Opinions on social media automation swing both ways – some would tell you it’s good to use, others would tell you it’s a mistake you’d better avoid. However, if you’ve had any experience managing a few social media pages, you know just how demanding the job can be. With posts, notifications, comments, likes, retweets, mentions and so many other things to track, it’s not surprising if social media managers wish there were more hours in a day.

Automation makes social media management less overwhelming. It also helps increase the effectiveness of your outreach efforts – here’s how:

Find share-worthy posts with content discovery tools

One of the most challenging aspects of a social media manager’s job is discovering content that will strike a chord with the audience. Automating content discovery with tools like DrumUp and Feedly helps you avoid the hassle of having to manually search for relevant content each time you need to share a post. DrumUp helps you find fresh, trending content, which increases your chances of being among the first ones that discover a post with viral potential. And Feedly lets you subscribe to content from specific websites or blogs that are related to your industry.

Increase your posting frequency

Social media users receive dozens of notifications every day, and it’s rather easy for your posts to get buried under them. The only way you can maintain visibility or increase exposure is by posting more often. Although the ideal posting frequency would vary based on the industry you operate in, it’s always good to take a mixed-bag-approach to your social media activities. For instance, on Twitter, ensure that you strike a balance between, tweeting, retweeting, and replying. You could use tools like TweetStats to keep an eye on how frequently you’re doing each one of them. You can also use tools to schedule your posts in advance so you won’t have to log in manually each time you want to share one.

Achieve consistency

Creating multiple social media accounts is easy; maintaining a steady presence on them is not. Several business pages fizzle out within months of having been set up since they are unable to achieve consistency. Social media automation lets you plan and schedule content ahead of time, ensuring that your social accounts remain active even when you are away.

Do more in less time

As the old adage goes, ‘Time is money‘, and more so in the case of businesses. Every minute you waste on a task that could have been automated translates into a loss of productivity for your business. Social media automation tools help you save precious minutes that you can instead invest in your core business activities. Most social media automation tools act as a centralized dashboard for all your social media marketing efforts. This saves you the trouble of having to log into each social media account individually.

Measure results

Using social media analytics tools will give you a good sense of how your posts are performing. Consequently, you can modify your content strategy to better align it with the goals of your social media marketing efforts. In using analytics, you must choose the metrics you track based the objectives you seek to achieve. For instance, if your goal is merely to increase visibility and establish credibility among your target audience, tracking metrics such as views and likes would suffice. However, if you’re looking for increased sales you should track the Click-through-rate (CTR) more closely.

Undoubtedly, automation can help your social media marketing efforts have a greater impact on your target audience. From discovering great content to improving engagement, automation helps you streamline your outreach activities and is a boon to every social media marketer. What tools do you have in your arsenal?

Jessica has a keen interest in social media and content marketing and writes extensively about it. She represents Godot Media, a leading content marketing firm that also offers SEO writing services.