Utilizing Automation Tools In Summer 2017

It’s almost July, which means it’s really summer time! It’s also the perfect time to check on your business. Still, family is first. Summer vacations, traveling, creating more free-time, nice weather shouldn’t interrupt your business. Even though the kids are out of school, your work and your business won’t change. A little more “day” may be thrown into your day until school resumes. 

Depending on you, your business or your brand, you have a select few defined ways to market yourself. The key is to not lose track of your marketing goals over the summer with traveling, barbecues and pool days are thrown into your already dense calendar. Have you aligned your processes recently to make your summer more enjoyable?

At the very least, we know social media is one way you are marketing in 2017. Note: if you’re on more than 6 social media platforms, you should re-evaluate where you receive the most traffic and re-focus your energy. Consider cutting down on the least effective platform(s). Here is one awesome way to achieve many of your marketing (and life) goals at the same time with an app.

I-F-T-T-T

IFTTT, also known as “If This, Than That” is a great marketing automation tool to enhance and maintain your online presence. It’s not just used for social media as their categories cover home apps like Nest, emailing you based on specific parameters, integration with Google apps, timely reminders for life and your home and hundreds of others!

Justin, our digital marketing strategist, uses IFTTT regularly for several aspects of his life—daily reminders, music and social media. We asked him on a coffee break to explain the process behind it and here’s what he had to say:

“IFTTT? Yes, I use it daily in fact. I can’t recall how I discovered it, maybe a Google search, but there are infinite possibilities. They have “applets” where you create a cause-and-effect situation. For example, if the weather calls for rain, you set an applet to email you that morning with a reminder to bring a rain coat to work. Or if there’s a certain Craigslist ad created around a truck you want to buy, it’ll automatically email you a link to that Craigslist ad.

I have mine set to cross-post my social media. If I’m on any platform I can add “#Twitter” for it to be duplicated onto my Twitter and “#in” to be posted to my LinkedIn as well. With Spotify, I have an applet set to add a song I favorite to a Google spreadsheet. Another big one I use is an hourly reminder to do 10 pushups and drink water. You can’t argue with it, it’s a set-and-forget app and I love it! Okay, my coffee is ready. You guys good? I gotta do my pushups now and it’s 4:30 on the dot.”

We found one of his recent Instagram posts from March. He made this prime example in Snapchat and saved to his camera roll. Then, he cross-posted it by adding “#Twitter” and “#in.”

How much would it help you or your family to know you could:

• Sync your new Instagram posts to a Pinterest board? Done.
• Save new iOS contacts to your Google contacts? Done.
• Track your daily Fitbit activity in a Google spreadsheet? Done.
• (Via hue) Turn your home lights on everyday at a certain time? Done.
• Get a mobile notification from ESPN with your team’s final score? Done.
• Tell Alexa to find your phone? Done.
• Get yourself out of an awkward situation with a scheduled phone call? Done.
• Post your Instagram posts to Twitter as a native picture? Done.
• Automatically save links to your new Pocket favorites in Evernote? Done.
• Automatically create new reminders on your iPhone for emails you starred in Gmail? Done.

This app has everything for everyone. We suggest downloading the app right now. Check out which applets can make your life easier. That way, you can focus on the more important Summer events. For what it’s worth, we’re not affiliated with IFTTT in any way. We just think it’s that bad ass of an app and clearly worth sharing to our audience!

Thank you for your attention! For more info on IFTTT and automating marketing tools in 2017, click below to download our eBook!