Automation in Managing Social Networks

If you are finding a bigger consumer base for your business, you cannot ignore social media marketing as people are spending more time on various social networks. I have personally experienced that social networking makes relationships more personal (Brand24). 

Social media marketing also builds brand loyalty and reputation. Businesses can also launch services and products and reach out to a wide base at an affordable price.

With so many advantages, it is no surprise that 93.79% of businesses are already using social media. In the United States, 77% of small businesses use social channels for marketing, sales, and customer service.

Hence, diving deeper into to domain, let me tell you how you can excel at social networks with automation. 

Automation is the Key to the Effectiveness of the SMM Manager

Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and whatnot, there are plenty of social networks out there. Your business must be present on these platforms and manage accounts in the various networks. However, providing fresh content to them all and their management can be difficult and exhausting.

This is where social media automation can help.

Social media automation is the process of using tools to automate repetitive tasks, such as content publishing, scheduling, releasing regular reports, and tracking engagement.

The right tool can also engage with followers and carry out sentiment analysis at a deeper level. The Social Media Manager (SMM) can customize the tool to fit specific needs. Tasks such as content can be posted at optimal times, responses will be timely, and data will be continuously analyzed.

Here’s how automation will ease and improve the work of a social media manager – 

1. Manage several accounts in one place – It is much easier to craft, schedule, optimize, and automatically post content on various social media networks. The social media managers at your organization will also be able to manage an asset library, interact with the audience, generate reports, and study the analytics.
2. Maintain a consistent post schedule – Being consistent in posting is extremely necessary. In this case, automation will help create a calendar and schedule the posts, which will be automatically delivered across the channels. The schedule can be set to unplug during a vacation or weekend if needed.
3. Automated responses – Responding quickly to customer’s actions develops a positive image over the internet. Automated responses can deal with common interactions and queries that reduce the workload. Overcode, a software development company, paid special attention to ease of use and simplicity of the interface when developing a tool for an SMM manager. Simple automation tools can reduce an SMM manager’s labor costs by 15-20%.
4. Reporting and analysis – Automation platforms provide information on the audience engagement rate and behavior. The SMM can also find out the performance of various content types, which helps in refining the strategy.
5. Scalability – Managing different networks efficiently will become almost impossible as the business grows. An automation tool will facilitate scalability by managing a lot of content and interactions.

Tasks That Can Be Automated

Social media automation can manage many tasks without the need for continuous manual effort.

• Content planning and publishing – You can semi-automate content creation. Automation tools can curate content from different sources based on pre-defined topics and keywords. 
• Post scheduling – You can decide the days of the week and even the time when you want to publish the content. A smart automation tool will also tell you whether your audience is active on the platform to help you decide the best time for the posts.
• Republishing content – Brands that are busy on social networks often find it difficult to plan innovative and new content. Thus, marketers sometimes must republish, which means using curated content. 
• Analytics and reporting – Performance metrics like the click-through rate, engagement rate, and also the conversion rate on all the networks and posts. For instance, you will get reports on which posts are getting the most attention and the best engagement. You can then adjust your promotional strategy accordingly. Audience preferences and behavior can be provided by the analytics report.
• Comment and message management – The chatbot can provide product availability information and assist with order tracking. A high volume of comments and questions can be handled.
• Brand mention monitoring – It can manage and safeguard the brand’s reputation by scanning several networks automatically and highlighting all mentions of the brand name and its products or services. Adequate responses can then be framed.

Trends in the Development of Automation for Social Networks

Automation in social media has always been evolving since its inception. The trends are continuously evolving and changing dynamics. Here are the latest trends in the development of automation – 

1. AI-generated captions and images.
2. Compare metrics against the competition to understand the performance of the social media campaigns.
3. AI to analyze social network sentiments. Are the mentions neutral, negative, or positive?
4. Insights on current social trends.
5. RSS functionality that automates sharing articles.
6. A/B tests with the content.
7. Filters for city or zip code for campaigns targeting regional customers.

No business can ignore the social networks now. You need social media marketing even if you don’t sell online. The best way to manage the different networks is with automation. It makes the effort more efficient and also saves time. Follow the best practices and use the right automation tool to maximize results.