You can’t be a car dealership in the 2010s and not utilize social media marketing. However, there’s more to an automotive social media strategy than just posting a picture of a car with a link to inventory (but you already know that). To succeed in the cutthroat digital world, you need to be the best at what you do. The social strategists here at Dealer Authority are experts at helping you do just that.
Here are the top five strategies our experts keep in mind when crafting a personalized social strategy for your dealership.
Integration is Key
It’s one thing to have social media pages—it’s another to integrate these pages with your website and brand mission. The best automotive social media campaigns succeed precisely because they’re more than social media campaigns: they’re complete brand experiences built around today’s social consumers and popular digital platforms. It’s not about showcasing a car’s unique features; it’s about letting customers have a cohesive, interactive experience moving from one of your sites to another. You want your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and website pages all to reflect your brand, your values, and your unique personal flair. Without integration, customers will be lost.
Include Video
Video is becoming increasingly more important in the digital age. Knowing that customers are researching more online makes video a key component for your social media strategy. Danielle Shamos, VP of Revenue West Coast stated at Social Media Week Los Angeles that:
- 4x as many consumers prefer watching videos about a product to reading about it
- 65% of automotive shoppers report narrowing down their car choices after watching a video.
But that’s not all. The latest data from Google shows that vehicle research and purchase decisions are increasingly influenced by video. More than half of auto shoppers watch 30 minutes or more of videos as part of their vehicle research.
Car shoppers agree that videos play an important role in introducing them to new brands and vehicles, with 47% saying that they first heard about a specific car by watching online videos. In terms of decision-making, 65% reported that they narrowed down their options after watching a video. The top types of videos car buyers watch include test drives, specs, and features videos, and vehicle interior and exterior walkthroughs.
Videos can help your dealership advance in the brand discovery and consideration stages, connecting customers to you that much more quickly. It really goes without saying that you should consider adding video to your marketing mix.
Focus on Local
If you’re a dealership in rural Michigan, you’re not going to want to advertise to drivers in suburban California. Also, you’re going to want to pique people’s interests in your dealership by highlighting local events and local sights. Use your location to connect with potential customers. Are there any charity events or beloved local charities you can support by hosting a fundraiser over your Facebook page? Is there a restaurant near your dealership that makes incredible tacos you can give a shout-out to on Instagram? Think outside the box and include user-generated content (such as a first-time car owner posing with her car), geo-tags, and customer spotlights.
Your social media followers want to have a personal connection to your brand and build trust with your business. The more you enhance that connection through local content, the more likely the shopper is to think of your dealership when they are in the market for a new vehicle.
Use Proactive Communication
Automotive social media is a great place to connect and engage with customers and generate leads—so you need to make sure you’re doing it right. Quick response time is incredibly important, as is asking questions, showing interest, and being polite. The social team at Dealer Authority knows how to make and keep connections with customers online so that they can show up to your dealership primed and ready to interact.
Utilize Facebook Ads
A major benefit of Facebook advertising is its ability to reach your exact audience. Facebook is the most targeted form of advertising. You can market to people by age, interests, behavior, and location. If you really know your customers, you can use Facebook advertising to engage them.
Another major benefit of Facebook advertising is that it is one of the cheapest forms of advertising. You can literally spend $5 and reach 1,000 people. It does not make sense to spend more in radio ads, television commercials, billboards, and other traditional media to reach the same audience. Facebook ads increase brand awareness, are fast and relatively easy to implement, and can help you generate more leads.
It isn’t impossible to create a strong social media strategy on your own, but developing a plan as an independent business will not allow you to access third-party data and your budget invested will be limited. Take the brain damage out of this process and let the expert social strategists here at Dealer Authority do the heavy lifting on your behalf so you can focus on what you need to: selling more cars.