{"id":12076,"date":"2019-05-03T10:48:38","date_gmt":"2019-05-03T10:48:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/?p=12076"},"modified":"2023-10-07T17:34:29","modified_gmt":"2023-10-07T16:34:29","slug":"writing-in-plain-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/writing-in-plain-language","title":{"rendered":"Writing in plain language"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWe are very hesitant to admit any mistake on behalf of the company so we will use lots of big and unnecessary words and language to acknowledge we know we messed up but we\u2019ve been told by our lawyers, we can\u2019t say sorry.\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n

How many times have you seen similar wording on social when brands are attempting to apologise for a mistake? Our natural instinct is to retreat behind the corporate statement, without thinking about how will this resonate with the audience. (And the company lawyer has advised you not to say sorry as you will be seen to admit guilt.) During a crisis, it is vital that the social broadcast messages portray that companies are taking responsibility for the situation and show empathy with those affected.<\/span><\/p>\n

When experiencing a crisis, take the press statement or key messaging and give it to your social team so it can socialise this content, ie: change the words to make it more human and sound genuine and applicable for social. Your press statement will be applicable to the media, but tends to be longer, uses different language, with more facts and figures. On social, it is about bite-sized, easily digestible content.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are some common phrases used by brands when apologising on social, instead of using plain English to convey the message;<\/span><\/h3>\n