As a social media marketer, I utilize (and happen to love) the tools and programs that allow me to schedule posts and tweets in advance. The ease of being able to compose 10 updates within a short hour to be posted on multiple social networks over the course of a week is a huge time saver. There is no question that these tools have greatly improved the quality of work-life balance for small business owners and social media marketers alike. But when I see a business that posts the exact same 140 character or less message not only on Twitter, but across all channels at the exact same time, it makes me wonder: Is this really, truly social?

Aside from the obvious rule of not posting carbon copy phrasing/wording/content across all channels, let alone at the same time, there is often little to no conversations happening on these brand/business pages. It’s all one big ad space. And, believe me, your customers are soon to realize this and will unlike your page or ignore your brand all together.

BUT don’t despair small business owners and entrepreneurs, there IS a way to use social media scheduling tools without sounding like a robot. Here are a few tips to keep the ease and convenience, while not missing out on the true meaning of SOCIAL media.

Leave some content for real time. There are certain live events or relevant news that can arise that could relate to your brand in some way. Don’t miss out on these opportunities because they weren’t waiting around in your scheduler for the past few days. One of the best examples of using real time news to engage is Oreo’s response to the Super Bowl power outage.

Check in on your pages. Don’t just rely on viewing your platforms through your scheduling tool of choice’s dashboard. There are many interactions you could miss and you also want to periodically see what your followers see. Not to mention certain things like a Twitter cover photo, updating profile images, or organizing a Facebook album can only be completed on those actual sites.

When using a scheduler like Hootsuite, Buffer, Klout, or IFTTT, remember to switch up your wording, posted image, or even the call to action depending on the social network you are posting to. You must tailor your post to the network. For instance, aside from adhering to length requirements of each platform, knowing which ones support hashtags is pretty important.

Automate your go-to, filler, and non-urgent content first. Leave the latest campaign, news, promotion, or special event for live posting and interaction. As such, it will receive more detail and therefore more likely higher engagement than a scheduled post.

While this definitely is NOT something you should do with every post you’ve ever drafted, it is OK to let these tools help you in repeating your own content. You need to be very selective when doing so, but sometimes scheduling multiple tweets (spread out over the course of days/weeks/months) of a popular post on your company’s blog is great for driving traffic to your website. Just be selective and use a bit of discretion.

Let automation work for you. Use the content suggestion tools. Take advantage of great analytic reports. Be sure to have your calendar filled for when you are away from the office, your computer or smartphone, or a wifi connection. Scheduling software is ideal for filling up time slots during weekends, evenings, holidays, vacations.

Last, but not least, by all means, be sure that your settings allow for notifications of ANY interactions on your platforms, sent directly to your smartphone. This way you are quick to answer, comment and respond. The very definition of being SOCIAL!

Too often, we hear of local businesses or organizations stating they have no need for a Facebook presence, a Google+ page, or an active Twitter feed. Understandably, it is due to the lack of free time small business owners have. This, combined with a lack of knowledge of how to best utilize each platform and a lack of resources to put towards investing in social media, it is no wonder social media often gets pushed aside. If you are one of those business owners or operators who still needs a bit of convincing, check out these top five reasons why you should add a social presence to your business’s marketing plan.


Brand Reputation: It will help to establish your business or yourself as an expert in your field. Regular interaction and engagement on social platforms will also aid in building upon your reputation with your target audience. Word of mouth is huge in business. However, today’s “word of mouth” comes from user generated content (UGC) on social media sites. A recent survey concluded that this UGC, in the form of statuses, tweets, reviews, blogs, is trusted 50% more than traditional media and marketing methods. So give users something to talk about!

Search Engine Optimization: Quite simply, without a social media representation, your business has a slimmer chance of making it to the first page of google search results. SEO and social media platforms are not mutually exclusive. Your company’s search results rankings are greatly affected by its presence on social platforms and how many times its links are shared by you others across those platforms. All social platforms play a role, but a Google+ business page is especially important for SEO purposes.

Customer Service: Social media platforms are THE way to provide immediate and direct customer service. Larger companies like @JetBlue and @NikeSupport and, unsurprisingly, most tech, marketing, and startup companies, do an excellent job of responding quickly and efficiently to their customer’s comments, feedback, or complaints. Providing customer service via a social platform doesn’t have to be intimidating. It isn’t just for the big dogs anymore. This can be done on a smaller scale, by a simple comment to a post on facebook or a reply to less than flattering tweet. One piece of advice, ALWAYS respond positively to customers!

Cost Effective Marketing: Let’s be blunt, social media is cheaper than “traditional” marketing and advertising methods. And a lot faster too!

Relationships and Trust: Social media is all about connections. Depending on your platforms of choice, it provides an excellent avenue to build relationships with your customers, the community at large, and even your competitors. (Yes, you should have a relationship with your competition!) Fostering relationships with customers -- past, present, and future -- will establish trust. That trust will lead to sales.

Marketing through social media takes time. It doesn’t happen overnight. It requires planning, developing a strategy, implementing, assessing and analyzing, and repeating this process over and over. We at dilpatrick media know and understand that. Which is why we have several ‘levels’ of social media services that include consulting, training, and partial or full management of your various social platforms. We want to help you identify your objectives and target audience and help you decide which social platforms best fit your business. Contact us today to set up a consultation.

As an entrepreneur, freelancer, writer, social media marketer, and [insert any other label those who work for themselves take on], scheduling and managing your time, and keeping to that plan is pretty imperative to your professional success (and personal sanity). Many of us start working for ourselves for a variety of reasons, but most often, quality of life and work-life balance are major factors, along with the "freedom" and flexibility of being your own boss. 
So if we are so free, what's up with finding yourself writing or designing on a Saturday night? How many of us have worked all hours of the night to meet a deadline, updated your website on a national/bank holiday, or is busy being active on social media, constantly?
As I was spending yesterday (Sunday) morning writing a draft and recording financials, I began to think, is this how it should be? Or should I save these tasks for a "work day" and join the rest of the world (i.e. 9-5ers) for brunch? 
The reverse is true too. I often find myself, along with several retired folks, in a spin class at 11am on a Wednesday or a 10am Friday yoga class, because I can.
I think each freelancer has to figure out how they best work. Personally, if I wake up on a Sunday with the burning desire to look at a spreadsheet, I need to go with it and ask questions later! 
While we freelancers have the luxury of figuring out how we best work and can optimize our workspace and schedule for productivity, we also have to get sh*t done! Because if we don't do it, who will?

This is our official launch of the dilpatrick media portfolio site and blog. We have been writing, marketing, blogging, and freelancing for some time now, and are so excited to finally have something to show for it! 
Check back to our blog as we will be posting about the freelance lifestyle, interesting marketing ideas, and eventually some cool and captivating travel, culture, social, and political content.
Thanks so much for everyone's support as we embark on this endeavor.