Social media marketing is one of the fastest growing and most impactful forms of marketing that you can utilise today. There are huge benefits including the gathering of so many potential customers all in one place, and yet there are also hurdles to overcome. One of the biggest hurdles of all is that social media users tend to expect immediate responses and engagement 24/7. More and more businesses are turning to automation to meet this demand; but this too comes with its own risks and pitfalls. Read on to discover the risks of overusing automation; and some of our top tips for avoiding them on social media…

People prefer other people

Overwhelmingly, social media users would prefer to talk to another person rather than a robot. Using automation tools in every situation and circumstance can help tip these users off that this is what you are doing. This can also lead to the impression that you don’t care enough about your audience to go to the effort of speaking to them yourself… Automation has a place, but the personal human touch is as essential in marketing today as it was before the rise of AI in digital marketing.

You risk altering or cheapening your brand voice

Customers today get presented with so many options for each product; and service that they buy which means they can afford to be a little choosier. Everything about your brand needs to stand out, to meet the high expectations of your target audience; and demonstrate why they should pick you above all else. Your brand voice is a key part of this, showing that you share a language with your target market as well as the same ideals. The right social media marketing agency will create content and reply to messages in a way that fits in with your brand voice. Overusing automation, on the other hand, can lead to a loss of personality in your communications and content.

It can be tough to personalise with automation

Whether you are using automation to grow your LinkedIn followers or engage with customers on Facebook, personalization is essential. Overusing automation risks losing that personalization that is so important to make your audience feel special; and feel like you are talking to and care about them.

It can negatively impact you in the algorithms

Many social media and search engine algorithms value genuine; authentic and high-quality content, which cannot be achieved through the overuse of automation. Most algorithms place a premium on authoritativeness and expertise in content and communications; which can be tough to achieve with automation. It may work for scheduling blog posts; but if you rely on AI for absolutely everything, it may reflect poorly on you.

You can end up suspended or even banned from your platform

Finally, one of the serious disadvantages of automation is the risk that you will end up banned or penalised by the social media platform that you are on. Sites like Facebook can suspend or block you if you are using automation for every post, message and action that you take. Essentially, it is important that you don’t forget the human touch even while using social media. Your customers need consistency, personalization; and quality of communication and content in order to continue to engage with you on social media. Overusing automation risks alienating both your target audience; and the algorithms and systems in place that can help you to succeed.