6 Disadvantages of Social Media Automation For Real Estate And How To Fix It
I’ve got a pet peeve I need to get off my chest. Too many real estate investors and agents are killing their credibility by automating their social media posting. It could be you. This is where utilizing automated posting tools such as Buffer, Hootsuite, and Tweetdeck for social media can come in handy… maybe you’re even using them. But are you using them the right way? Do you think that “any post on Facebook is a good post on Facebook?” Well, if you’re doing it wrong… you could be killing your credibility rather than making a better connection with people better. Before we dive into the dangers of social automation, you might be wondering why you even need to implement an active internet presence. Well… As of 2015, a full 92% of all home buyers — across every geographic region and age range — use the internet during their search. You must be actively marketing your website to reach your full potential. Why You Need Social Media Marketing Increase website traffic and search rankings. For example, if every person who follows Carrot on Twitter Retweets this post, it increases the likelihood it will rank higher in Google’s search results page for variations of “social media for real estate.” Raise brand awareness. Make it easier for your customers to find you. Create a positive brand identity, therefore building credibility. By connecting with your customers on social media, you are more likely to increase customer retention and brand loyalty. Build conversations. Also known as Conversation Marketing. Increase opportunities to capture leads. 6 Reasons Automating Your Social Media Posts Could Be Killing Your Credibility With every positive comes a negative, or at least a small risk of something going wrong. 1. Robotic Automation It’s the classic story of Man Vs. Machine. Is bigger, faster, strong… better? Social media automation is easy. But, it’s also easy to come off sounding like a machine. While the posts may come from you, they can easily lack a personal touch that increases engagement and building relationships. If you tweet in real-time, you can show emotion, write genuine thoughts and show your brands charisma. You can lose that when you become robotic. Image Source: Spokal 2. Giving Yourself Away It can be obvious who is really at the posting controls. You could be giving yourself away by using social media automation. Third-party applications, while worth it for several reasons, tell your followers you used them to post your content. Facebook and Twitter posts show where the post was from. Such as “posted via Hootsuite”. The same can go for Buffer. This could irritate your audience because posts read as articles that are being “advertised” and not as invaluable pieces of your content. 3. Scheduling Features Aren’t Your Best Buddy A mistake that is still common is posting too much. You don’t need to post content with the sole purpose of pumping it out as much as possible. Again, this is annoying and creates a negative image of your business and makes your business less genuine. We’ve seen investors who post every hour on the hour – and it’s very obvious there’s not a true person sitting behind that keyboard. Different social platforms require different schedule strategies. It might be required to test the number of times and days in order to find what the best times to post for you are. Here’s an example of a posting schedule: Twitter: Post 2-4 times weekdays from 9am-7pm Pinterest: Post 1-2 times daily. Choose days from 2pm – 4pm and 8pm – 11pm Google+: Post 1-2 times weekdays 9am-3pm Facebook: Post 1-4 times weekdays 9am – 12pm. And, 2pm – … Continued