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Social Media Automation and why it’s a good idea for small business owners

• 6 min read
#automation#Marketing#Smallbusiness#SocialMedia

Social media automation is a way that your small business can use tools and software to automatically schedule and post content on social media, saving you time and resources that would otherwise be spent posting by hand.

Let’s face it, social media is exhausting, and distracting. As a small business, you might have a great plan to post on social media, but it comes at a cost. At the end of your busy day, the last thing you want to do is post online. Also, it’s plain exhausting trying to think of content, while you’re bombarded with content.

There’s heaps of social media automation tools, for all types of businesses – some examples:

Why is social media automation a good idea?

As a small business, using automation means:

  1. It’s quicker: Automating social media tasks frees up time and resources that can be better spent on other areas of the business.
  2. It’s consistent: Automation tools allow businesses to schedule posts in advance, ensuring a consistent flow of content even when the business owner is unable to post manually.
  3. Improved reach: By automating posts, businesses can reach a wider audience as they are able to post more frequently without having to spend extra time on social media.
  4. Better analytics: Many automation tools also provide analytics and reporting capabilities, which can help businesses track the performance of their social media campaigns and make informed decisions about future content.

But you shouldn’t automate everything!

It’s important to note that while social media automation can be a useful tool for small businesses, it should not be used to the exclusion of manual posting and engagement.

It’s still important to respond to comments and messages from customers and to post fresh, relevant content in real-time to maintain a strong presence on social media.

What’s some good examples?

Imagine you run a hairdressing salon or stylist. There are many ways that a salon can use social media automation to improve it’s customer experience and engagement. Think about:

  1. Scheduling posts in advance: A salon can use social media automation to schedule posts promoting their services, such as haircuts, coloring, or styling. This can help make sure that the salon’s social media accounts are active and engaging even when the owner is unable to post manually. Which is all the time when you’ve got your hands full, with clients.
  2. Promoting special offers or discounts: Automation tools can be used to schedule posts promoting special offers or discounts on services, encouraging customers to book appointments or try new services.
  3. Sharing user-generated content: Automation tools can be used to schedule user-generated content, such as photos or reviews from satisfied customers. This can help build trust and credibility for the salon.
  4. Providing customer support: Automation tools can be used to schedule responses to frequently asked questions or to provide information about services and policies. This can help free up time for salon staff to focus on other tasks.

An excellent example is Facebook and Instagram Messenger have auto responders which can help you manage FAQs with your customers automatically.

How to setup auto replies on Instagram Direct

Instagram Direct is a feature of the Instagram app that allows users to send private messages, photos, and videos to other users or groups of users. Instagram Direct is separate from the main feed and allows users to have one-on-one or group conversations with their friends or followers.

Essentially Instagram Direct is the ‘Inbox’ but for business accounts, it does so much more and can help you automate a lot of your customer service and sales enquiries.

Instagram Direct is a useful feature for businesses because it allows them to connect with customers in a more personal way and provide personalized customer service. It can also be used to promote products or services, or to gather feedback and insights from customers.

The below feature is only available for business and creator accounts on Instagram.

You can add, delete or edit your Instagram Direct frequently asked questions and your automated responses at any time.

To set up frequently asked questions on Instagram or Facebook:

Access business.facebook.com and at the top you will see a button labelled ‘Automations’.

Next, you will be presented with a few different options, including Frequently Asked Questions.

Using the FAQs feature, you can automatically reply to customers without lifting a finger.
Customers will be happy that they got the answer they needed, immediately.

What about automated and scheduled posts?

It’s not just about replying to customers, but also creating content. A lot of customers consume social media during the hours that you’re not working. Think about 5am – 8am when they wake up, and 9pm – midnight just before going to bed.

The best way to give customers fresh content after hours is to use automation.

If you own a retail brand, that’s closed in the evenings (of course), then you could try some of these automation techniques to deliver content to your customers after-hours:

  1. Product promotions: Automation tools can be used to schedule posts promoting new products, sales, or discounts. These posts could include photos or videos of the products, as well as links to purchase them.
  2. Behind-the-scenes content: Automation tools can be used to schedule posts that give followers a behind-the-scenes look at the brand, such as photos or videos of the design process, photoshoots, or events.
  3. Customer photos: Automation tools can be used to schedule posts featuring photos or videos of customers wearing the brand’s products. This can help build trust and credibility for the brand.
  4. Industry news and trends: Automation tools can be used to schedule posts sharing news and trends from the fashion industry. This can help keep followers engaged and informed about the latest happenings in the industry.

What are some good tools to help with social media automation?

There’s a tonne of social media automation software. Actually, there’s too many. Which means there’s plenty of choice, at reasonable pricing. Some are even free.

The best way is to try a few different tools, see which works best for your business.

Here’s our recommendations, to help you get started:

What about live-streaming automation?

It’s not just about automating your photos and images into newsfeeds. If you’re live-streaming, there are automation tools to help you automatically stream to multiple services, all at once.

Restreaming services are platforms that allow users to stream video content from one platform to multiple platforms simultaneously. This can be useful if you want to reach a wider audience by streaming your content on multiple platforms at once.

Some of the best features of restreaming services include the ability to stream to multiple platforms at once, the ability to customize the look and feel of the stream, and analytics and reporting tools to track the performance of the stream.

It’s important to note that while restreaming services can be a useful tool, they should be used with caution. Some platforms have specific rules and guidelines for restreaming content, and users should be sure to familiarize themselves with these rules to avoid any issues. So be mindful to try before you buy.
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