As you have read countless times, social media is about relationship marketing, engagement and making authentic connections. Real-time conversations with real people, doing and wanting real things. Your audience is not a conveyer belt digesting your content. They want and need genuine dialog and interactions.

Yes, it is all extremely time-consuming; eating many hours of your day, but with a mix of “healthy” automation and personal engagement, you can feel the success of this medium.

I am not against automation; however, when you choose to merely schedule all of your posts, without any time for personal communications, you are missing out on tremendous opportunities to meet and network with your global community. I love automation tools for content search and scheduling posts because they help save a lot of time and energy, which there is so little of. Populating your content ahead of time frees up your hours for the “social” in media.

With proper use of social media automation, you can make your time spent on your social media online marketing as productive and profitable as possible. business.com blog

Don’t set it and forget it.

Auto DMs? I can say they are a pet peeve of mine. We just met seconds ago and knowing nothing, you are asking me to click on a link, buy something, join you on a different network or download your product? It’s not going to happen. I had one follower who offered me a free massage when I purchase five, but I highly doubt flying to California is a viable option. If you choose to send a DM to welcome a new follower, then make it personal not robotic. You may get unfollowed.

You are a social being, act like it. Think about your behavior and mannerisms at a cocktail party or networking event. Do you shake hands, immediately hand out your business card and ask for the sale? I don’t think so.

• You ENGAGE in conversation.
• You ask questions.
• You share valuable information.
• You exchange in mutual dialog.

Practice the same online.

Take the time to get to know your followers, their interests, their pain points, their passions…. Human beings enjoy real conversations versus sterile robotic machines.

Review your Twitter stream. Is it just links and tweets or do you engage? Sure, automate some content, but keep it real. Reply to tweets and retweets. Share the love of your follower’s content. Review profiles and websites – discuss them, ask questions.

What does your Facebook page look like? When someone likes or replies to your post, don’t ignore it. They took the time to comment. They are interested in your page. Respond. People love to talk to people, to their favorite brands and pages; stand out from those who don’t engage. Be the brand that you want to buy from.

Whatever various platforms you choose to deploy, humanize your networking with real interactions.

Simple as that.

Have a presence.

Be remarkable and continue to nurture your audience with rich dialog and connections.

Social Automation Tips

1. Evaluate your needs and goals to pick a tool that works best for you. Examples: Buffer, Do Share, Hootsuite, IFTTT, Zapier
2. Understand when to automate and when to engage.
3. Monitor your tools and automated posts.
4. Automate your RSS feeds as well as those in your network.
5. Schedule non-urgent posts like favorite quotes and tips.
6. Don’t schedule the exact same content across all of your platforms. Keep it fresh.
7. Don’t overschedule and drown your audience. Too much of anything is a bad thing.
8. Update your channels daily with current news and trends. Mix it up a bit.

Once all of that is done, you will have saved yourself a few hours to engage with your audience, creating deeper connections and meaningful relationships.

Social automation is a great time-saver but don’t overdo it. You’ve got real people enjoying real conversations, with real needs. Exceed their expectations.

Be SOCIAL. Don’t do social.

Bring human resources to the table where the opportunity for real social media engagement exists, and use computers to make all else more efficient. Just be sure the quality meets high standards and builds audience. Adam Stetzer