As marketing tactics evolve, so do our savvy readers. Brilliant new ideas only work for as long as people aren’t bored by them. So in a world full of jargon and social media automation, it’s easy to begin looking like a robot.
Now that there are traffic expectations with social media, we have tweet and fan quotas to fill. The more we tweet and post, the more traffic we get. This pressure results in more publishers using automation tools like Feedburner’s “socialize” function which auto-tweets new articles and turns your category into a hashtag. Effortless, sure. But this loops you into one tweet formula that your followers will get bored with. It also adds pressure to write a blockbuster headline every single time since it’s your only method of getting people to click.
Gary Vaynerchuk, frequent social media keynote and author of The Thank You Economy, said this last week: “There’s no automation in social. No auto-retweets, no auto-follows. Social is human.”
I’d argue that in publishing, a little automation is necessary. Scheduling tweets can shave hours off your workweek and can also help you run A/B and timing tests more efficiently. Scheduling shouldn’t eliminate the human element, though. Begin by giving your profile a spokesperson in your bio, and then consider the following alterations for less robotic tweets.
I can’t think of a better side-by-side comparison than @ChicagoTribune (96k followers) and their fun-loving persona @ColonelTribune (803k followers). Chicago Tribune wins for most re-tweets (a news headline is easily re-tweeted), but the Colonel still wins the war for most clicks, fans and engagement.
At 9:37 a.m., jurors begin deliberations in Drew Peterson trial trib.in/OYtASm
— Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) September 5, 2012
#DrewPeterson jury is now deliberating. Updates: trib.in/OYtASm @stacystclair is also tweeting at the courthouse. — ColonelTribune (@ColonelTribune) September 5, 2012
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Why Chicago breeds great restaurants and theater companiestrib.in/PxpzRP — Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) August 31, 2012
All the kitchen’s a stage. Indeed! Why Chicago breeds great restaurants and theater companies. bit.ly/Pxul1T — ColonelTribune (@ColonelTribune) August 31, 2012
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Mr. Coffee single-cup brewers recalled because of burn hazard trib.in/O0PSnG — Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) August 31, 2012
Please be careful making your coffee, friends. There is a rather large single-cup brewer recall. bit.ly/N3m5JJ — ColonelTribune (@ColonelTribune) August 31, 2012
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A better way to explain the weather?
Today’s weather looks nice, says @skilling. A slight chance of a thunderstorm. High 85°. Forecast: bit.ly/Q1BQ1m — ColonelTribune (@ColonelTribune) September 4, 2012
An appreciative shout-out to other publications?
Thank you, @chicagomag. Your 5 best things to do in September is quite useful to me. To everyone! bit.ly/MXX3vx — ColonelTribune (@ColonelTribune) August 31, 2012
The goal of tweeting and posting is to get more traffic back to your website. If automation isn’t providing that traffic, perhaps a more old-fashioned approach would work better. Include more hashtags and @’s in your tweets, and tags in your Facebook posts to increase clicks and virality of that content.
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