It’s 2017 and our dependency on technology is at its highest. It helps us in our everyday lives. And with social media helping us stay connected, technology gives us a boost in enhancing that connection. Considering how time consuming keeping up our social media is, we can thank automation tools. With automation tools, we can schedule months-worth of social media, leaving us with more time to run our businesses.
However, too much of anything could go wrong for you. The entire point of social media is to be social. And how social are you if automation tools are running your platforms for you? You definitely want to keep your customers interested and feeling like an actual human being is paying attention to your social media interactions.
Don’t fret! There is a way to use automation tools without ruining your social media reputation. Read on to learn how.
Plan before vacations. While you’re vacationing, you definitely won’t have the time to socialize online, but everyone else keeps going. Use automation tools to schedule enough posts to keep your audience and followers engaged.
Fill up your calendar. Always make sure that you’re delivering the same amount of content on your platforms no matter the situation. This can be tricky. But many automation tools allow you to view your posts daily, weekly, and even monthly. You can see on a monthly calendar where you may be lacking in posts. Repurpose older posts that generated good traffic for you to keep things going when you’re not as readily available to share.
Some automation tools can estimate the best times to post. This can be helpful, especially when trying to grow your following. These tools use a specific algorithm that will post your statuses when most people will be reached.
For everything, there is a healthy balance. Now that you know the right things to take advantage of with automation tools, here are things you should NOT do.
Avoid Automatic Direct Messages. While it is convenient for you not to have to respond to each message individually, it has never been proven as useful. If anything, it makes you look like spam, and very unattached to your social media.
Change up your message across the board. In other words, don’t post the same status for Facebook and Linkedin. Change the message to the audience you are addressing. Facebook is more of a sales tool, nowadays, while Linkedin is geared more towards the business world.
Read what you post. Check your grammar and make sure that the content you are posting is appropriate to the social media platform you’re scheduling on. Some automation tools generate article links for you so you don’t have to worry about spending so much time reading and searching for the right content. However, the automation tool might accidentally post an article that doesn’t coincide with your own content.