Target prospects on Facebook
This is a must, especially with 84% of your consumers on Facebook. Place ads to reach consumers who have indicated they are in the market for a car. You can limit these selections to geographical areas close to your dealership, by vehicle type, gender, consumer interests, and more. The investment is well worth it: car ads have click-through rates twice as high as the average Facebook ad.
The importance of customer feedback
Encourage your customers to share their comments on your social networks. According to a study conducted by DealerRater and Dataium, car buyers are 90 % more likely to visit your website and 5.3 X more likely to visit your dealership if your comments are positive. Just as important, respond to negative reviews. Consumers who have had a bad experience want to be heard and prompt attention will help mitigate the damage. Be sure to monitor review sites and social networks, especially during off-peak hours so you don't miss anything. Negative reviews are 19% more likely to be written on a Saturday, Sunday or Monday after a bad experience at the weekend and you don't want these complaints falling through the cracks.
Reach millennials with Instagram
A survey conducted by Facebook has revealed that millennials are leaving Facebook and turning more to Instagram. Instagram, which is mainly used on mobile devices, is all about taking, sharing and uploading photos and videos. Instagram offers an excellent platform for creatively sharing your brand story. For example, share photos that allow consumers to imagine themselves in the moment - a photo of one of your vehicles at the beach, a photo of one of your vehicles at a sporting event, camping, by a lake, or any other creative way you can think of to show the lifestyle the vehicle represents.
Produce content on YouTube
84 % of car intentionalists plan to watch a video the next time they want to change their vehicle. Motorists are looking for information and comparing models, safety features, options, finishes and other criteria to help them make a decision. Although videos should be integrated into your website, they should be hosted on a channel such as YouTube for more organic visibility.
Competitions and promotions
Again, social media isn't just about blatant advertising to show how great you are, it's about creating content to engage consumers. However, that doesn't mean you shouldn't promote your sales and special offers. Everyone loves deals and discounts, so promote them. Be creative and reward your fans with promotions and competitions only available on your Facebook page or other social accounts.
Storytelling and social networks
It's no longer enough to post and distribute content: you have to create social links. Telling stories on social networks is a perfect way of interacting with your audience to develop relationships and build brand loyalty. Use social platforms as a discussion channel rather than an advertising channel. Share your experiences and humanise your brand. For example, post videos of staff members - the face of your company. Share photos showing your support for local charities.
Be talkative
You've posted great content, you tell stories, you share fun photos and more. But are you interacting with your fans? Make sure you respond to tweets, thanking those who share your content, answering questions and - most importantly - complaints. Social networks evolve at a frenetic pace - and people expect a quick response to their queries. Don't wait a week to respond. Consumers expect quick answers to their questions on social media. If you don't monitor it continuously, you risk losing customers forever.
Add a dash of Pinterest to your social strategy
Most marketers favour certain popular social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Pinterest is best known for having a larger female base, with recipes, beauty tips and decorating ideas. However, Pinterest is very interesting for the automotive industry for a number of reasons. Firstly, because it has such a large female audience, what better way to attract women to dealerships? Pinterest is also great for boosting your SEO presence by sharing web pages, photos of your dealership, or pinning blog posts. This will drive more traffic to your site.
Using Twitter to boost sales
Twitter continues to be a popular choice among automotive consumers. Recent research by Canvs has revealed that over 327,000 automotive-related tweets are sent daily, and 75 % of these are directly related to purchase intent. Thanks to keyword targeting, these signals can be intercepted and direct messages and advertising can be sent to consumers who have expressed an intention to buy.
Give yourself 100 %
Social media marketing clearly offers huge benefits to the automotive industry - more brand visibility, more leads and, ultimately, more sales. But you need to be 100 % committed to maintaining a social media strategy. Once you start building a fan base of social followers, you need to constantly interact with them. If you go several days without posting or responding to comments, you will quickly lose social credibility. If you don't, you can be sure that your competitors will.
What are your thoughts on this? What other social tips would you recommend to marketers in the automotive industry?
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