Social media automation can save you time and energy. Here’s how to do it:

Have you ever woken up early or stayed up late to post something on social media because you know that’s when your audience is online? Well, you don’t need to.

The saying, “work smarter, not harder,” is a great mantra to follow as a small business owner. After all, you don’t have all the time in the world. Automation, when done correctly, is the smarter way to do social media, especially if you’re away from the office.

The first thing to remember with social media automation is that once you set up a social media post, you can’t just forget about it. You still need to remain engaged from the time the post is set until the next batch of posts go out. Automation isn’t going to remove your workload entirely; it’s just going to allow you to use your time more wisely.

Next, you need to understand when to automate. Not everything should be automated. Customer interactions, for example, should never be automatic. They should be personable and address their specific problem or need.  A great time to automate is when you are on vacation. You can’t be at your computer when you’re trying to relax on the beach. You can write sharable content before you leave on vacation and schedule it out. When you are automating, avoid scheduling the same content across all of your social media platforms. Customize your content for each platform.

The next step is choosing your automation tools. This is based on personal preference. Facebook has its own automation tools. Then there are sites like Hootsuite and Buffer. Social media content companies usually have their own way of scheduling content as well. Do your research and find out what works best for you and your company.

The third step is finding your ideal posting schedule. Most of the automation tools can schedule items for you at sensible times throughout the day. However, it’s usually better to find what posting times are best for you audience. You’ll want to know what time zones the majority of your fans are located in. It’s also a good idea to look at your most popular posts and see at what time they went up. If the post is going to receive interaction, is it at a time when you’ll be able to respond? Checking your social media analytics will help with this as well.

Lastly, make sure you are staying in the conversation. Don’t let the automation take over, unless you’re out of the office. Even after your vacation you’ll want to check analytics, see what people are saying and reply to people who have mentioned you. Stay in the conversation and monitor what people are saying about your company and about the topics you posted about.

By following these automation tips, you’ll be on your way to stress free social media management in no time. Good luck!