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Should You Automate Social Media During Your Vacation?

Social media automation seems like a dream come true – schedule out a month of posts in one sitting! Have access to all of your social in one program! Set it and forget it!

The downside to over automation is that it can distance you from your social media community. Before you head off for vacation and set your social media channels on autopilot, consider the following:

  1. Is someone available to monitor your channels? Automation is great, but it doesn’t cover responding to customer service inquires or comments on your social media posts. Social media thrives on conversing with stakeholders in real-time. Additionally, someone needs to make sure content is posting when it is scheduled to do so.
  2. Is any of your automated content subject to change? While some posts may be “evergreen” messages that work regardless of when they are posted, some content may change. For example, the details of a sales promotion or a key deadline for customers could change. If you’ve preloaded your social content a month in advance, you still need to make sure it is accurate before it posts. Businesses and organizations deviate from planned marketing and promotional schedule all of the time, and you don’t want to post inaccurate information.
  3. Can someone turn social off if something bad happens? Let’s say your brand faces a crisis or a major event happens. Who is going to step in and turn off your automated social media posts? The social world moves quickly. Brands often have to make snap judgments about if it is appropriate for them to be posting promotional or other information in social channels. This is not a decision a third party app can make for you. It requires actual thought and strategy.

When used wisely, automation can give busy social media managers and PR people a break from the daily grind of creating content. But it is no substitute for people with solid judgment make decisions based on the social media climate at the time.

If you need help, our social media team never takes a vacation. Drop us a line!

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