Social media was grinding you down – and deleting your apps has been the biggest relief. You didn’t spend a single day wanting to go back on it and actually dreaded going back. Yet you know you need to have some presence as a modern business owner, and you understand the benefits of growing your audience with the right people to facilitate the lifestyle you love.

It’s time to make your comeback – but how do you write a social media post after taking a break?

Returning to social media after a hiatus

After your mind-calming break, you want to go back online on a new footing and not go back to the way you were. In an ideal world, you’d say see ya to the doomscroll and hiya to healthy boundaries, connections, and balance.

So, as you redownload your app and the empty caption box glares back at you, what on earth are you going to say?

• Do you need to explain where you’ve been?
• Has anyone noticed?
• How honest should you be?
• And who are you as a newly boundaried person re-emerging to do things differently?

I know exactly how you feel.

Earlier this year, I was EXACTLY where you were. Things got on top of me, personal and professional stuff clashed and culminated in a mini meltdown, which resulted in me logging off socials for some headspace. I quickly wrote a ‘bye for now’ post, then deleted the Instagram and LinkedIn apps from my phone and felt instantly lighter.

A week turned into four and I felt SO much better after realising how much worse social media had been making things seem and feel. Coming off your socials doesn’t solve all your problems as I’m sure you know, but it absolutely contributed to my overall wellbeing during a period where soulless scrolling had become a factor in my mental fogginess.

So, rest assured, I get it. It’s that conundrum we all face, how do you stay visible without it robbing you of your headspace?

Well, that’s a question for another day, as I’m not 100% sure I’ve cracked it yet! But in the meantime, I can absolutely help you out when it comes to composing your comeback post.

Buckle up and let’s get into it – here are my eight tips on writing your first social media post after a break.

Don’t apologise

Number one in my book is this: DO NOT apologise for being off social media. You’re your own boss, so you don’t answer to anyone. You’re not playing truant because there are no rules – and however lovely your audience is, you don’t owe them an apology for logging off.

Respectfully, please know no one will have noticed or thought about your absence as much as you so it really isn’t that big a deal outside of your head.

Therefore, when drafting your comeback post, resist the urge to say sorry and remember your social media presence and activity levels are choices you’re allowed to make for yourself without explanation.

Be authentic 

Social media is about authenticity, and it was only when I started being my full self that my audience felt truly connected to me and I began to form genuine relationships there.

Now you’re returning to social media after a hiatus, don’t be afraid to be honest and authetic about why you took off in the first place and how you feel about coming back. Share as much or as little as you like in this regard, but know that honesty and vulnerability don’t make you unprofessional.

If you’re dreading it, be open and ask your audience if they ever feel the same – maybe they’ll share some insights and advice to help you on your way.

Invite connection

Remember, your social media and online presence isn’t all about you. You’re here to help people, so involve them in your return post and use it as an opportunity to catch up.

Post questions, ask what they want to see from you going forward, and think of it as a fresh start to build your audience and develop relationships with dream customers.

Choose your medium

Before you post a knee-jerk feed post to your Insta, have a little think about which type of content best suits what you want to say and how you’d like it to be received.

If you have a lot to share, writing a blog post is a great way to explore your thoughts and tips without a word limit.

The benefit of this is that you then have a large bank of content to repurpose across social media captions, Reels, emails, and more – your content strategy can then almost write itself for the month with so much to share in a multitude of ways.

After all, different people prefer different kinds of content, so consider how to spread and repurpose your message so it lands in front of the right eyes.

Have a purpose

What’s the point of this post, exactly? Are you making it because you feel you should, or because you have something you genuinely want to say or achieve?

Ahead of getting words on screen, think about what you want your audience to get or do from it.

• Do you want them to read your blog?
• Or check out your new group programme?
• Are you hoping they’ll sign up to your mailing list?
• Or book a discovery call?

Your post doesn’t have to be salesy to get them to do these things – quite the oppposite.

However, understanding what your purpose is allows you to dig into the emotive triggers that will encourage your audience to take that action and make the next step in their journey with your brand.

Tell a story

Storytelling is a powerful way to communicate with your audience – did you know it can boost conversion rates by 30%?

Set the scene and bring your following along for the ride.

It doesn’t have to be a tell-all about yourself – although it can be – you can also use storytelling to help your audience imagine themself in a common scenario, or share a customer story.

The way you do it is the main thing, playing on emotions, pain points, and those interesting details that bring a situation, issue, or solution to life.

Think ahead

Thinking beyond your initial comeback post is a smart way to return online after a social media break.

The first post is likely to be well received, but what happens after that?

Having a plan for what you’ll post and when moving forward will maintain that momentum and prevent you from burning out, coming to loathe that little app icon on your phone and finding yourself back at square one.

Do it your way

The most important thing to remember? There are no rules, so come back however you like.

You don’t have to announce why you went off social media for a week or six months, or explain yourself if you don’t feel comfortable doing so.

You could hit the ground running with your usual kind of content, or try something new and experiment with different ways of connecting – you don’t owe anyone anything, and as long as you keep bringing authentic value they’ll welcome you back and be glad it’s business as usual.

Or, you can pour your heart into a detailed caption full of your innermost thoughts, fears, realisations, and plans if you want to – it’s your social media after all, and YOU are your business.

So, you have carte blanche to be as open or closed as you please.

Get help organising your content writing

I know writing your own content and handling the marketing side of your business can feel like a complete time-suck. It’s a struggle to get your head round how to make sure it actually translates into results (like a consistent monthly income, pinch-me enquiries, and dream speaking opportunities landing in your inbox).

Many of my 1-1 content mentoring clients feel they’re great at writing, but less good at the strategy and organisational side of things, so it takes over their lives and they get absolutely nothing back.

Others have brilliant ideas racing around their minds, but writing doesn’t come naturally so they feel vulnerable putting content out there without professional input.

Either way, I’ve got your back! I’m now taking on 1-1 content mentoring clients in the coaching and wellbeing space to get you feeling in control, confident, and – dare I say – EXCITED about this side of your business! Think it’s impossible? Jump on a virtual coffee with me and see how you feel at the end – if we click, there are so many amazing things ahead for you and that business of yours.

Book your virtual coffee with me 🙂

You’ve heard market research is THE way to creep into your customers’ minds and live there rent-free. But how do you translate this newfound knowledge into powerful content writing that converts your audience into customers? Read on, my friend, and all will be revealed!

But, first things first.

What are the best types of market research for content ideas?

OK, so you’re an ambitious and knowledgeable coach or wellness business owner and you want to know more about how your ideal customer thinks and what they want to hear from you. Here are the best ways to do market research to get to the bottom of it and take the guesswork out of it.

Reviews and enquiries

Your reviews and enquiries are a GOLDMINE for insight into your customers’ pain points and how your services help them overcome obstacles in their life.

Look closely at what they say they need help with, how they describe what you do, and especially how they FEEL before, during, and after working with you.

Surveys

Market research surveys are an awesome and time-efficient way to poll many people all at once. So, if you have a database of existing or previous customers, send them a Google Form (or similar) to ask what brought them to you, what problem you solved, and how they sum up the feeling and experience of working with you.

No database? No problemo. Create the survey anyway then put it on your socials, ask your network to tag people in your niche, and/or send it to target customers you’d love to work with. As an incentive, you could offer a £5 Starbucks voucher or free/discounted service. Often, this is a great foot in the door and leads to future work once they experience what you can do. Win win!

1:1 interviews 

As fantastic as surveys are, your dream customer is likely to type a lot less than they’d actually say, so approaching existing or ideal customers to spare you 20 minutes for a survey is THE BEST way to do market research on your target audience.

Again, offer an incentive and note down or record their words – without the time to think before typing, they’ll express themselves much more emotively during these calls (I use Zoom to record and save) giving you so much amazing insight to work with.

How do you turn market research into content?

OK, so onto the nitty gritty, You have all this insight into your customers’ mindset, needs, and dreams. What now?

How TF do you use your market research to write social media posts, blogs, and emails that prompt them to rush to your DMs asking to book your high ticket offer?

Here are five simple steps to success.

1. Compile your data

First of all, you need to work out how you’re going to compile all this juicy data so it’s easily accessible and catalogued into a logical system to enable you to use it to for content ideas.

I love Trello for getting and staying organised, and it lends itself to compiling market research data and organising it into a content plan.

Group together categories of customer pain points and list different words they use to describe each problem. For example, if a major enemy for your target customer is imposter syndrome, you might list words they use to articulate this, like: comparisonitis, insecure, low self-esteem, unconfident, out of place, fraud, found out.

Gathering and viewing it all in one place will save you time trawling through research to create content, and give you a super clear perspective on the main obstacles you help your customers overcome.

2. Turn problems into content topics

Now you have all your data neat and clear, it’s time to use it.

Start by picking out a problem your customer is experiencing. This blog post was literally inspired by a response to a market research survey I sent out, for example. I asked what free resources my target customers would like to see, and one of them asked for advice on how to turn market research into content.

And hey presto!

Answering a problem you know your ideal customer is going through via your content is a highly targeted way of bringing value to your audience. You know for a fact that at least one person – and others like them – will already have an appetite to listen to what you have to say. It’s always better to be super specific in adding value for that one person in the confidence similar people will share the same problem, than creating generic content that excites no one.

3. Mirror your customers’ language

Pay VERRRRY close attention to the language your customers use to express how they feel now, how they felt when they worked with you (if applicable), and how they dream of feeling.

You may be using similar words or phrases to describe how you can help them, but by tweaking your language to mirror theirs you’ll tap into their exact feelings and experiences, and that’s when they begin to feel like you’re living inside their head.

Little changes to your language make a huge difference to how much it resonates with your audience. Say you’re a sobriety coach who talks about quitting alcohol, but your audience says “give up drinking”. Making that slight change in language is likely to make their eyes and ears prick up when they encounter your content as it’s literally a thought whizzing around their minds.

Sometimes the alterations are bigger. Many coaches, for example, talk about limiting beliefs, assuming their customers recognise this language. And while it’s kind of self-explanatory, if it’s not common parlance for your customer they’ll struggle to connect it to what they’re feeling.

So, instead of opening a social media post with: “Do you struggle to overcome limiting beliefs about yourself?”

Try drilling down into one specific example of a limiting belief, like: “Do you tell yourself you’d never make a good leader?”

4. Start with a blog then repurpose

My best advice for turning market research into content is this.

Start by addressing your customers’ biggest problem in a blog post, like this one.

Then, pick out sections, quotes, statistics, and bullet points from your blog to use as individual social media posts, videos, and emails. This way, you get down the maximum amount of information and value you have on this topic in the longest form piece of content – your blog – then save time on all the other types of content by pulling from your original blog post for inspiration.

5. Tell their story

During your market research, ask your customer to describe a typical scenario relating to the problem you solve. For example, how do you feel about your current job? Or, what happens when you think about trying a yoga class?

This gives you an insight into their thought process and allows you to turn it into a story that will be recognised by others going through the same thing.

Using the information they provide, use storytelling to paint the picture. So, if your research reveals your customer wakes up feeling anxious and overwhelmed before they’ve even got out of bed, you’d start your story like this: “6am. Your alarm goes off and before you even open your eyes properly you feel the anxiety and overwhelm building up at the prospect of another day in a job you hate.”

If you’ve been in this situation too, tell them. Show why you understand and explain how/why, before going into how you’ll help them break free of the situation that’s holding them back.

They’ve shared these specific insights with you, so use them to call out others in this situation and show how you have the answer to their challenges.

6. Sell the dream

Finally, always remember to sell the end result, rather than your services. Your services are the vehicle that will transport them from A to B, but they care less about what it entails and more about how they’ll feel at the end of the journey.

So, don’t spend too long explaining how your coaching sessions work or what’s involved. Instead, sell the benefits they’ll experience afterwards, like earning that promotion or payrise, pursuing their passion as a career, or discovering a new hobby that brings them joy and calm. Every time you mention your solution, use the “so what” factor to draw out the benefit of it.

For example, “Book your first yoga class to experience an hour devoted to YOU and your physical and mental wellbeing, bringing a slice of inner calm into your demanding life.”

Get support writing content that resonates with your clients

Got your market research but need a little extra help writing content that connect with your ideal client?

BE A CONTENT QUEEN is an online content writing course loved by coaches and wellness businesses. It’s self-paced so you learn at your own speed and develop your content writing confidence, clarity, and skills over six fun, practical, and relatable video sessions.

Abi, life coach and yoga teacher, said:

Are you feeling frustrated about your:

• Inconsistent, wishy-washy social media posts?
• Lack of confidence in your writing skills?
• Habit of tinkering away and never hitting publish?
• Permanent state of homeschool catchup/panic?
• General uncertainty around what your audience wants from you?

Sign up to Conquer Your Content Writing – online blog and social media content writing course for small businesses – here.