Out of the more than 1 billion users on Instagram every month, how many are looking at your dealership? According to J & L Marketing, more than 200 million of those 1 billion visit at least one business profile every single day.
While your dealership doesn’t need to reach all of these users, you do want to entice your local audience to visit your Instagram page. This means you need a proven formula and some of the best practices that can deliver you the impactful visibility you need on this social media site. With that in mind, here are some things you can do.
Have You Optimized your Profile?
Have you filled out all of the pertinent information for your dealership? When a user visits your page, do they find your profile and business information easily? Do you have links to your website and identifiable information that’s easily associated with your business? If your profile isn’t optimized the content you share won’t matter. Social media users aren’t going to search hard for your pages or information. You’re competing with other dealerships for customers and need to make sure it’s easy for them to find you and know your location.
Make the Customer the Center of Your Posts
That big smile that crosses the face of a customer when they drive away in a new vehicle is something you should capture and share on your feed. Potential customers love to see their friends and neighbors celebrating the purchase made at your dealership. This is certainly one of the Instagram best practices that can help you bring more people in. When your next round of shoppers sees familiar faces, they feel like they can visit your location and have a shared experience. Include your customers in your posts.
Use the Go Live Features to Your Benefit
Your customers can interact with your dealership in real-time when you use the Go Live feature of this social media platform. Before you hit the button and start a live feed or chat, you need to prepare for this event. One way to do that is to conduct a few polls that will give you some questions you can answer if none of your followers ask anything during the live session. You should also find a quiet place to conduct your video and prepare to hit the Go Live button. Consider the background and make sure you don’t have any chaos taking place during your live video feed.
Bring More Followers Through Your Team
Have you encouraged your sales team to post on the company’s Instagram page? Do you try and showcase their talents and what makes them unique? Let your team take over your posts for a day or two and feature it as a “day in the life” series. The more you can show your team, the more comfortable your audience will become with the people that work at your dealership. In addition to allowing your team to post to your account, encourage them to share your content to their personal accounts as well.
Keep Your Posts Fresh
There are some regular posts you need to make, especially when you want to showcase the cars you’ve got for sale, but you need to keep things fresh. Create interactive posts, offer seasonal tips and tricks, get ready for the next holiday, and show this with your social media feeds. Followers want to see that you’re doing something new and interesting. Many customers only buy cars once every few years, but they come to your dealership for service regularly. What can they expect when they come in during their next oil change?
Get Hashtags into the Mix
A lot of social media users check trending hashtags to see what’s new and relevant. Is your dealership one of these trending things? Are there ways you can link to trending topics through hashtags? Use these in your posts. If you’re not sure how to use them or where to find them, a great place to start is Hashtagify. This is where you’ll find the top trending hashtags that can work great for your dealership. Add these to your posts and see how quickly you entice new viewers.
Change the Way You Show Inventory
Do you show the same video every time you add a vehicle to your inventory? While the consistency of going through the same steps and processes when each car model shows up at your dealership works well on your website, you should change it up for your Instagram posts. Take a vehicle out on a test drive and video the experience. Show a family vehicle filled with luggage to let customers know how much stuff fits inside. Give your users a virtual experience through your posts on this social media site.
Stick to a Schedule<
If your audience knows you’re posting a series of videos at the same time every week, they are more likely to head to your account and see what you’ve posted than if you randomly posted content. Of course, you also need to keep your feed fresh and post often to give your viewers more of what they want. Whether you post to this social media site several times a day or only once a day, create a schedule and keep it consistent. This helps you keep your audience informed and brings your pages to their news feeds.
Use the Data at Your Fingertips
Your Instagram Business account comes with a variety of tools and a massive amount of data. You have access to reports regarding your content, advertising, your community, and the activity on your account. Use this to your advantage. If you have more people reacting and viewing your silly posts with your team, give them more posts that are similar to that. If your how-to videos do well, keep them coming. If a specific age group checks your Instagram posts more often than others, cater to that audience. Use the data to your advantage to get the most out of this social media platform.
