Spend Time With Your Loved Ones Without Feeling "Guilty"

Thanksgiving is here again.  Although Americans tend to hustle and bustle to and fro, this is one of my favorite times of year because it's a day when most of the country actually steps aside from business - at least momentarily.    Government offices close down.  Many professional offices close down.  And, even some retail shops close - at least for part of the day.  I look at Thanksgiving as a day I get to spend with family and friends.  It's a day when I can step away from the computer monitor.  It's a day when I can enjoy the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  If we're being completely honest, it's a day I spend a good bit of time in front of my stove - doing one of the things I really enjoy.  

I can already hear some of the questions as I type this.  You're a marketing company - how can you not be marketing your client's Black Friday sale?  Your client's weekly podcast airs on Thursdays, how can you you not get it posted and marketed on Thursday?  

The answer to those couple of questions, my friend?  Automation.  

I know I should be pushing my client's Black Friday sale.  I also know that it's a little difficult to work my laptop from the kitchen counter while I'm trying to make sure my gravy isn't lumpy.  If we're talking about level of importance, if I'm going to do one thing well Thanksgiving Day, I really need to make sure the gravy isn't lumpy.  All kidding aside, through automation - both via website updates and social media push, I set everything to post automatically while I was in the office the day before.  While I'm at the stove constantly stirring my simmering gravy to avoid lumps, my client's website is posting a blog post.  Their Twitter is tweeting.  Their Facebook is updating.  And, it is all happening without the need for me to physically be in front of a computer.  As for the podcast, it's a similar situation - albeit through different services.

Sure, there may be some follow-up required.  What if a customer has a question about the Black Friday sale for my client?  This is where auto responders come in handy.  You can set your social media feeds to respond to a customer with an automated response, and set your notifications to text or e-mail you accordingly.  Anticipating that people may be asking about the Black Friday sale, the automated response could thank the customer for contacting the company and link them to a page with specific information and FAQs about the sale. .

While some people may not be fond of auto responders, they also realize that it is a nationally-recognized holiday, and can hopefully find what they need in your prepared FAQs.  Assuming the FAQs are able to answer whatever question a customer had, you have successfully automated the process and negated the need for you to step away from your family and friends to address the situation.  If the customer is unable to find an answer to their question, the page can then prompt for further follow-up.  Only under the "further follow-up" scenario would you potentially need to contact a customer.

I've used scheduling features for blog posts, which are included as basic features through WordPress and Squarespace.  Facebook includes an option for a business page to schedule a post.  Although Twitter does not have a scheduled tweet function, there are outside services which allow you to schedule tweets to post at a later date and time.  

Take some time to look into the options that fit your specific needs.  If you don't get to incorporate them in time for Thanksgiving, remember that Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, etc. are just around the corner.  

Happy Thanksgiving from those of us here at Sidekick Media Services.  

Sidekick Media Services offers a variety of services - from web design, to social media, to audio production, to full-service video production and live streaming. We'd be happy to consult with you about your project!