There are plenty of apps for scheduling social media updates and posting your social media updates, but for actual RESULTS, there’s no substitute for writing and posting social media updates yourself, in real time.
That said, I see see the value of apps with the ability to publish to multiple social media channels at the same time.
For example, I can go on an app, drop a link, maybe a photo and publish to several social media sites at the same time. Awesome!
But then, an amazing thing happens… people, across the world, actually Like, Reply, Ask Questions and even (never happened to me but larger corporations have outsourced employees, in different time zones to handle it) Wage Complaints! at all hours!
So what happens if you and your team are fast asleep? And you’re on a different time zone!
The commenters have to wait hours for emotional validation, in the case of blogs and tweets, they want response and validation, in the case of corporate gripes, they want resolution, and you don’t always have a team in India, or the Philippines, on an alternate time zone, working all night.
So, all those things that make social media addictive and trigger our pleasure responses are out the window.
They’ll feel let down… waiting for a reply – NOW!
WHERE’S MY REPLY? WHAT’S GOING ON?
Even if you use one of these apps during your waking hours, that’s OK, but make sure to monitor replies, responses and questions, complaints…
Real-time interaction – IS THE KEY! But you’re not always available. You have a life, right?
You have a life?
At Supercool Creative Agency, we’ve experimented with Hootsuite, Buffer, Sprout Social, IFTTT. SocialOomph, TweetDeck, Tweepi, SocialFlow… and all the other robot programs that schedule, and spew to multiple social media channels – and some lend analytics.
For the record, so far, my favorite is Sprout Social. They just seem to have it together.
So, schedule night and day and you’re social media count will go up, but then what?
It’s like sending a robot to a cocktail party to pretend they’re you, except they know nothing about you, so they have to wait until you get back to actually have a conversation with the real people, as you.
Marketing is like that Hot Dog cart guy, just telling you that he has hotdogs. If he’s clever, he’ll tell you why his hot dogs are better.. and launch “The CRAZY Hot Dog Truck” with the marketing incentive of “Do something crazy and get a dog”
The hot dogs are still the same hot dogs. They’re just “crazy” hot dogs.
Point: If your goal is to simply advertise, then schedule away!
I’ve done it – I scheduled blog posts to go up every hour, 24 hours a day. It increased website traffic, but not as many sales as you would think.
We were OUT THERE but the market wasn’t responding.
Once we started posting to social media and CREATING CONVERSATIONS – the magic and money happened.
If you’re goal is to create conversations and conversions, then BE PRESENT.
In THIS WORLD – not even the world that existed when these apps were created, people respond in real time, across the WORLD – in all time zones – and if you don’t get right back to them they instantly sniff out that you’ve auto-posted, or think you don’t care, or never see your reply that comes in 7 hours later.
That said, I hate when people present a problem without a solution. So I’ll do it.
So here GOES:
Post every hour, or every two hours, or every day or whenever you have anything interesting to say!
Use app tools like Sprout Social, Hootsuite, Buffer, IFTTT. SocialOomph, TweetDeck, Tweepi and SocialFlow to:
– Post to multiple channels at once
– Get analytics and tracking info
– Measure the success of your posts
– Repeat what works!
SO WHAT If YOU’RE NOT AVAILABLE TO POST OR RESPOND?
A > maybe you shouldn’t be posting… then. If you’re working internationally, make it clear when you and your social media team are available.
I’m up late sometimes, and other times I’m not. Should I and my company, Supercool Creative Agency be posting at all hours, but leaving people hanging? Probably not.
B > try scheduling through social media apps, but in my experience it’s hit or miss. Make sure you’re readers / viewers know that you exist where you exist, and that you’ll get back to them, when you have time to get back to them.
A lot of them, most of them, especially those in video marketing and social media marketing, would consider that unacceptable.
C > Post when you’re present, and available for conversation so the reader of your social media update, in different time zones, doesn’t have to wait 3-12 hours for you to reply.
D > Hire remote, offshore freelancers to reply – although in most cases they won’t have all of the answers until you get back to the office.
The world moves fast now. Don’t just vomit content.
Need help with your video, creative and and CONTENT MARKETING? Contact Supercool Creative Agency!