Marketing Automation: Don't Treat Me Like a Robot

Marketing automation tools are designed to make our online communications easier in today's digital world. I hear business owners and marketers swear by automation for their social media marketing.

But in your enthusiasm for marketing administrative structure and expediency, don't forget some key marketing areas when communicating with your tribe that a marketing automation tool cannot understand.

Set & Forget

Please don't be lazy or forget about being timely. While you may have set-up what you want to say for the day or week, life goes on and the online social media worlds are the first to know about current affairs and news and are "talking" within seconds. You want to be talking with your audience about relevant topics, especially if related to your industry.A call-to-action at an ill-opportune time could do more damage than good.

Authenticity

I don't know about you, but my day's routine can change at a moment's notice. While you should be commended for having the goal to work hard on your social media communication with regular posting, it will rarely look authentic. I tell people to not apologise if they don't get a post out as planned, that's life and your customers know.

Scampering for content

It's wonderful to kill a few birds with one stone, but don't expect your audience to reward repeat messages. Don't just post updates because you believe you need X amount of posts per day. Social media is no different to talking face-face and people will walk away if you have nothing relevant, new or interesting to say.

I’m human; you’re human

Your audience is human and this goes back to authenticity. Fans don't expect you to be a robot pumping out content every few hours in regular intervals, because they know that's not reality. And, please, please, please respond to people's comments - don't flick-off-the-switch because you have scheduled a status update.Too often I speak with people, customers, disillusioned with business' social media because they are convinced business owners don't actually do the posting. Use marketing automation, by all means, but please don't go on autopilot and forget the human component to your marketing. Your tribe wants to build a relationship with you, not a time-saving tool This article first appeared in Australian Businesswomen's Network on 5 December 2013.