Are Robots the New Facebook Users?
We have all seen Facebook posts from business pages published by another party but who is behind these updates?
Companies can use third party social media monitoring applications like HootSuite or TweetDeck to schedule and post to Facebook. Blog feed apps like RSS Grafitti automatically post to Facebook when a company blog post is published.
Why Robots are Not Necessary
The idea behind these apps is to save time by monitoring all social media platforms from one area while getting unique statistics and reports. Keep in mind they are for-profit companies so you may have to buy certain reports or pay for extra benefits.
Most small business’ social media plans simply don’t need all the bells and whistles these apps offer, nor do they have the budget for the paid versions. If you have a specific plan for posting to Facebook, you can create a responsive community on your own-and many people will value your efforts. Facebook followers want a real person posting to Facebook page instead of a robot. The amount of effort you put into Facebook will be reflected by your audience. If you don’t give your Facebook page any time, why would your customers?
RSS Graffiti is a blog feed app which means it publishes directly from an RSS Feed (like your practice blog) to Facebook. These apps can be a time saving tool, but if you’re striving for more engagement, you’ll have to lead the way. Simply having articles reposted from blogs with the same headline on Facebook is repetitive and a loss of prime real estate in the status box. Below are examples of what third party apps look like on Facebook posts.
If you must use a third party app, ask a question or create a mystery about the article that would make Facebook users click through to read the post.
How to Post Like a Human in 3 Steps
Here are three simple steps to create a social media update strategy.
1. Ownership
Assign one person to have responsibility over all posts to Facebook. Choose wisely, they will control the tone and branding of your page by selecting links and writing posts. Make sure to give detailed instruction about what is appropriate to post and to make sure they are dedicated to consistent page maintenance.
2. Plan
Create a social media editorial calendar and schedule it into the day. Decide with how many times you want to post a week, and write out the type of post or content on a calendar with time allocated for the task. You can start with 1-2 posts per week and move up to 4 as you get the hang of it. We do not recommend posting more than once a day. Above all, make sure to continually post. Don’t have irregular amounts of posting. Followers will respond better, especially if they have certain days to look forward to posts.
3. Execute
If you have followed the first two steps you will know the who, when, where, and what for posting to Facebook, all that is left is to complete the posting!
When it comes to busy schedules, Facebook posts on balance do not require a lot of time but they require attention to detail.
Always have another person proofread your posts to check the following:
- Spelling and grammar is correct
- Neat appearance (no messy URL’s or missing thumbnails in links)
- All links go to the correct place
- Credit given to any references used
By following these steps to a well-planned, self-curated Facebook page, you will be well on your way to building a loyal community of followers. Happy posting and feel feel to contact us if you get lost along the way! Our Rosemont Media consultants will be happy to help you.