Social Media Copywriting for Small Hanoi Businesses

Immediately after my decision to pursue freelance writing, one of the first things I did in order to build up a portfolio was to offer to write social media posts for small restaurants in Hanoi, where I currently live.

I didn’t charge, as the work was almost effortless and they are small, relatively unknown businesses in a developing country. I also had no previous experience so was in no position to request a fee.

PIZZA Firewood, Hanoi

I wrote a social media post for this small pizza delivery restaurant in Hanoi. In the expat district of Tay Ho, there are a large number of Western restaurants, so it’s difficult for a pizza place to stand out. The owners of PIZZA Firewood lack the English ability to be able to effectively advertise on social media, despite being an underrated favorite amongst many in the local community.

I contacted them and offered to write a short post to boost their presence on social media. The post received a lot more engagement than their previous content.

As you can see, my copy garnered more attention and engagement.

Grills & Gravy, Hanoi

Another small business that I helped in Tay Ho was an Indian and Pakistani restaurant. I noticed that their social media content’s reception wasn’t reflective of the potential customer engagement they could be having. There is a big consumer base for cheap Indian food here, yet only a few restaurants cater to that market. I reached out to the owner and after looking through their previous posts, I wrote some content for their Facebook that properly represented their brand.

After the success of my first post for them, the owner requested my services again to add in extra information, about discounts and veggie options. Unfortunately this was back in March and the Facebook group has since been deleted, so the images are low quality screenshots from that time.

As you can see from the (somewhat blurry) screenshots, user engagement greatly increased once they had some professionally written copy. The business appreciated the consultation and the content and it attracted more customers through a lot of sharing.

Jason Law