Last updated 3 months ago
With more and more businesses and dealerships on social media, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to make your brand stand out. On Twitter alone, there are 100,000 tweets per minute, and more than 684,000 pieces of content are shared on Facebook every 60-seconds. What can you do to ensure your dealership is able to cut through the clutter and engage with consumers on a daily basis? In short – create great content! It’ll take time for you to see the results, however, if you include our tips below in your social media strategy you’ll start to see much better engagement within your online communities.
Think visuals.
After spending plenty of time writing your latest blog post, you want people to share it, right? Of course! An interesting, relevant, well-written post can earn you plenty of shares. Your readers will most likely repost your article on various social networks, like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest or LinkedIn. But these days, you need an eye-catching image to get noticed on social channels. Add a picture to capture consumer attention, get more clicks, and ultimately, more traffic back to your dealership’s website and blog.
Mix it up.
Sure, you’ve probably got some brand messaging that you want to share. However, that doesn’t mean that you should essentially write the same thing over and over again to drive the point home. Share blog posts, photos, videos, or other interesting articles to ensure you’re presenting varied content to your online community. Don’t be afraid to curate posts from others as well as pushing your own content. The key is to have a steady stream of interesting, helpful, or entertaining content on your blog and social channels to keep customers coming back for more.
Show, don’t tell.
Good writing skills are important, however, it’s also important not to miss an opportunity to use visuals instead of text. Images and video are big drivers of engagement online. So if you’ve got a new car to show off – take some pictures, or make a video showing some of the most innovative features. Always look for ways to show a story, not just tell it. Capture a great photo, or make a cool video and allow that to be the focal point of your article or blog.
Incorporating more images or video into your dealership’s social media efforts can be a great way to stand out from the crowd. How is your dealership using visuals in its social media strategy? Share your tips in the comments below.
Last updated 3 months ago
Whether your dealership has an established content strategy, or is just starting to build a plan, we’ve put together four tips sure to improve your overall efforts. After all, content marketing is an important part of your dealership’s marketing strategy – fueling your social channels and establishing your businesses as a leader in your industry and community.
Repurpose Content Across Channels
Creating great content takes time. So don’t be afraid to repurpose your best work across your dealership’s various marketing channels. Turn vehicle blog posts into consumer guides. Turn the consumer guide into a slideshare presentation that can be emailed to customers who recently purchased the featured vehicle. If your dealership’s hosting a “Get to Know Your Vehicle” night – send a link to the guide along with the invitation. Film the in-store presentation and put it on YouTube. You get the idea.
Keep a Consistent Schedule
Keeping a consistent schedule is one of the most important parts of your dealership’s content strategy, second only to delivering awesome content to your audience. Establish your dealership as a leader in your industry, community and business networks by regularly churning out interesting and engaging content. One of the best ways to manage this is with a detailed editorial calendar, working at least one month in advance. That way you’re never left wondering what to write about!
Put Your Community to Work
Your fans and followers can be a great source of content inspiration – don’t be afraid to put them to work. Ask direct questions about how your dealership could improve, what new features they’d like to see in new vehicle models, or what topics they’d like to read more about on the blog. By encouraging conversation in your community, you’ll be able to better understand the way your customers want to interact with your dealership – and create better, more targeted content in the process.
Get the Numbers
When managing an online community, it’s important to get to know your audience and what types of content they most like to share. Survey customers, monitor ‘Likes,’ retweets, comments and shares, and check in with your audience to ensure that you’re always sharing information they want to read (and maybe even pass on to their networks). Pay attention to the times you’re sharing updates and how much engagement each different type of updates receives to determine if there is a specific date and time to maximize the response from your audience.
How is your dealership building engagement with your content marketing efforts? Share your tips in the comments below.
Last updated 3 months ago
It can be hard to keep track of everything that happens in a week. That’s why we endlessly roam the Internet in search of some of the most interesting stories from the automotive and social media industries – so you don’t have to. Take a look at what we’ve found this week:
Honda’s Shoestring Pinterest Campaign Attracts Millions
“For most people who are on Pinterest, their boards are filled with aspirations – activities they’d like to do, recipes they’d like to make, places they’d like to visit. What would you do if someone told you they would pay for you to do anything from one of your Pinterest boards? Chances are you’d be pretty excited. Honda made such a proposal to five influential pinners for its Pintermission campaign, which earned the carmaker first place in the Best Use of Pinterest category in PR Daily’s Digital PR & Social Media Awards…”
Why Volvo Believes in Instagram
“The visual Web has arrived, and now brands like Volvo are figuring out what works for them. For Volvo, its image strategy revolves around the popular social network Instagram, now owned by Facebook. It’s been active there for 18 months and has amassed 9,000 followers to the VolvoCarsUS account by posting a couple of photos per week. Unlike other social networks where engagement strategies aren’t all about the product, all Volvo posts to Instagram are cool shots of its cars…”
Social Interactions Affect Brand Perception
“If brands want to improve their customer perception, having a well-rounded social communications practice that serves both as a marketing outlet and as a place for consumers to solve service issues will help. In a new study, J.D. Power and Associates measured consumer experience working with companies through their social platform for both marketing and service needs… ‘Hardly any companies are doing equally well on social marketing and social servicing… and that has a negative impact on brand perception…’”
How to Build Powerful In-Person Networks from Your Social Contacts
“Would you like to make lasting contacts from your social media friends and fans? According to a Harvard Business Review blog post entitled, ‘Three New Networks for the Digital Age,’ just having an online network isn’t enough. In this post, I’ll explore steps you can take to turn those online contacts into offline business relationships…”
Turn Your Toughest Customer into Your Biggest Fan
“Watch out! Here comes Gladys. Or maybe it’s Tim, Nelly, or Nigel. Whatever the name, this client is cranky and snappish, making even the most skilled professionals run for cover. Is it possible to convert this cantankerous customer into a fan?...”
Blogging and Marketing Lessons from the Biggest Commercial Blogs in the Business
“It is no longer enough to have a website with simple landing pages of content in order to be an ‘online business.’ Any business that plans to make an impact online must master the art of blogging and social media if they want to build a relationship with a connected, wired community. Here are three lessons from sites that can teach you how to leverage your online appearance and connect with your audience…”
Last updated 3 months ago
As your dealership continues to get more involved with social media, you’ve probably noticed there are certain things you need to do often within your communities in order to be successful. We share our 5 tips for success below:
Target Influencers
Look for ways to connect with influencers online and build relationships with them. As a dealership, that means you’ll likely want to engage with key people in your local community, as well as car writers, and consumer bloggers who have a similar target audience. Because these individuals are well known and respected in their areas or expertise, one retweet or comment from them could allow your dealership to potentially reach hundreds of thousands of Twitter or Facebook users almost instantly.
Get to Know Your Fans and Followers
Make a point to get to know those who are following you online. By reading about your customers’ other interests, it’s easy to look for ways to develop a rapport. (Sharing jokes, or other relevant information is a great way to do this.) Positive dialogue with your customers on social media – even just retweeting or commenting on their posts – encourages a deeper connection, builds trust, and fosters customer loyalty.
Always Respond to Customer Feedback
It’s easy to thank customers for their positive comments or reviews, but can be challenging to respond to negative posts. Resist the urge to skip the negatives and instead respond to every post in a timely fashion. By doing so, you’re showing your network that you value their feedback and encourage open dialogue. If you’re unsure about how to respond to customers online we shared our tips in this blog post.
Know the Best Times to Share Information
Every network is different, so do some experimenting to determine the best time to update your Facebook page or Twitter account. The times will likely be different for each social network. When doing your research, don’t forget to test times outside of business hours – in the evenings and on weekends – to determine the best time to maximize audience engagement. Tools like Hootsuite, and our miSocial multi-channel marketing platform make it easy to schedule your social posts to continue the conversation even when you’re away from your desk.
Look for Ways to Expand Your Network
We mentioned Facebook and Twitter in our suggestions above, as they’re two of the post popular social networks. However, that doesn’t mean they’re the only social networks that your dealership needs to be on. In fact, there are plenty of other social media sites, like Pinterest, Foursquare and Google+ that could help your dealership connect with new prospects and customers. Always be on the look out for emerging social hotspots by monitoring conversations. You never know when you’ll discover a new place to build a community.
How is your dealership working to build its presence on social networks? Share your social media habits in the comments below!
Last updated 3 months ago
Consumers rarely trust companies – and that includes your dealership. They’re skeptical of marketing claims and instead look to peer reviews when researching products online. Yet, as a general rule, consumers do business with companies they know, like and trust. That means it’s important that your dealership work to build and nurture trust as consumers move through the buying cycle. But too often we make these common marketing mistakes that can undermine your efforts. Read the mistakes below - and learn how your dealership can fix them!
You’ve told a white lie.
We’ve all been there. A customer comes into your dealership and shares a horrible experience they had with a competitor. Because of their poor experience, they’re now in your dealership hoping you can help them out. Too often dealers will tell the customer they regret that they had such a bad experience. But do you, really? Aren’t you happy this consumer found their way to you? Be honest. You’re happy to see the consumer, and of course you can help them out. There’s nothing to be ashamed of. Even the smallest white lie can undermine trust – so don’t do it.
There’s too much fine print.
It’s amazing how many companies make a seemingly fabulous claim – only to have it accompanied by an asterisk and a paragraph of fine print. When that happens consumers are naturally skeptical. Thanks to the Internet, it’s fairly easy for customers to research products, services, vehicles and dealerships before making a purchase. Therefore, it’s best to be transparent. Focus on what’s unique about your dealership and your vehicles and communicate that to your customers. Leverage our content marketing to show the value you deliver on a daily basis.
You focused on the sale, not the customer.
When a customer visits your dealership, it’s natural for your staff to want to make a sale. In fact, customers expect it. However, they also expect the individual to honestly evaluate their needs and tell the truth. No one likes a sales person who’s too pushy, or who uses high-pressure sales tactics. Train your employees to think of each customer contact as a potential long-term investment, rather than a short term opportunity to some fast cash. This puts the emphasis on relationship building – and there’s no better way to build trust.
How does your dealership work to build trust with your customers? Share your tips in the comments below.
