Welcome to episode 325 of Hit the Mic with the Stacey Harris.
You know I’m all about making social simple, making it doable, and making it actionable. I want to talk about something that can get not just a bad rap, but also the positives can be over inflated. We’re going to talk about automated social media, specifically the three things I want you to know about automating your social media. This is one of those episodes I really, really want you to make sure that you’re doing what is aligned with you, what is aligned with your goals, and what’s aligned with your strategy. Automation and social media are one of those conversations that can just, it can get out of hand, and it can get out of hand fast. I want to sort of bring it back in, and talk about some fundamental things that I want you to know whenever you’re having those conversations in Facebook groups, with your biz BFF’s, your peers, your colleagues, or even total air quotes here, “Social media experts,” who may or may not actually be experts. Just saying, okay?
Whenever you hear advice around this make sure you’re sort of paying attention to these three things as you hear that advice, okay? That’s all. Let’s jump right in.
First thing I want you to know about automated social media is this, it’s not evil.
It really isn’t. I know, I’m sure that you thought I was going to start off with a whole other thing, but I really wanted to start off by saying, “It’s not evil, it’s not the end of the world.” It is simply a tool. It is a tool that can be used badly, and it is a tool that can be used really, really well. It’s a tool. It in itself is not good or bad, it’s all about how you use it.
Make sure that you understand the impact automating your social media has on the people who see your content. On your ideal clients, the people in your community, all of those people, that’s what you want to think about. That perspective. When you’re considering if you’re going to automate at all, or if you’re going to automate everything, or if you’re going to automate parts of your social media. By the way, there’s only one right answer to those three options, between those three options. Make sure you’re thinking about the impact it has overall, because that, that is where you get into sticky trouble. That is where you get into people feeling like maybe there’s a disconnect, or maybe not getting enough of you because you’re not putting out enough content. Maybe you’re feeling like you’re on social all of the time, but contents just not getting out. Factor that in. Again, automation on it’s own, not evil. It’s all about how you use it so pay attention to all of the pieces around it.
That really leads us to number two.
The number two thing I want you to know about automating your social media is that it’s not going to be the whole picture.
This is precisely why it’s not evil. This is going to be ideally a part of your strategy. It’s going to be one piece to your puzzle that makes the other pieces a little easier to put in place. This is going to be the piece that allows you to stay consistent without being around 24/7. It’s going to be the part that allows you to be there for your audience. It’s going to be the part that allows your audience to see your content, even though they’re not around at the same time you are. Maybe they’re in different time zone, or whatever. This is also going to be the part of your social media strategy that allows you to engage when you are online, not just be fueling the content machine.
Again, this is a part of your whole picture, this is a piece of your strategy. This isn’t the whole enchilada, it’s just a piece of it. When you are going back to what we’re talking about with number one, figuring out what the end result, figuring out the impact it has, work backwards from that. Look at, “Okay, this is the vibe, and the feel. This is the stuff that I want my community to get, what part of that do I need to automate so that I can deliver this other part of it in person? What part of this do I need to automate so that they can get to my offers, my opt ins, my content, all of those pieces so that they can see these curated pieces from these amazing other sources?”
Again, so I can show up and do Facebook Live, or go on Periscope, or snap my day, or do Instagram stories behind the scenes of my business, or production, or whatever it is. Engage in my groups, hangout on Twitter chats, whatever those pieces are where you have to be there. It’s critical that you’re live. That stuff all happened because you did this other part, because you figured out what part can I automate. How can I do that in a way that it fits together? All right? Again, this shouldn’t be the whole thing, it should just be part of your strategy, all right?
Wrapping up this quick Friday episode, number three.
There are a lot of ways to do this.
I hear all the time, all of the time from people who are like, “Well, everyone I know uses X, Y, Z tool, so that’s what I should use too.” That is crap. It’s just plain crap. The reason there are a ton of social media tools are because each of us have our own preferences. We have our own networks that we use, we have our own needs from the tools, we have our own budgets. Pick the tool that works for you, and that tool works for you because you’ll actually use it.
Over the years I have had countless clients tell me, “Oh, well I’ve got X, Y, Z tool,” and no, I’m not going to name names here. “Setup, but I never use it. I just can’t get into it. It drives me crazy, and it doesn’t seem to work like it’s supposed to,” yada, yada, yada, yada. I go, “Oh, well have you tried any other tools?” They go, “Well, you know I looked at such and such tool, and it looks really cool. Just everybody I know uses this other tool, so I feel like I should use it too.” No, no. Use the tool you will use.
I use a tool, I have a clients who we use other tools for, because guess what? Those tools work for their companies, and their teams. We build strategies that feed into using that tool. I have clients who use multiple tools. That’s fine. I used multiple tools for a long time. Don’t freaking, don’t worry about the how everyone else is doing. Worry about the how you’re going to do it. Guess what? The tool you start with doesn’t have to be the tool you use forever. By the very nature of this there will be something else later. If you like it better, change. It is not that big of a deal, okay?
I feel like I got a little ranty there at the end, but it was necessary. Again, there’s not just one magical mythical pill. Buying a subscription to any tool is not going to do the job. You then have to use the tool, like I said. You’ve got to upload the queues, you’ve got to schedule the content, you have to engage in the inbox. Whatever it is. You gotta read the stats, you have to use it. Just like buying the social media program, or hiring the coach, or hiring the personal trainer. Hiring the personal trainer is not how you lose weight. Showing at the gym, and paying attention to your diet, that’s how you lose weight. That’s how you get healthy, that’s how you get into better shape, okay?
Buying the social media tool, paying for it every month, isn’t going to be how you get out there more. Using that tool to grow your audience, engage with your content, automate parts of your social media, that’s how you get out there more. That’s how you get visible, and that’s how you get seen. If you are struggling with what tool to use, or where this fits into your strategy, join us backstage. That is exactly what that space is for. Head over to HitTheMicBackstage.com. We’ve got a ton of great trainings. Just this month we released the annual social media review training. The cool thing about this is it really is your annual review. This is the same review I do. I’ll talk about the pieces we’re going to look over.
Guess what guys? If you have no idea where you’re going to go next, it’s because you don’t know where you’ve been. Pay attention to those numbers, and let me walk you through it. The best part? If you have questions, or you want feedback, or you need to vent, or whatever, we’ve got a private community for that. Come hangout with me, come hangout with the other members of the community. That’s where we all come together, and talk about this stuff. You don’t have to struggle through alone, you don’t have to feel like you’re screwing all this up, that’s what I’m here for, okay? HitTheMicBackstage.com, I will see you backstage.
Connect with Me
Connect with me on Facebook
Tweet with me and include #HittheMic
Be sure to leave your review on iTunes or Stitcher for a shoutout on a future show
