Facebook might have been hit by scandals recently, but it remains the biggest social media website in the world, with a reported 2.23 billion active monthly users as of the second quarter of 2018. Given the platform’s massive user base, posting content through a Facebook Page has the potential to bring a tremendous amount of attention to your business.

In fact, research has shown that content marketing through social media generates 3 times as many leads while costing 62 percent less than traditional marketing strategies. That’s largely due to an increase in consumers using platforms like Facebook to find the products and services they need.

Image source: Demand Metric

However, running a business and managing your Facebook Page takes a lot of time. You’ll need to post content consistently for it to be effective, and time is a luxury that a lot of business owners don’t have. Fortunately, automating your Page is a strategy you can use to save time and boost engagement.

Why Should You Automate Your Facebook Page

An active social media presence is a must for most businesses these days. And Facebook Pages are a great way to drive traffic to their website, build brand loyalty, and reach out to a targeted audience. All that for a relatively low price.

While Facebook Pages are a wonderful source of traffic, it’s hard work to acquire followers. It takes a lot of dedication and consistent posting of high-quality content to get results. However, posting frequently can have a big impact on your business. HubSpot research has shown that businesses that post 16 times or more in a month generate 3.5 times more traffic than those that publish less than four articles within the same period.

Image source: Hubspot

Automation allows you to get the benefits that come with posting to your Page regularly without making a big investment in time.

What Should You Automate

There are several things you’ll need to handle if you want to keep your Facebook Page active and your followers engaged. While some tasks should be done manually, others can be automated. Here are some tasks that you can leave to a third-party management tool:

• Scheduling the posting of content in advance

• Scheduling and managing the posting of evergreen content. Since this type of content remains relevant even 6 months to a year after being posted, you can recycle these posts. A good rule of thumb to follow is to repost your evergreen content once every 3 – 6 months.

• Sharing blog posts

• Optimizing the intervals between posts so you don’t flood friends and followers with too many updates

• Posting, sharing, and re-posting about an event or a Facebook contest. You can even post more often as the event or contest draws near.

Conversely, there are tasks or actions that you should avoid automating, like following or friending people or Pages, replying or commenting on posts, and sending Direct Messages. Not only is it obvious that you’re using a bot, but some people may find it annoying or insincere.

How to Automate a Facebook Page

You’ll want to aim for a balance between real interaction and automation when it comes to your Facebook Page. Here are three options that you can look into:

1. Developing a Regular Schedule for Your Facebook Posts

Unless you plan to never sleep, you won’t be able to monitor your Facebook Page 24/7. But plotting your Facebook posts weeks or months in advance will help maintain your presence on the platform. What’s more, you can design a schedule that’s optimized for engagement.

Research shows, the best times for posting on Facebook are on Wednesdays from noon to 2 p.m. and on Thursdays from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. People tend to be more engaged with brands during these time frames.

Posting between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays also gives good results. Meanwhile, early mornings and evenings have the least consumer engagement.

2. Selecting a Good Bot

Bots are another automation option to consider. More brands are now using Facebook Messenger bots to help simplify communication between the company and consumers. These bots can reply to questions in real time, do upselling, and even help prospective clients make a purchase decision. The bots answers can also be customized to sound friendlier and more human. What’s more, the use of bots can lessen your employees’ workload, thus allowing them to be more productive at other tasks.

3. Hire a Social Media Manager

If running your business and managing your Facebook Page is starting to overwhelm you, then it might be time to consider hiring a virtual assistant or social media manager. Remember that successful business owners know when to ask for help. A reliable virtual assistant, along with a good scheduling tool, can do wonders in managing your page, building your presence on Facebook, and handling customer service. It will also give you time to focus on the essentials of growing your business.

Having an active Facebook Page is a useful marketing tool that shouldn’t be overlooked. Unfortunately, managing one can be time-consuming and labor-intensive. Automating your Page by using a scheduling app or chatbots can save time while ensuring that you maintain a strong presence online. Just make sure that you still keep a personal or human touch to your interactions with your Page followers.

[Featured image via Pixabay]