Telling the story of your company is very important. Lots of SaaS companies use social media for this. LinkedIn, Facebook and also Instagram are excellent distributors of your story. At TestingSaaS we use it lot.
But, beware! Users of social media are impatient. If a story is too dull, they click or swipe to the next one.
So you have to get your story told in a quick and amusing way.
And because social media, next to the graphics and videos, makes use of short texts, you need to know how to write these. Why not use the same technique as is used in writing short stories: the famous Iceberg Theory of Ernest Hemingway. No, you do not need to be chased by Spanish bulls or have to shoot an elephant. It describes Hemingwway’s writing style.
What is the Iceberg Theory?
Why is it called the Iceberg Theory?
Well, it’s really about the iceberg. When you look at an iceberg, what do you see? The top! The other bigger part is under the water, which you can’t see.
Hemingway adapted this in his story by omitting everything that did not contribute to the story. His opinion was the reader could interpret this themselves and further construct the story.
Hemingway mentioned the Iceberg Theory in his famous book about bull fighting ‘Death in the Afternoon’:
” If a writer of prose knows enough about what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of an ice-berg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water.”
For Hemingway, the actions of the characters should clarify the tensions felt in in the story, without explicitly mentioning them. Hemingway used his journalistic skills to accomplish this. Examples are the omission of adjectives and using short and crispy sentences.
The link with Social Media Writing
Awesome, but how is this related to telling my SaaS story on social media?
Social media stories are short and you have to use less words to tell your story. A great exercise for the Iceberg Theory. If you do it well, your story will be remembered by the reader who will then follow you for more stories. Voila, a follower.
In short, Hemingway’s Iceberg Theory is a great technique to promote your SaaS company, or any company, on social media.
Have a go! I’d love to hear your experiences.