Administrative Assistant's Update

5 Administrative Assistant's UPDATE Should you automate social media posts? Here are the risks and the rewards By Leslie Hughes Scheduling and automating your posts on social media can be a time saver; it can also be very risky. THE RISKS Each automation tool (Hootsuite, Buf- fer, SocialOomph, IFTT) has its own quirks and so does each social media channel. You'll have to make sure you test a few configurations to see if the automation tool works with the chan- nels you use. Error messages: One risk with the incompatibility between tool and channel includes when the end user sees error messages instead of the post itself. Algorithm and reach: Depending upon which article you read, Face- book's algorithm may or may not suppress posts that have been shared by a third-party automation tool. You have to pay attention to your metrics to determine if these tools make a dif- ference in whether or not your posts are reaching your target audience. Bad timing and potential public relations crisis: You may pre-schedule a post that appears insensitive due to poor timing. For example, I almost posted an article entitled "Testimonials are the HOTTEST Social Proof" on the same day wildfires were spreading across Fort McMurray. Posting this blog, along with an image of flames, would not have been good for my brand and I may not have thought to remove this post from automatically updating itself in the automation tool. Forgetting to engage: Ultimately, while some scheduling tools can be a time-saver, you can't "set it and forget it." I've found that when I've automated posts, I'll forget to log in and actually engage with my audience. Social media has the word "social" built right into it; you need to be having conversations and not just pushing out your messages. THE REWARDS The ultimate time-saver: Auto sched - uling can save you a lot of time. Once you've built your content calendar, you can schedule posts to be shared throughout the day, and even when you aren't in the office. Posts can be optimized by date and time: Some automation tools such as Buffer can optimize the best time for your posts to be sent to your social networks for the best engagement and reach. (Which takes out a lot of the guesswork for you!) Send one message to many channels: While this is great in theory you must remember "one size does not fit all." Each site has a different purpose, and you should tailor the content and the timing specifically for each audience. For example: • Facebook content should be friendly and conversational. • Twitter is limited to 140-characters and is hashtag-friendly. Twitter also prefers multiple messages per day for optimum exposure. • LinkedIn is the business network; keep content professional. • Instagram is a visual-based platform and uses many hashtags. I personally prefer to be organic and do not schedule my posts. I do develop a content calendar in advance, but take the time to publish each update separately so that I can remember to engage in two-way conversation with my network. Whether you use an automated tool or prefer to publish organically, you always want to say "thank you" when people comment on your posts. Even though we are connecting computer- to-computer, if someone takes the time to comment on your posts, you'll want to let them know you care. Leslie Hughes was called a "Social Media Guru" by CBC Radio and has been working in digital marketing since 1997. She is a LinkedIn optimization specialist, professor of social media, corporate trainer and principal of PUNCH!media. PUNCH!media clients include The Children's Wish Foundation of Canada, Guardian Life Insurance Company of America and TVO. www.punchmedia.ca (sign up for weekly newsletter) leslie@punchmedia.ca Leslie Hughes CREATE. CONNECT. CONVERT. A new book by Leslie Hughes. 25 lessons on how to own your value and build a positive presence using social media (without bragging) Through tools such as LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, blogging and more, communicate with your target audi - ence to build thought leadership and convert clients. $25.95 Order at www.punchmedia.ca

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