Readability
Readability and Social Media Marketing: An Overview
Addressing readability in your social media content optimizes it for the greatest number of readers and can increase engagement and ROI.
Social media marketing can only be effective when it reaches and engages the target audience. So, addressing readability in social media marketing is key to ensuring audience connection.
Readability refers to how easily readers can understand written content, and the more social media marketers pay attention to it, the greater the potential return on investment (ROI).
A vital part of content marketing is building a connection with the audience and delivering content that attracts, informs, and engages.
Engaging the audience and providing helpful information helps a brand to build trust with potential customers — and readability is a key factor in driving that engagement.
When readers start to see a brand as a place to return to for content they value, trust, and enjoy, visitors start to become leads.
By making your content easy to read and understand for more readers, you also make it easier to connect with so the rest: brand awareness, conversion, and sales can follow.
There are several benefits to great readability in social media marketing.
A study by the Journal of Consumer Psychology (JCP) found that social media posts with high readability receive more likes, comments, and shares. The study evaluated three years of social media posts on Facebook and the results held true.
Research indicates that readable content is easier to understand, engage with, and share.
Broader reach goes hand-in-hand with the increased engagement of readable content. When your social posts are liked, commented on, and shared more frequently, your reach expands.
Audiences have varying reading levels and degrees of English language comprehension. Optimizing readability makes your content more easily understandable to a diverse audience.
Specific metrics can be tracked to measure the return on investment (ROI) of any content marketing. Among these are audience growth, engagement metrics, reach, and clicks. By sharing social media posts with high readability, an increase in these metrics can create an environment for a boost in ROI.
All tips for great readability center around clarity, simplicity, and making things easy for the reader so they can enjoy the content rather than work to figure out what the message is!
Reading level score impacts the readability of social media posts, just as it does for other forms of content marketing.
The Journal of Consumer Psychology Study found that the average post was written at a level understood by most 9-year-olds. According to the study, “even minor changes to a message’s readability shape engagement.”
Keep in mind that the average reading level can vary by audience and content type. So, it’s best practice to research your audience before amending the reading level.
For instance, our Originality.ai Readability Study found that grade 12 was the best grade level to aim for when preparing content to rank in Google.
Clear, simple language impacts readability. So, use common words and avoid jargon.
While some vocabulary might need to be precise or industry-specific, make sure it is explained and easily understood.
A word about hashtags, links, and emojis in social media posts: if you use them, be mindful of accessibility best practices. The general idea is to use words and symbols easily understood by the greatest number of people in your audience.
While character limits on different social media platforms help to define overall post lengths, social media marketers still need to pay attention to how their words are strung together.
For the best readability in sentences, keep them at 15 to 20 words maximum, and use varied lengths for better flow.
Likewise, don’t give readers dense chunks of text that fill up the screen from edge to edge and are hard on the eyes.
If you have a longer post, break it up. Sections should not be longer than two to three sentences and should focus on one idea.
Avoid walls of text and consider using bullets in lists instead.
Passive voice is usually wordier and more challenging to read.
Consider this example of a subheading in a social post for the following headline — 25 Content Marketing Strategies for 2025:
The active voice is clearer and more engaging for your audience.
Together, these tips add up to a much better post with language that is clear, vivid, concise and well-organized.
You can — and should — still get creative and let your brand voice shine through. Readability sets the foundation for more people to be wowed by the creative social content you share!
Easily review the readability of your content with the Originality.ai Readability Checker.
Discover more ways to improve content readability with our top guides: