But is more automation always a good thing?
Social media automation helpssocial mediamanagers be more efficient in their job.
you’re free to bulk-schedule your content.
you’re able to cross-post quickly and easily.
With a bit of code, you’ve got the option to probably do a whole lot more.
It’s free, every week, in your inbox.
Lets dig deeper into a few of them.
Most importantly, they have different cut-off points or preview windows for the captions you write.
It is your first and foremost chance to grab a passing readers attention!
Consequently, your content may attract people on some platforms, but not on others.
Dont let it do that to the content youve put lots of time and effort into creating.
Usernames
More often than not, the same accounts username varies slightly across different platforms.
By cross-posting everything, you risk not tagging some of the people you meant to on certain platforms.
Directly involving others in your social posts is one of the most surefire ways to get noticed.
double-check you do it right!
Hashtag best practices
Its easy to assume that hashtags are well encouraged across all social media platforms.
And on Facebook, posts without hashtags actually fare better!
Format and features
The format and features of posts from platform to platform also differ slightly.
On LinkedIn, you could publish articles.
Currently, none of the existing social media tools support scheduling these forms of content.
So if you rely on scheduling, you are actually limiting the types of content you produce.
There are also different optimal media dimensions, file sizes, and video length limits across platforms.
Your content is paired with an ill-fitting image.
Arbys social media team probably knew that when they tweeted Pharrell during the Grammys (and got a reply!
Of course, you’re able to schedule some posts.
But to fully optimize your content, posting organically is still required.
They want brands to be honest, funny, friendly, and helpful, to name a few.
AsNeil Patelputs it, they want something real.
Today, users want real interactions with real people that form real connections.
They know when its a Twitter bot, and they dont want that.
This means that it is crucial for you, a human, to engage on social media.
Other than giving your audience what they want, engagement also comes back to help you.
How will automation help you here?
You cant just rely on bulk scheduling content and leave it at that.
After all, its what users want.
Wendys isnt even the only one.
Scheduling posts and leaving them is fine because youre not missing out on anything anyway.
The answer to that is: are you planning to stay that way?
Because heres another thing automation wont do for you.
Automation will not open up opportunities
Starting off, Wendys-level engagement may seem like a distant dream.
However, it is definitely not impossible.
Make friends on social.
Show your work to others who you think would enjoy them.
Social is social its not meant to be conquered alone.
Just check that that whatever youre saying adds value.
Second, it’s crucial that you do some research.
For example, look up the keywords you are targeting.
Are you using the terms people search for?
Go through what other players in your industry are doing.
Take on Reddit and search up relevant threads.
Get the opinion of your colleagues, or take your research a step further and ask your customers.
Research should be the foundation of your social strategy.
By doing this, you might get ideas on how to improve your content, copy, and cadence.
You might find people you could potentially collaborate with.
Youll get both inspiration and lessons, and youll gain something new.
Just to be clear, Im not saying Drop all your social media automation tools now.
They do help speed up work.
What Im saying is dont rely on it.
Simply cross-posting, bulk-scheduling, and then forgetting about your posts is not enough.
You still need to put in the time to use and learn social media organically.
So know what to automate, but realize that you yourself also need to get involved.
Overreliance on these tools takes away the time-tested success formula to social media being social as humans.
you’re able to read the original piecehere.
