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Oct 1, 2024
You’ve just finished planning a month’s worth of social media content.
You’ve scheduled dates in your calendar, your creative team has their instructions, and you’re about to start posting.
The problem?
You’re dreading it.
It took you a lot of time to plan everything. So much time that now you’re loathing the idea of putting those plans into action.
You’re also dreading having to repeat this process next month, the following month, and every month going forward.
Heck, we’re exhausted just thinking about it.
And understandably, you are too.
We bet you’re waiting for the “there’s just gotta be a better way” intersection.
And you’re right; there is a better way.
We’re getting straight to the bottom of this and sharing everything you need to know about social media automation in 2024.
In today’s article, we’re sharing what social media automation is and how it can improve your social media marketing efforts. We’re also sharing six social media automation tools you can use to shave time off social media marketing.
Ready? Let’s begin.
Contents
Social media marketing automation means using automated tools to optimize social media efforts. In other words, it’s a process you use to save time marketing on social media.
For instance, instead of posting in real-time, you can schedule social media automation tools to post content for you. Instead of brainstorming ways to repurpose content, you can use social media automation tools to spit out a variety of repurposing options.
To decide which tasks to automate, consider running marketing analytics on all of your social media posts and campaigns from 2021.
Then, refer to the data you extract from the analysis for insight on how to improve your posts and impressions using automation.
For instance, maybe your analysis shows that your posts weren’t reaching your audience at optimal times. In this case, you can use automation to schedule posts that only go live when your audience is online.
Social media automation streamlines processes so you can free up your time and reach your social media marketing goals quicker.
Why spend time on countless repetitive tasks when a tool can do it for you? Why rack your brain for inspiration when a tool can carry that weight?
If you’re looking to take time-consuming social media marketing tasks off of your plate, you need to lock arms with automation.
Depending on the tools you use, you can automate anything from posting dates to recycling content to images and more. You can also automate social conversation notifications and use chatbots to respond to messages.
Here are some other tasks you can automate:
For a comprehensive list of automation features, be sure to check out the tool options we suggest in the last section.
You can also shave even more time off your schedule by using resources like:
Tired of racking your brain for new engaging captions? Check out Elise Darma’s product called “Caption Vault,” which includes 300 caption templates you can customize for your audience. No more painful caption planning? Yes, please.
Are your hashtags underperforming? Learn which hashtags receive the highest engagement with the hashtag marketing tool, Hashtagify.
Stuck on image creation ideas? Check out tools like Adobe Illustrator, Canva, and websites that offer free vectors and illustrations for download.
Ever wonder what kind of action you should take next on social media? Get the clarity you need with Jasmine Star’s monthly subscription program, “Social Curator.” The subscription includes a social media action plan, five Instagram story sets, access to 5,000+ lifestyle stock images, and 30 customizable caption templates to use each month.
Here are three basic examples of social media automation at work:
Stay on top of incoming messages, interact with users from multiple channels in a single stream — and respond to queries with automated customer service features.
Stop getting lost in spreadsheets and visualize your posting plan with drag-and-drop scheduling features.
Automatically analyze and measure the impact of your work — and report your results to your team with ease.
If you’re still not convinced social media automation is right for your business, we’re clearing the air with the following five benefits:
When it comes to social media marketing, there’s a lot to do. From planning campaigns to getting your messaging right, it can feel like you’re constantly spinning your wheels.
But with social media marketing automation on your side, you can free up time spent on repetitive tasks and focus on more important to-dos — like growing your business.
Whether you’re targeting local or international audiences, it can be tricky to post content when your audience is online. And we can promise you, nobody on your team wants to wake up at 3 am to post your content live.
With automation, you can set up drip campaigns that reach your target audience at optimal times, every time.
You post one day, then stop posting for two days. You post another day and then stop posting for three days.
Sound familiar?
No shame, we’ve all been there.
But to truly connect with your audience in a profound way, you have to show up for them when they need you most.
You may not always realize it, but your audience depends on you for consistent, valuable, relatable, and personalized content.
With automation processes, you give your audience the reassurance they need by showing up consistently.
Piggybacking on our previous point, you simultaneously solidify your online presence when you show up consistently.
In other words, people know you when you consistently show up.
Social media marketing can exhaust your team’s time, energy, and resources if you let it.
If your team constantly feels like hamsters on a wheel, they won’t have time to let their creative juices flow. Or worse, they may bow out completely.
But when you support your team with the tools they need to perform their jobs, you not only remove the pressure but also promote a happier, more engaged team.
And finally, the part you’ve all been waiting for …
We’re happy to report there are six+ tools you can use to support your automation efforts.
But, we’d like to take a moment to give you one more extra tip before we get into our list.
In case you’re unaware, some social media platforms — like Instagram — don’t allow automation tools to use the same IP address for multiple accounts.
To safely use automation on these platforms without getting your account blocked, we recommend using a virtual private network, or VPN.
Now then, let’s get to those tools.
We listed our tool first … ‘cause, hey, we’re the best.
Planable is a collaboration tool for social media teams. Our tool helps teams create, plan, review, approve, publish, and analyze content. In other words, it’s every agency and in-house marketing team’s dream.
And if your team handles more than social media, you can also add any type of content with the help of Universal Content pages – blogs, newsletter, press releases, you name it.
If you’re migrating from ContentCal to Planable, let us help. Book a demo here.
You’ll especially love our tool’s content preview feature, drag-and-drop capabilities, Giphy integration, and feedback review features.
If you’re looking for an automation tool that declutters the approval process and simplifies team collaboration, then you’ll love our simple tool. No spreadsheets required.
Hootsuite offers a “suite” of automated marketing tools for businesses of all shapes and sizes.
Hootsuite’s automation tools include:
As the names suggest, Hootsuite tools can help you:
If you’re looking for an all-in-one social media marketing automation tool suite, Hootsuite might be a great option for you. But if you’re searching for a less complex tool, my advice would be to check out some Hootsuite alternatives first and then decide which tool works best for you.
HubSpot’s social media tool was designed to help brands easily share content from their marketing campaigns across all of their social channels.
We especially like how easy it is for brands to automatically share blog content on social media as soon as it’s published.
HubSpot’s social media tool also has a “Best Time to Post” feature, as Hootsuite does.
If you’re looking for an easy way to automate sharing blog content on social media, look into HubSpot.
Buffer is a collaboration tool you can use to orchestrate social media marketing campaigns with your team. You can also assign social conversations to specific team members and leave internal notes to avoid duplicate responses.
Another unique feature is the ability to use saved replies to save time answering frequently asked questions.
If you’re looking for a tool that can help you make the most out of your social conversations, Buffer is a great option.
From flexible scheduling to visualizing your content pipeline, Zoho has quite a few tricks up its sleeve.
We especially like their monitoring dashboard, which has multiple listening columns so you can stay tuned to anything relevant. You can also respond and engage with your audience in real-time, as often as you’d like.
If social listening is a biggie for you, consider test-driving Zoho’s automation features.
BuzzSumo is an effective tool to use when you need to analyze which types of content perform best.
With its content discovery, monitoring, and content research features, your team can easily generate high-performing content ideas.
If you need a tool that can perfect the content creation process, check out Buzzsumo.
Ready to use social media automation to increase impressions in 2024?
Today’s article shared what social media automation is and how it can improve your social media marketing efforts.
We also shared six social media automation tools you can use to save time on social media marketing.
Now it’s your turn.
Which of these social media automation tips are you planning on testing out? Which ones have you tried before? Leave a comment below, letting us know what you think.
Ioana is a freelance content writer and SEO strategist for B2B and B2C brands specializing in Business, Digital Marketing, SaaS, Tech, and Mental Health. Born in Transylvania, raised in Texas, and transplanted to Barcelona, Ioana’s most recent move has taken her to sunny Mexico.
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