I have been talking with people about social media a lot lately. There is a lot of confusion and frustration about what to do and what not to do when it comes to social media.
Recently, I participated in Michele Price's #SpeakChat on Twitter. The topic was on the social media mistakes that speakers make.
While Michele focuses on speakers in her chat, the tips she shared are excellent for many other industries.
Quite a bit of conversation happened around social media automation and the benefits of automating. Today, I'll share a few of those mistakes as well as some thoughts on how you can get things in line.
Setting the Framework for Automation
Have a Social Media Plan
According to stats shared by emarketer, only 24% small business operate on social media with any type of plan or strategy. Start with a plan!
Randomly posting, tweeting and sharing manually or with automation will not be effective for your business.
Automating Everything is Not a Good Plan >> Plan to Engage
We help our clients get automation in place, but only when and where it makes sense. Social media is first and foremost interactive! Many people lose sight of that.
The automation strategy that you put in place needs to enhance your ability to engage people.
Don't want to engage? Maybe social media is not the right marketing method for you.
I have been blessed to connect with people all over the world via talking on social media. Those connections have resulted in:
- Getting to know and love people on a deeper level
- Newspaper and magazine articles
- Interviews on the radio and in teleseminars
- Joint venture partnerships
- Referrals
- Clients and customers!
“To deliver consistent engagement you need to practice three things well: Listening – Asking – Responding – Now that sounds simple AND you would be surprised how many miss this one. To improve consistency – schedule time to engage daily – 10-15 30 min you decide – something is better than nothing.” ~Michele Price
Engaging is MORE Than Publishing Content.
Automating Your Content
One way to deliver consistent beginnings to engagement and NOT be on social media all day every day is through automation.
My followers are often online when I am speaking or working privately with a client. Yet, because I automate my content delivery, engagement can begin.
People retweet, like, share, comment (I love comments because we can engage!) and otherwise interact with me through the content that I automate.
When I log in later that day, I can continue the conversation.
What You Can Automate
Start by looking at the plan that you created and identify the types of content that would support your plan. What content have you created that is “evergreen” or content that is valid even if it was created a while ago?
- Blog posts
- YouTube Videos
- Images
- Tips
- Quotes
- Articles
- White Papers
The list is truly endless. Tomorrow I'll talk a bit more about content.
When to Publish
Each platform and each audience on that platform has an ideal time.
There are a number of different posts available that share various philosophies on what the right time of day is for sharing on social media. If you like diving into the data, click the link and you'll get loads.
I use a tool called Crowdbooster to help me identify the best times for my audience.
But here's the thing, social media is 24/7. It is not a meeting with a begin/end time.
Posting Timing
What is the importance of consistency of timing? I think that depends on the platform you are talking about.
Couple of examples:
On twitter, I am posting around the clock. I have people all over the world that follow me and for some of them it is working hours even when I'm asleep. My automation is set up to post different types of content at different frequencies.
My blog (which is considered social media) is a totally different story. I have learned that my audience likes consistency of time and day. So, I publish a post M/W/F around 7 AM CST. Automation is used here too because at 7 AM I'm walking our dog and my son to his bus stop for school. I can serve my audience and still be a connected mom – both are important to me.
Early in my social media automation I had the same number of updates going out across all platforms (twitter, linkedin, facebook, etc.) I quickly heard from my linkedin and facebook connections that I was posting way too often.
If you are not sure, ask and look at your metrics. What times of day do you get more likes, retweets, comments, shares, etc.? See a trend over time? Adjust your publishing to those times.
Next Actions
If you are a speaker and would like to see the full transcripts of the #speakchat, you can find them here: http://storify.com/donnking/speakchat-for-10-sept-2012-5-social-media-mistakes
If you want help getting a solid automation strategy in place, let's talk!
Do you Automate Your Social Media?
What do you do?
To your social media success!
Until we talk again,
Live Fully — Love Openly — Laugh Often — Leverage Your Brilliance — Connect Authentically — Get Your Message Out — Serve with Impact — Prosper Everyday
michele price says
Interestingly enough, I see too many wanting to handle tactical questions like automation, before they even have a strategy in place.
Kinda like putting a herd of sheep in front of your car before you drive down the windy road.
How many are taking actions and implementing still without that solid foundation – oh yeah we saw in the stats from emarketer 76%. What does that say about business decisions today? Hmmmmmm
Thanks Stephanie for addressing one of those burning questions.
Stephanie LH Calahan says
All business tactics should be tied to a strategy! I see the same thing with some of the people that I talk with as well. Thanks Michele.