It’s hard to focus on social media marketing when trying to run a business. Typically there's enough business needs and issues that newer marketing options can seem overwhelming or out of reach to manage.
It’s harder still for small business owners to focus on marketing on multiple social media networks for their business without it interfering with getting critical day-to-day work done. There is hope, though, to utilize the benefits social media marketing and yet be efficient at the same time. One way to streamline parts of your core social media sharing is by using free IFTTT "recipes." No, we are not cooking dinner, but we are cooking up some great online tech tools for efficiency!
What is IFTTT (and How is it Pronounced?)
IFTTT (pronounced as letters: I-F-T-T-T) is an acronym for “If This Then That.” It’s a website and an online service that connects the disparate elements of the Internet and social networks, and makes it easy to connect them together to get things done and improve efficiencies. It can create automatic backups of key items you perform, share information for you to social networks, and track all that information as well.
How Does IFTTT Work?
By taking the simple statement “If this then that”, IFTTT users can connect various social networks and services together as recipes.
Example: If “I post a picture on Facebook” then “share that picture on Twitter.”
That’s a recipe for cross-posting content from Facebook to Twitter. And that’s just a small sample of what IFTTT can do. For businesses, this recipe alone can literally save hours of time, effort, and money weekly while keeping the business updated in the eyes of both social network audiences.
It works in an easy and intuitive way. Business owners and marketers do not have to know any coding. There are common recipes to choose from that you can select and use within minutes. In addition to that, there are personal recipes that users can concoct themselves, as well as public user-created recipes.
Examples of Recipes Businesses Can Use Right Now
Let's look at some specific recipes that content managers and businesses can use immediately.
Keeping All Social Networks in the Loop
A business with multiple social networks obviously wants to keep each social community abreast of what’s going on. Instead of posting to multiple accounts individually, it’s possible to use an IFTTT solution like this:
If “I post to my blog” then “update Facebook.” Of course, Facebook can be replaced with Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, or any number of other social networks and services. Set them up once, and they just run automatically going forward!
Keeping Up With the Competition
Businesses can use their competition’s RSS feed as the trigger and an email as the action. Alternatively, this recipe can center around a keyword.
For example, if “competitor creates blog post with the keyword “upcoming”” then “send an email to Gmail account.” Or the action can be “send an SMS alert.”
Collaboration at Its Best and Most Convenient
There are any number of recipes that can help with collaboration. For example, a team member can update a shared Google calendar with new information, appointments, and schedules.
If “I send IFTTT a text message” then “Update this Google Calendar.” Of course, there are a tremendous amount of options for collaboration beyond this example.
Put it In a Spreadsheet
It’s possible to put all types of information into a spreadsheet. The benefits of this are uncountable, but here’s an example. If “I gain a new contact on LinkedIn” then “add it to a Google Drive spreadsheet.” The trigger of this statement can be almost anything else.
This recipe is also excellent for archiving. With it, it’s possible to archive all Facebook posts and Twitter tweets.
Cross posting Pictures
Not every site likes pictures. Some sites turn them into links rather than show the picture. For example, the only way to get an Instagram picture on Twitter is through IFTTT since Twitter turns Instagram pictures into links.
A recipe like If “I post to Instagram” then “auto-post to Twitter,” is the only way since IFTTT will post it as a picture to the Twitter feed.
IFTTT is not only a boon to any business, it can become a necessary tool for getting things done. Any business or content manager can find a use for it. Even the examples listed here don’t even touch on the possibilities.
That's a wrap on this helpful little tool called IFTTT. Available with lots of power for free, it's a tool you should spend 30 minutes on and then it simply runs on auto-pilot giving you lots of efficiencies while you carry on with other duties.
Are you using IFTTT? Let me know what your favorite recipe is!
