Social media plays a critical role in helping your commercial or personal brand deliver a stellar first impression.

However, even the smallest detail can impact your credibility, brand voice, and user experience – especially when the detail in question is a grammar or spelling mistake. 

But what if writing a typo-free caption or social media post feels like crossing a minefield? In this guide, you’ll find everything you need to know to improve your grammar on social media and learn about the benefits that this strategy can bring to your brand.

Let’s dive in!

First Things First: How To Avoid Grammar Pitfalls on Social Media

Internet users spend an average of 147 minutes a day on social networks, consuming a growing quantity of high-quality content. So, what’s the key to making your content stand out in an overly crowded landscape?

Copies and captions that are free of grammatical errors and plagiarism can help you gain credibility and boost engagement. 

Here’s how to get started!

• Use a grammar checker

If you find yourself writing multiple posts, captions, copies, and comments a day, it is nearly inevitable that you will deal with grammar challenges and pitfalls. However, new tech tools can help you automate your proofreading tasks and make it easier to keep up when you schedule social media posts on platforms.

For example, you can carry out a complete spell and grammar check of your documents, pharaèhrase sentences, and check for plagiarized content in just a few seconds with modern and AI-powered digital tools. 

• Proofread your content

There is no doubt that social media has changed the way we speak and write. Nonetheless, some grammar rules and sentence construction guidelines should always be respected – even if you have chosen to use a minimalist or alternative brand voice. 

That is why, before making your content available publicly, you should proofread it or read it out loud to make sure that the sentences you have written sound as good as you initially thought! If in doubt, reading your copy to a trusted friend or colleague can help you detect mistakes and inefficiencies!

• Work with a professional marketer

If you are struggling to express your brand’s values and concepts, or you often find yourself overwhelmed by grammatical challenges, don’t fret! 

Hiring a professional content writer or editor can help you prevent mistakes and free up the time you need to focus on creating more engaging and unique content. 

The Benefits Of Using Perfect Grammar On Social Media

Spending time analyzing the grammar of your written content can feel like an unnecessary precaution at first. However, posting content that has been thoroughly checked and proofread can help you win over your audience’s trust and level up your reputation as an influencer. 

Here are just a few of the benefits you are bound to see by improving your written social media material. 

• Improved reputation and credibility

Recent statistics and surveys couldn’t have made it clearer: users’ trust levels in brands have hit an all-time low, and buyers are seeking social proof like never before. 

As an influencer looking to promote your own or other brands’ products, it is crucial for you to gain and maintain your audience’s trust. To do so, you’ll need to leverage credible, high-quality, and fact-checked content – and a spelling mistake can easily become the discordant note in an otherwise pristine content strategy!

• Defining your brand’s vocal identity

Your brand’s voice plays a vital role in determining and portraying your company’s personality – online and offline. And the way you use grammar, sentence structures, and lexicon can impact how your brand is perceived by your audience. 

For example, slang might fit nicely within a funny or lighthearted context, but you might wish to stick to more formal writing styles to promote your classy or sophisticated brand. 

When choosing your brand voice, you will be determining the type of communication style to use on social media as well as other media forms, including:

• Your website
• Your tagline and slogans
• External and internal communication
• Interactions with your target audience (i.e., customer service replies and social media content)
• Sales material
• Product descriptions and labels

Defining a brand voice that is in line with your company’s mission, values, and target audience preferences can help you boost your revenue by around 33%. So, whether you are looking for content ideas for your blog or are looking to edit the grammar and structure of your existing copy, you should always stick to your pre-determined communication style.

• Boosting content accessibility

Another reason why you should ensure that your social media content is free of grammar mistakes is that grammatically-correct captions and copies can improve your content’s accessibility. 

Here’s why focusing on your grammar can make your content more accessible:

• Correct spoken grammar is critical for automatic captioning on video content
• Clear and concise sentences make the text more accessible 
• Avoiding jargon, all-caps, complex fonts, and emojis as these are often misinterpreted by assistive technologies and screen readers
• Create descriptive captions and instructions that are easily understood
• Twist your sentences to adopt an inclusive and gender-neutral language

According to the Bureau of Internet Accessibility (BOIA), making your social media campaigns more accessible can increase your reach by 26% and engage with the 1 in 4 Americans who are living with a disability. 

• Improving translations and global reach

If you are looking to reach a global audience, you’ll need to be aware of how your social media text translates into other languages. 

Most social media networks – including popular platforms such as Facebook and Instagram – allow users to translate captions, stories, comments, and even Direct Messages in real time. While these digital tools can help you create content suitable for an international or multi-language audience, don’t forget that your text will be translated automatically. 

In turn, spoken or written grammar will play a role in how your content will sound or look in other languages. To make sure that your international audience will be able to understand your text – and to avoid cultural pitfalls! – keep your sentences clear, avoid using slang, and double-check your grammar before making your content available publicly!

• Making the right first impression

Missing a comma on a multi-page newsletter might not impact your overall brand image so much. However, in a 280-character Tweet, even a minor spelling error can become an embarrassing slip-up! 

To safeguard your brand’s reputation and make a stellar first impression with new and returning users, make sure to double-check your written text before posting it. If in doubt, AI-powered tools can assist you before or while posting captions or comments. 

Conclusion

There is no doubt that avoiding grammar errors isn’t always as easy as it seems. However, digital tools can help you simplify your text, prevent plagiarism and spelling errors, and avoid passive sentences. 

What’s more, if you are looking to build a career as an influencer or blogger, a lot will depend on how well you are able to express yourself and communicate with your audience. So, enrolling in a grammar or writing course can prove to be an invaluable investment for your future!