The Dark Side of Social Media Automation

Social Networking

Social media automation can help us achieve more than constantly having to log in and out ever could, but there are downsides, too. The key word in social media is social, after all!

You Can’t Automate 100% of Your Social Media

Before you start any social media campaign, note that you can’t automate all of it. Sure, there may be individuals and companies who do, but they probably don’t get much response from their followers!

On social media, you really want engagement. You want to spark conversations, you want to get people talking about your business, product or brand, and you want to build relationships that could take your business further in the future.

You won’t achieve any of this if you’re treating social media as a one-way street. Social media needs back and forth conversation, so plan to login at least once a day.

You should also consider how many social networks you’re signed up for. If you can’t commit to them all, don’t try to! Just pick 3-4 main sites and work on building a really strong following there.

TIP: Set yourself a set time each day where you’ll login to reply to feedback. It could be two periods of fifteen minutes each – one in the morning and one in the afternoon – or you could do it all in one go. Just make sure you do it regularly enough so that you can always reply in good time.

Watch Your Social Media First Impression

When it comes to getting people to follow you, your first impression counts. Sure, many people will just hit like or follow without looking at your profile, but most followers will come from your profile page.

If your profile page is obviously full of automated posts then that really isn’t a good look. Think about what you would do if you went onto someone’s profile and all you saw were auto-tweets from someone promoting their own site or product. You’d probably hit the X on that tab and never become a follower!

Dealing With Customer Complaints

Many big companies are now using social media to handle complaints. It’s a well-known fact that people are more likely to speak loudly about the bad experiences than the good ones. These days, many people simply take to social media to air their grievances.

What if your social media is completely automated? You simply won’t be around to get these customer complaints sorted! Now, big companies hire people specifically for dealing with customer complaints and questions. Your business might not be big enough for this, but you still need to be around to do some damage control and show your customers that you care.

Even if you don’t address complaints right away, being seen to address them within a timely manner can go a long way on social media.

Watch Your Timing

Sometimes you might have something scheduled in advance that ends up being posted on a bad day. For example, if a global tragedy has just occurred, you should be very mindful of what you post on social media that day. Instead of keeping all your automated posts going, login and either change or pause them.

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