How Much Does Social Media Automation Cost?

As a marketing director, you are well aware of the importance and benefits of maintaining your social media presence. With the increased noise on social media, however, it can be difficult for brands to stand out — a feat made even more challenging when combined with your brand’s vast marketing needs and its budget limitations. Because of these conditions, you need the right tools on your side to not only support but also maximize your efforts. This is where social media automation can help.

Continue reading to learn about the value of social media automation and how to find a solution that fits your budget.

The Value of Social Media Automation

You invest a lot of time and energy into your social media strategy — making it all the more important to maximize that investment.

Ensure Consistency

Maintain a consistent social media presence to keep your followers engaged and your brand top of mind. Social media automation makes it easy to manage your presence across multiple platforms by streamlining the content creation, planning, and publishing process. In addition to increasing customer acquisition and retention, consistency in posting has been shown to increase revenue across all digital platforms by up to 23%.

While consistency throughout your digital channels is a top priority, your social media strategy goes beyond what you post on your own channels — it also should include what your retailers post on theirs. Most retailers lack the expertise and bandwidth to create quality content that’s aligned with your brand standards.

Breaking from your brand standards (whether it be done by you or your retailers) can damage the reputation you have worked hard to build. Guarantee brand integrity by bridging the content gap with your retailers — a unique capability that the social media automation tool ThumbStopper® offers.

Leverage Analytics

Utilize analytic insights to improve your content strategy. Identify what metrics you should look at, such as Reach, Engagement, and Conversions. Define what success means for each of these metrics, and measure your content’s performance against these goals. Adjust your strategy accordingly — tailoring your content to your audience’s preferences will improve its performance and help drive results. 

Many social media automation tools offer analytic insights into your specific content. Tools like ThumbStopper’s Brand Manager™ give you access to valuable localized insights into your retailers’ social analytics — enabling you to see your content’s performance across a broader, yet targeted audience. 

Save Time and Money While Boosting ROI

How Much Does Social Media Automation Cost?

The right social media automation tool will help you streamline the social media management process — saving you valuable time, money, and energy that you can allocate back to managing the rest of your brand’s marketing needs. 

Maximize your ROI by distributing your content to the right audience at the right time. Some tools identify peak posting times for you to increase store traffic and improve content performance. Most automation tools offer scheduling capabilities, some track analytics, and others have more advanced features such as content amplification and syndication

Certain tools like ThumbStopper offer all of these features while helping you further manage your brand’s representation across your retailers’ social channels — saving you the time-consuming task of managing brand compliance yourself.

How Much Does Social Media Automation Cost?

What’s more, if Organic social syndication did have a CPM, ThumbStopper is typically much lower than other comparable targeting and delivery channels.

[Image: Example of Organic Reach Report]

Budgeting for Social Media Automation

How Much Does Social Media Automation Cost?

With different subscription levels and features, social media automation cost varies by platform. Consider these factors when deciding between tools:

  • Your organic social media efforts. Think about this in terms of what you are getting back — consider the new impressions your brand will get and what that would equate to in terms of CPM or CPC, for instance. This way you may be able to make the case to reallocate your efforts from an underperforming paid channel into something like organic social syndication.
  • The features you need to succeed. Create a list of your pain points when it comes to day-to-day tasks and overall strategy creation and execution. Find a tool that offers a comprehensive solution to these issues. 
How Much Does Social Media Automation Cost?
  • The value the platform brings. The tool you choose should make your job easier. When comparing each platform’s features and costs, take into account how much time and money it can save you in the long run. Some social media automation tools create opportunities for co-op advertising, enabling brands and their retailers to share advertising funds and save even more on marketing costs. 
How Much Does Social Media Automation Cost?

Keep in mind that you get what you pay for. Cutting costs by paying for a social media automation tool that doesn’t do what you need can ultimately cause more work for you.

How ThumbStopper Can Help 

How Much Does Social Media Automation Cost?

While many tools can automate your social media efforts, most aren’t designed to cultivate collaboration between retailers and brands — something that ThumbStopper is specifically created to do. We help brands build lasting connections with their retailers and their local communities while increasing brand awareness and saving on marketing costs.

What’s more, our social media automation software’s unique capabilities allow you to refine your digital targeting strategy — helping you make the most of your CPM.

How Much Does Social Media Automation Cost?

At ThumbStopper, we tailor our pricing to your needs. Our social media automation capabilities help you save valuable time and resources — most users spend less than three hours per month on the platform. You’ll also save on the costs of content creation, and should see greater ROI than you would on higher-priced but less effective platforms.

Request a demo to see how ThumbStopper can help you take your social media strategy to the next level.

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Key Points:

 

  • Companies should understand the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to ensure their websites are accessible.
  • Brands that concentrate on accessibility on social media demonstrate care for their customers and build a positive brand reputation.
  • Brands should always consider inclusive design, such as plain, straightforward language, in their social media posts.

 

 

Accessibility may not be a term you usually associate with the internet and social media. You might picture wheelchair ramps, directional signs in braille, or sign language interpreters at live performances. The landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 dictates the legal necessity of these and similar accommodations in public spaces. As we’ve come to rely on the internet for everything from entertainment to buying groceries, it’s become clear that the internet is now also a public space. It must be accessible to everyone. And like other applications of ADA, businesses that do not comply are liable for damages caused by inaccessibility.

 

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are an international set of standards to provide instruction on meeting accessibility needs. It’s important for companies to understand how this applies to their websites, especially if they engage in e-commerce. In terms of social media, the requirements are less concrete. But prioritizing accessibility on your company’s social media is essential to your reputation, even if the legal requirements are uncertain. We’ll look at why it’s important to your customers, how it affects the perception of your brand, and how to make these changes efficiently.

Social Media for All

The cornerstone of accessibility is inclusive design: products or experiences that are accessible for everyone regardless of disability. The most important place where this shows up is on company websites where most users expect to also find links to the brand’s social media profiles. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of websites are not accessible, despite the fact that the application of ADA to the internet is over 20 years old. Making websites accessible is a complex process without the use of specialized software like Accessibe or EqualWeb.

Unlike websites, making sure your social media is accessible is a straightforward, ongoing process. Every social platform has been quick to release optional accessibility features. These features are important to many users even if they don’t rely on them to use social media.

Making your social presence accessible tells users that your brand cares about people, not just profits. It’s the same idea as the push for the representation of different body sizes in fashion or more expansive skin tone ranges in beauty products. Brands that meet the needs of underrepresented groups endear themselves to others as well. And while optimizing your brand website for accessibility might be a larger project you aren’t ready to tackle yet, starting with your social media pages is a great way to show customers that you’re listening to their concerns. 

 

Making Content Accessible

Shifting to accessible content means incorporating inclusive design into your creative process. The practice varies by type of media. For platforms that have graphics or videos with captions, it means not only adjusting each component but also being mindful of how they interact with each other.

For example, YouTube’s automatically generated closed captions and subtitles are often inaccurate. It's one of many examples where the caption generation software has issues picking up strong accents and mumbled words. This could be remedied with handcrafted video transcription services. If that’s not in the budget, the video creator could add their script or transcription to the video description.

None of the technology for accessibility is perfect yet. Teaching computers to digest complex information for human understanding is difficult, and the variations in disabilities further complicate it. The majority of adjustments creators need to make revolve around helping assistive technology better understand their content. Let’s look at how to make different kinds of content accessible. 

Text

  • Use plain language that’s easy to understand 
  • Avoid text in all caps
  • Capitalize the first letter of each word in a hashtag, like #SocialMediaMarketing, a practice called camel-case

Videos

  • Provide descriptive captions. Instead of just displaying the words people on-screen say, explain background noises and other sounds that are relevant to the scene.
  • Add your own subtitles or enable auto-subtitles on the video platform of your choice
  • Use captioning for live videos when possible

Graphics

Distribute Accessible Content

Many users find their new favorite brand through social media. When disabled people (who make up 26% of the population according to the CDC) can’t access your brand’s social posts, you miss the opportunity to connect with a demographic that’s eager to engage in online communities. On a hyper-local level, that kind of connection goes even further.

That’s why ThumbStopper exists to help brands distribute their social content to their retailer network. Retailers can connect with their local audience - with your accessible, branded content - in a more personal way. And since content goes to their page automatically once they sign up, retailers can effortlessly promote your brand online while focusing on running their business. 

Ready to see how ThumbStopper can help your brand improve its reach? Check out our brand reach calculator or book a demo.

 

 

accessibility
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What Is Social Media Automation?
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10 Ways to Automate Your Marketing
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[/et_pb_column]
How Effective Is Your Social Media Strategy
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[/et_pb_column]

Key Points:

 

  • Companies should understand the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to ensure their websites are accessible.
  • Brands that concentrate on accessibility on social media demonstrate care for their customers and build a positive brand reputation.
  • Brands should always consider inclusive design, such as plain, straightforward language, in their social media posts.

 

 

Accessibility may not be a term you usually associate with the internet and social media. You might picture wheelchair ramps, directional signs in braille, or sign language interpreters at live performances. The landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 dictates the legal necessity of these and similar accommodations in public spaces. As we’ve come to rely on the internet for everything from entertainment to buying groceries, it’s become clear that the internet is now also a public space. It must be accessible to everyone. And like other applications of ADA, businesses that do not comply are liable for damages caused by inaccessibility.

 

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are an international set of standards to provide instruction on meeting accessibility needs. It’s important for companies to understand how this applies to their websites, especially if they engage in e-commerce. In terms of social media, the requirements are less concrete. But prioritizing accessibility on your company’s social media is essential to your reputation, even if the legal requirements are uncertain. We’ll look at why it’s important to your customers, how it affects the perception of your brand, and how to make these changes efficiently.

Social Media for All

The cornerstone of accessibility is inclusive design: products or experiences that are accessible for everyone regardless of disability. The most important place where this shows up is on company websites where most users expect to also find links to the brand’s social media profiles. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of websites are not accessible, despite the fact that the application of ADA to the internet is over 20 years old. Making websites accessible is a complex process without the use of specialized software like Accessibe or EqualWeb.

Unlike websites, making sure your social media is accessible is a straightforward, ongoing process. Every social platform has been quick to release optional accessibility features. These features are important to many users even if they don’t rely on them to use social media.

Making your social presence accessible tells users that your brand cares about people, not just profits. It’s the same idea as the push for the representation of different body sizes in fashion or more expansive skin tone ranges in beauty products. Brands that meet the needs of underrepresented groups endear themselves to others as well. And while optimizing your brand website for accessibility might be a larger project you aren’t ready to tackle yet, starting with your social media pages is a great way to show customers that you’re listening to their concerns. 

 

Making Content Accessible

Shifting to accessible content means incorporating inclusive design into your creative process. The practice varies by type of media. For platforms that have graphics or videos with captions, it means not only adjusting each component but also being mindful of how they interact with each other.

For example, YouTube’s automatically generated closed captions and subtitles are often inaccurate. It’s one of many examples where the caption generation software has issues picking up strong accents and mumbled words. This could be remedied with handcrafted video transcription services. If that’s not in the budget, the video creator could add their script or transcription to the video description.

None of the technology for accessibility is perfect yet. Teaching computers to digest complex information for human understanding is difficult, and the variations in disabilities further complicate it. The majority of adjustments creators need to make revolve around helping assistive technology better understand their content. Let’s look at how to make different kinds of content accessible. 

Text

  • Use plain language that’s easy to understand 
  • Avoid text in all caps
  • Capitalize the first letter of each word in a hashtag, like #SocialMediaMarketing, a practice called camel-case

Videos

  • Provide descriptive captions. Instead of just displaying the words people on-screen say, explain background noises and other sounds that are relevant to the scene.
  • Add your own subtitles or enable auto-subtitles on the video platform of your choice
  • Use captioning for live videos when possible

Graphics

Distribute Accessible Content

Many users find their new favorite brand through social media. When disabled people (who make up 26% of the population according to the CDC) can’t access your brand’s social posts, you miss the opportunity to connect with a demographic that’s eager to engage in online communities. On a hyper-local level, that kind of connection goes even further.

That’s why ThumbStopper exists to help brands distribute their social content to their retailer network. Retailers can connect with their local audience – with your accessible, branded content – in a more personal way. And since content goes to their page automatically once they sign up, retailers can effortlessly promote your brand online while focusing on running their business. 

Ready to see how ThumbStopper can help your brand improve its reach? Check out our brand reach calculator or book a demo.

 

 

accessibility
[/et_pb_column]
[/et_pb_column]
What Is Social Media Automation?
[/et_pb_column]
[/et_pb_column]
10 Ways to Automate Your Marketing
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How Effective Is Your Social Media Strategy
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