11 Signs You Should Automate Your Social Media Marketing

[U.S.] adults use social networking sites.” That’s a lot of people on social media. That’s a lot of potential buyers and sellers on social media.

But for some, being consistent with social media posting and engagement can be challenging. Fitting social media management into an already busy day can seem like an added burden. Others are convinced of the importance of social media, they’re working to build and maintain an active presence, but they’d like to see more of a return on their investment of time and energy. Social media automation can help provide you the edge you’re looking for.

Below are 11 signs that it’s time you should consider automating your social media marketing. If you can relate to any of these signs, it may be time to take the plunge.

1. You want more leads

Leads drive sales, and being active and engaged on social media is a great way to generate more leads. But if you’re not consistently posting valuable content to your social media channels and engaging with your online audience, you’re probably not going to generate the kinds of leads you want. Try automating some of the content distribution process. Create your posts in advance and use software tools like Buffer or Hootsuite to schedule and automatically post your content to social media.

2. You want more brand recognition

Consistency is the key here. Getting your brand out there on a regular basis can help generate leads and referrals. Social media marketing automation helps increase brand recognition by giving potential buyers and sellers a consistent stream of valuable, branded content in the form of virtual tours, blog posts, photos, articles, ebooks, etc. And being consistent on social media leaves an impression with potential buyers and sellers, helping them relate to your brand. The more people see your brand–and the valuable, relevant content associated with your brand–the more likely they are to contact you.

3. You want more networking opportunities

Using automation to increase the frequency and consistency of social media posts can boost professional networking opportunities. As you grow a consistent online social media presence, it makes it easier to network with other business owners who are also using social media. Connect with local businesses and services that support your efforts as an agent or broker.

4. You have a lot of content and need help managing its distribution and promotion

Maybe you’ve been blogging, creating videos, and generating tons of content for a long time, but you don’t know what to do with it. It’s all on your website, but you’re not using social media to get more mileage out of that content — it’s not helping you build your business. Get your content out there by using automation software to schedule and automatically post your content to social media.

5. You don’t have enough time to engage

To get the most bang for your buck on social media, you have to post and engage. Doing one without the other will limit the effectiveness of your marketing efforts, so make time for both. If you’re feeling crunched for time and audience engagement seems like an easy thing to drop, consider automating your posts so that you can engage with your audience.

6. You see the value of social media, but you’re not a pro yet

You’re convinced. You’re active on social media. You post content, you comment, you respond, and you’re starting to recommend resources to potential clients. You’re part of the conversation. But you’re doing it all manually, and it seems to be eating up a lot of your time. Try automating the way your virtual tours are created and distributed to social media, and use Buffer or Hootsuite to automatically post other content. Also, make sure you’re posting at times when people are more likely to interact with your content.

7. You are a social pro, and want to grow more

Even pros can get better! If you’re the kind of agent or broker who is ready to take your social media game to the next level, make sure automation is part of your strategy. Automate your posts to social media, set up your content to post at optimal times, and engage with your audience intentionally.

But if you’re already doing all of this, there’s actually still more you can do!

Create content offers and set up landing pages on your website to automatically capture lead information. Link to those landing pages in your social media profiles. Extend your reach further by using email marketing software like MailChimp or Infusionsoft to create automated email drip campaigns. Advertise on social media by promoting your tweets and boosting Facebook posts. You can also dive into analytics to learn which of your posts are performing well, and which ones are not. Use data to understand audience engagement so that you can improve the kinds of content you deliver as well as the way you interact with your audience.

8. You have a high volume of new listings

Maybe you just got a lot of new listings and you need to get the word out quickly. You could manually create virtual tours for all of them and then manually post them to social media. A faster option may be to automate the tour creation and distribution process using Paradym and the Social Automation Manager. Using your smartphone, snap pictures, shoot some quick videos of your properties, and then use Paradym to quickly turn them into branded virtual tours and automatically post them to social media. You can even edit photo effects, add transitions and clickable hotspots, create panoramas, and add 3D models to your tours if you’re using a service like Matterport.

9. You want to increase your reach

Increase your reach by automating your social media posts, and then try repurposing your content and sharing it in different ways.

People are different, and they respond to different kinds of content in different ways. Vary the kinds of content you create, share, and promote. For example, maybe you’ve scheduled out a bunch of blog posts. You’re publishing a steady stream of content; great! Use Canva to get more reach by creating some shareable images related to your blog posts, then add them to your automated posting schedule on Buffer. Create infographics and some short videos and use automation software to post them to social media.

10) You’re overwhelmed by marketing tools and the marketing process

You’re a digital real estate marketer, and you’re also working to market your listings and services offline. You know you need to be active on social media, and you’re working on it, but getting all of your marketing efforts on one page is difficult. There are a lot of helpful tools out there, but it can be challenging to figure out which tools you should use.

You may be trying to do too much with too many tools.

Add some focus to your marketing efforts by using an integrated software solution. Paradym gives you the ability to automate virtual tour creation and distribution, and you can use our platform to automatically post your tours to social media.

11. Social media and marketing seem too hard and/or too time-consuming

One obstacle to marketing your listings and services online may be the perception that social media is too difficult to manage. Or maybe it seems like a nice thing to do when you have more time. But given the sheer number of potential clients on social media, maintaining a consistent, relevant presence really needs to be part of your marketing strategy.

Social media is basically made up of two things: posting and engagement. Use an automation platform like Buffer or Hootsuite to bring several social media accounts together in one place. This can simplify the posting process. Then, schedule and automate your social media posts, check their performance, and start up some conversations with your audience.

Can you relate?

Automation software can help make the process of creating, posting, and distributing content easier. If you can relate to any of these 11 points, consider exploring further how you can automate aspects of your social media marketing.