What Freelance Writers Need to Know About Social Media in 2022
By Andrew Murray

When a single industry has over 4.5 billion users, you know it’s BIG!

We’re talking about social media, which continues to evolve and grow every year. In fact social media outlets have tripled their user base in the last decade from 970 million in 2010 to the almost 5 billion we see today.

And 2022 is no different. Companies large and small are using social media not just as a tool for selling products and services but also to connect with their target audiences.

This means the demand for writers will grow as well, creating unique writing opportunities.

But how do you take advantage of what lies ahead for writers?

We’ve put together a complete guide that covers everything you need to know about social media in 2022 including …

• the opportunities for you as a copywriter,
• how to get started,
• how companies use social media,
• the kind of fees you can earn

 … and much more.

If you have another question about social media not covered here, ask us in the comments at the end of this article.

Who Uses Social Media?

According to StatusBrew, over 4.55 billion people use social media. To put it into perspective, that’s more than half the entire world’s population, which currently sits at 7.6 billion people!

And age doesn’t matter.

Both older adults and younger people are flocking to social media outlets in big numbers. Currently the most used outlets include:

• Facebook with 2.4 billion users
• YouTube at 2.2 billion users
• WhatsApp with 2 billion users
• Instagram at 1.2 billion users
• TikTok with 689 million users

And this is just a partial list of the social media platforms that now exist (think LinkedIn, Pinterest, Nextdoor, etc.)

What Are the Opportunities for Copywriters in Social Media?

It doesn’t matter whether you prefer writing short-form, high-energy copy … or more detailed, long-form copy. There’s a space for you in social media marketing.

Either way, you’ll earn good money as a social media copywriter. In truth social media is one of the best retainer opportunities for writers. Instead of one-off assignments, you could contract with clients for a steady stream of work and income.

As a social media writer, you could make as much as $1,500 … $2,000 … even as much as $5,000 per month.

You can write ads and content, specializing in one or two social media channels. Or you can manage social media channels for clients.

What about long-form content? Surprisingly, it performs exceptionally well on certain social media channels.

You can even go a step further.

Offer to develop a content calendar, to build their social media strategy. Become a valued social media consultant.

The opportunities for writing projects are endless because busy business owners struggle to keep up with the constant demands of social media. Take that work off their hands, so they’re free to concentrate on other business needs.

But I Don’t Know Anything About Social Media Marketing!

What makes breaking into social media so easy is that you’re probably already familiar with this kind of writing. For instance, do you have a social media account — Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, or Pinterest for example?

If the answer’s Yes, then you’re already doing the basics of social media management and marketing.

Do you know how to publish a post or reply to a comment? Then you know more about social media than you might think.

You know what types of posts get the most comments, likes, and shares. So, you already know quite a lot about social media marketing.

People use social media to be social … to interact with other people.

You can tell when you’re being sold to on social media. And chances are, you scroll straight past it.

And this is the key to being successful on social media.

Companies who are successful on social media know people don’t like being sold to. Instead, users want useful, helpful, informative, entertaining content.

Your job as a social media specialist is to write this type of content without being pushy or
sales-y.

What do you like about the content on your favorite social media channel? Well, that’s exactly the type of content clients want … content that helps build a connection with customers.

How Do I Choose Which Channels to Specialize In?

The fastest way to jump into social media writing is to start with the channels you already use.

If you use TikTok, then you know how it works and what content is the most effective. Managing TikTok accounts for clients is a logic step.

Now, imagine you’re a 50+ year-old professional female and you’re active on LinkedIn. You’re hardly likely to be a natural fit as social media manager for a teen fashion business on Instagram.

But you could be an ideal fit as a social media manager for a professional services business on LinkedIn or Facebook.

Start with the channels you’re already comfortable with. You can always expand into other channels as opportunities arise.

Which Social Media Channels Are Most Popular With Marketers?

Marketers know which channels are the most effective. They know which channels give them the best return on their advertising spend.

This is valuable information. Use it when choosing the most suitable social media channels to pursue.

And here’s another valuable gem. According to HubSpot, 83% of marketers believe quality of posts is more important than quantity.

This is good news for you, a trained copywriter who specializes in social media. You have the skills (or you can easily learn those skills) to create high quality posts.

So, let’s go through five social media channels most favored by marketers.

1. Facebook

Nearly 80% of marketers bought paid advertising on Facebook in 2021. Of those, over 80% prefer using video marketing.

If your niche is writing Facebook video ad scripts, you’ll be in demand. In fact, the sheer scale of Facebook means there’s opportunity everywhere. Here are a few more:

• Managing social media accounts for business.
• Writing ad copy.
• Creating content schedules.
• Developing and managing marketing schedules.

Now, here’s why you need to know where marketers are spending their money …

2. Twitter

Twitter ranks 15^th on the list of most popular social media channels with users. According to StatusBrew, it has 363 million active users.

Yet nearly 80% of marketers plan to continue investing in Twitter Spaces in 2022, according to HubSpot. Marketers have learned which social media channels work best for their advertising spend. So they continue to use these channels.

Clearly Twitter is one of these, despite being 15^th on the list of most popular channels (based on active users).

3. Instagram

Instagram is another favorite for marketers. With 2/3 of users aged under 35, companies targeting younger demographics need to be active on Instagram.

90% of Instagram users follow one or more business profiles. And over 100 million users watch live videos every day.

What does this mean? Instagram is excellent for creating brand awareness and an engaged audience.

It’s a highly visual medium, so visual quality is crucial along with engaging captions. Great news for copywriters like you!

4. YouTube

According to Alexa, YouTube is the second most popular search engine after Google. Nearly half the marketers surveyed by HubSpot plan to use YouTube for the first time in 2022.

That’s a huge market if you choose to become a video script writer!

And don’t forget the paid ads. Just about every video has at least one ad … and someone needs to write the ad copy. It might as well be you.

5. LinkedIn

In professional circles, being active on LinkedIn is virtually essential. Professionals use LinkedIn to:

• network,
• keep up with industry trends,
• search for jobs,
• find products and services,

 … and more.

The Content Marketing Institute uncovered a surprising fact. B2B marketers get the best results with organic content marketing on LinkedIn. The longer the content, the better it performs on LinkedIn.

Can you see the opportunity here as a content writer (articles and blog posts) for B2B marketers on LinkedIn?

How Do Companies Use Social Media?

We said earlier, companies which are successful on social media understand that social media is a social medium.

It’s a place where people interact.

On a website or in a newsletter, companies control the message. But on social media, users control the message. The success of social media depends on users interacting, contributing, and feeling like they’re a part of a group.

Smart marketers learned a crucial lesson, waaay back when social media marketing was starting out …

Users don’t like companies selling at them. And they particularly dislike companies who try to control the message on social media.

But even now, you’ll still see businesses using social media to push their products or services. Their time would be better spent building a community.

On the other hand, smart marketers understand what their users want. Done properly, social media is a powerful marketing channel.

Social media marketing has evolved into way more than a place for companies to promote their services or to build a loyal following.

Customer service is one example.

Rather than contacting a company through their Contact Us page on their website, people now use social media instead.

Many users see social media as the go-to place for customer service. Nearly two thirds of people expect companies to offer customer service on social media, according to StatusBrew.

Even more startling, nearly 80% of people expect companies to respond within a day when they contact a company through social media.

Yet less than 25% of companies respond, according to HubSpot.

This is a huge opportunity for you as a social media manager. You can be the one who monitors their social feeds and responds quickly … or you can manage others to do this on your behalf.

How Do I Learn the Skills?

AWAI offers a comprehensive training course on social media, called How to Make Money as a Social Media Marketing Expert.

It’s run by digital marketing expert Nick Usborne. Nick will teach you all the skills you need to succeed as a social media marketer.

Most importantly, it eliminates the fear we all feel when starting a new venture. By the end of Nick’s course, you’ll have both the skills and the knowledge to pitch your services with confidence.

Proven Ways to Get Started

Nick Usborne’s course runs you through a series of proven ways to get started …

• what to say when talking to a potential client,
• what questions to ask,
• how to find clients

 … and a whole lot more.

One of the easiest ways to get started? Look in your own backyard.

What local small businesses might need your services? Look around. There are:

• Hair salons,
• Beauty salons,
• Cafes,
• Restaurants,
• Landscapers,
• Plumbers,
• Builders,
• Doctors,
• Dentists,
• Small trucking companies,
• Rural supply stores,
• Motor mechanics,

 … plus dozens more.

Small businesses simply don’t have the time to manage their social media channels effectively.

Talk to almost every small business, and the conversation invariably goes like this, “I know I should be doing X, Y, and Z on [insert social media channel here]. But I don’t have the time”.

Offer to manage their social media for them. Take the load off their shoulders, offer to help them out. They’ll thank you for it.

This is an ideal way to get your foot in the door. And who knows. You might enjoy it so much, you’ll become the go-to small business social media manager in your hometown!

Social Media, A World Of Choice and Opportunity

Social media is an incredible opportunity for copywriters. You can be writing:

• Captions and headlines for posts,
• Short, punchy ad copy,
• Long-form articles for channels like LinkedIn,
• Video scripts,

 … plus, a whole lot more.

You can manage social media channels for a business. Or you can manage their entire social media account.

Or step up to the next level and become their go-to social media strategist. You’ll call the shots, guiding their entire social media strategy for the next 12 months or more.

Social media keeps growing and developing every day. And we’ll continue to see this through 2022.

If you want to be part of an exciting, dynamic medium, then social media is the place to be.

What questions do you have about social media marketing or social media in general? Share with us in the comments below.