This blog is part of the August Thought Leader newsletter.
As I tried to figure out what to write for this month’s Thought Leader, it occurred to me that we’ve been talking a lot about AI and automation. Which is not surprising since it’s been in the news so frequently.
While AI hasn’t played a big role in our Marketing Solutions work—well, yet anyway—marketing automation is still a topic we evangelize about at every opportunity. And thinking about that reminded me of a well-received Thought Leader column I wrote in early 2022: How automating your social media can help boost your online presence. The information is just as pertinent today, so I sincerely believe it’s a message worth repeating.
That’s why this month, I’m updating that article where needed and running with it again. Because here in Marketing Solutions, one of our highest priorities is for you to get the word out about your firm—and this is still one of the best ways to do that.
Thanks for your indulgence,
Krista
Social media and the way businesses manage their social channels has changed significantly over the last few years. Few business owners—let alone marketing professionals—have the capacity to actively manage their social channels on a full-time basis.
Fortunately, there are automation tools designed to make social media management more efficient. From scheduling posts to sharing content, social media automation reduces time-consuming tasks, boosts team productivity and allows businesses to work with fewer resources.
First, let’s clarify what I mean by “automation.” Social media automation is using software or tools to automate specific tasks on social media platforms. Simply put, it helps businesses automate content publishing, schedule posts in advance and manage engagement time.
Here are three reasons to add social media automation to your marketing efforts:
- You’ll boost your online presence. Your online presence is critical for your firm’s success. However, the time and effort needed to manage multiple platforms has made it more challenging—if not impossible—for businesses to successfully keep up on all channels. That’s where social automation comes in. It allows you to schedule content in advance, like the content from the Rootworks Content Package (e.g., client magazines, eBooks, QuickReads articles), product and service promotional content, firm news and events, and other content unique to your firm.
- You’ll save time. Automation tools (which I’ll talk more about in a moment) help you make the most of your valuable time. Social media automation enables you to preschedule your posts and even automate responses to engagement with those posts, based on certain conditions.
- You’ll win likes and follows by staying consistent. Consistency is key to success in social media, and automation does the hard work for you. It isn’t easy to gain clients online without being consistent, but automation helps you maintain consistency across all social platforms. The only way for clients, prospects, referral sources and community members to follow you is if you post regular, engaging content. We recommend scheduling posts three or more times a week.
Choosing the right social media automation tool
You have several options when shopping for a social media management tool. Here at Rootworks, our Marketing Solutions team still uses Sendible. Their platform is as intuitive, robust and convenient as ever. They also have a great client service team, and the platform has several bells and whistles we like, including the ability to schedule a month’s worth of content in minutes, a built-in image editor and detailed analytics that give you dynamic insights into your social data.
The other gold-standard social media management tools remain the same: Hootsuite, Buffer and SocialPilot. There are even more players, both big and small, with a variety of specialties and capabilities, so I encourage you to take the time and do the research to find the platform that’s right for your firm; it will be worth the effort.
Automate. Engage. Succeed.
A social media management tool allows your firm to automate, engage and succeed by boosting your brand, growing your audience and strengthening your online presence in the social media arena. And remember that services like Rootworks Marketing Solutions are also out there, ready to help you take over the task of automation and help you boost your brand.