is imperative to capturing your digital audience. 

Even though Twitter has allotted an additional 140 characters, per the change last year, there is still a struggle with having enough space.

How do you get to the point without coming off as blunt? How do you summarize your content coherently?

Below are a few steps that will help you overcome this challenging task.

Step One

Write the message you need to get across without restricting yourself.

Then go back and find abbreviated ways to write out your message. If you try to immediately restrict yourself to 280 characters, you will restrict the content of your message.

Work backwards to protect your content.

Step Two

Make sure you have plenty of action verbs and avoid using adverbs carelessly. There is very little room for a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious description.

Watch for redundant and overused adverbs. For example, there is no need to say, “She smiled happily”. Smiling already implies happiness. Some overused intensifying adverbs include “very”, “extremely”, “definitely” and “really”. Use of these adverbs give your message a generic tone and are categorized in the writing world as “fluff”.

Adverbs do serve a purpose, but choose them carefully and make sure they add value to your message. Every character must earn its spot!

Step Three

Condense your wording. Avoid long, fancy words and instead use their short synonyms. You are trying to save characters and this is an easy way to give yourself ten extra spaces.

You will capture the reader’s attention more effectively if you keep it light-hearted rather than trying to impress with extravagant word choice. The actual article or video is the appropriate place to display impeccable word choice.

Step Four

Add energetic punctuation. Punctuation will help you convey emotion in just a single character. Ask a question to engage your audience! The flip side is to remember that you do not need ten exclamation or question marks. However, a message with an exclamation point will come off as upbeat where as a message with a period will come off as dry.

Step Five

Add a hashtag! Hashtags categorize your post, which makes it more convenient for your viewers when they are searching for a post or topic. Hashtags also help you gain exposure to your target audience and, most importantly, help audience members that have not liked your page yet find you. Keep it to one or two hashtags given your limited space. You don’t want the bulk of your post to be #made #up #of #hashtags.

Provide a sense of urgency and excitement in your message to get your reader to click on and continue reading!

To read more about how to engage your audience, download these expert tips for getting started on social media!