Would you rather read a company’s automated tweets or interact with them personally?
The New York Times is trying to find its answer for this. It was reported in this article that two social editors will be writing tweets for the news organization to replace the previous automated tweets to see if that will be more effective and interactive.
To be honest, we can’t see how this is really a test. When you call a company, would you rather listen to a prerecorded message telling you which buttons to hit or would you rather just speak directly to an employee of the company? This automated message only creates barriers between yourself and your clients. Listening to this prerecorded phone message is exactly the same situation as reading a company’s automated tweet. It similarly cuts off your interaction with your clients.
Social media is supposed to social. In that, we mean that you are trying to communicate on a personal level, so you can interact and tell them of news updates in your company. This also enhances your brand because social media increases word of mouth promotion of your company. If everything is automated, then you won’t be building the online, interactive community your company needs to be successful.
Your company probably doesn’t have the huge company size that the New York Times does so this automation issue may not be as much of a problem, but this is a good example to showcase the importance of using social media to enhance customer experience.
If you feel like you’re not willing or able to use social media effectively, it might be good idea to hire internet marketing consultants to run your social media campaign rather than automate the process. More and more companies, from large ones like The New York Times to smaller companies such as AMA Waterways, have hired internet marketing consultants to run their social media campaigns.
