How I automate my Social Media strategy

I manage 5 Twitter accounts and 5 LinkedIn accounts, for myself and various websites I built over the years. Often, people ask me how I find the time to post so many pieces of content on LinkedIn or Twitter. There's a secret.

Having Social Media channels is essential to be visible, spread the word and distribute my content. Unfortunately, visibility comes at a price, and no-one would follow me if I did not post frequent and regular content.

The problem is that it takes time. Coming up with new ideas, new angles, new posts every day to feed my channels isn't easy. As a matter of fact, it is incredibly complex and takes a lot of brain juice. For me to manage 10 accounts, I simply cannot come up with 15 new posts each and every day. I had to automate part of the process.

In this article I share with you my strategy for Social Media automation and the tools I use daily.

Dlvr

Dlvr is a platform that allows you to link your RSS feeds to your Social Channels in order to automatically promote your content when it gets posted. The concept is simple: whenever you publish a new article or product, your RSS feed gets updated, Dlvr notices it and post it on your channels.

I stopped using this tool for most of my websites because it forces me to update my RSS feeds regularly. Yet, I still have a couple of sites for which it is a perfect solution. Typically, if you publish new recipes or launch new products frequently and you have an up-to-date RSS feed, dlvr may be a great automation tool. Keep in mind that it doesn't get creative and it purely posts your link with a standard title or definition.

Social Unicorn

Social Unicorn is what I use for 75% of my content. Approximately 100 unique pieces of content are posted each week with this tool on multiple Twitter and LinkedIn channels I own.

The concept is very simple: my followers look for things like tips, recommendations, quotes from thought leaders and experts, new ideas, etc. I simply can't be creative enough to make a new suggestion each day. There are days when I am inspired, and days when I'm not. There is also a problem of time: I simply can' find the time to post something each and every day.

That's where Social Unicorn comes in. In an excel sheet, I've prepared hundreds of tips on various topics, quotes from people I've worked with, promotional ideas and so on. Then I've copied this content into the Social Unicorn, added a few images, and defined a schedule.

The machine now picks content from within my lists, adds a few tags I've suggested, a tagline, an image, and simply posts it automatically according to my calendar, making sure each post is unique.

Whenever I have new ideas, new statistics, new tips, I simply add it to the list and I let the Social unicorn handle it for me. I now have my Monday Tips, Tuesday Quote, Wednesday Stat, Thursday Idea, etc. All of it is genuine and created by me, but is now automatic so I don't need to worry about it and I can focus on other things.

Buffer

Buffer is absolutely amazing for my daily content. Whenever I see something interesting online, or I've published a new article I want to promote, or I have something to say... it goes directly to buffer!

I use this app almost daily to plan my future content. Unlike Social Unicorn which I use to plan regular content on very specific topics, I use buffer to post very specific pieces of content. I basically add the item to a queue and let the platform post it on my behalf when the time comes.

Different tools for different situations

As you can see, I am using three different tools. I've had people already asking me "which one is better?" I can't answer that question, simply because these platforms complement each other.

• I use Dlvr for spontaneous content when there is something new
• I use Social Unicorn for regular automatic content
• I use Buffer for short-term planned content

Basically, Dlvr was set a few years ago and I haven't really touched it since. Social Unicorn was set a few months back, and I don't really touch it, except when I have some new ideas of content to feed it with. Buffer on the other hand is a tool I use almost daily.

Three tools, three strategies, three different expectations, with one unique purpose: keep my channels alive with quality content.

What about you? What tools do you use and recommend?

Julien Rio.

Head of Marketing at Dimelo, Author of The Trade Show Chronicles. 

More articles available on my blog.