CMEI posts social media updates following best practices for targeting audiences and garnering engagement. Review guidelines for using SI to optimize or create content. And always adhere to CMEI’s writing style guide and requirements.
The Hook
Lead with a clear, audience-focused hook that quickly conveys why it matters. State the impact of the post from the audience’s perspective rather than starting with organizational context. Use first person (we/our) as the subject instead of using office or department names.
Avoid starting a post with “Recently”, “This week”, “Last month...” Instead, hook with an outcome and summarize later.
Hooks can:
- Lead with the outcome/stakes.
- Incorporate numbers.
- Ask a question.
- Be short.
- Use acronyms defined later.
- Include emojis strategically, but only at the beginning or end of a sentence.
- Note important names up front.
Example:
Before
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation (CMEI) today selected 17 U.S. National Laboratory projects for $29.5 million in funding to accelerate the development of innovative technologies that expand and improve America’s domestic mining capabilities.
After
$29.5M for 17 National Lab projects. The goal? Strengthen America’s domestic critical minerals and mining capabilities.
The Body
Follow a clear formatting using a strong opening line, numbered lists, line breaks, and a low friction ask or question. Keep in mind there are several formatting limitations, including bulleted lists, bold, italics, headlines, and different font sizes.
Use plain language, and keep the body content brief and skimmable. To do this, you could:
- Write for your audience. Make it clear who did what.
- Use short sentences (a maximum of 16 words) and short paragraphs (one to two sentences).
- Consider using SI tools to help simplify your content.
- Use familiar words and avoid unnecessary jargon, long word or phrases, or acronyms.
- Keep the body content short.
- Direct audience to a link that has more information.
- Avoid ampersand (&) symbols and replace them with “and”.
- Tag sparingly, as excessive tagging can actually reduce visibility and trust.
Reference the CMEI Comms Reference Resources and CMEI Communication Materials checklists on SharePoint for grammar and writing styles specifically used in social media writing.
The Call to Action
Calls to action include: Learn more, Read more, Explore, Apply
Consider what you want your audience to do. For instance, ask for comments: “What made you join the critical minerals and materials industry? Let us know in the comments!”
Avoid using “click here” link text as it confuses screen readers and also hurts SEO. Search engines use link text to understand what the destination page is about. “Click here” offers no descriptive text or context.
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