Whether you embraced online sales during the pandemic or not, your car dealership must have a strong social media presence.
More shoppers than ever are starting their car search online and will be more likely to visit your location if you have a strong presence on the platforms they use every day. This can be tricky, each social platform has different functions and various audiences, but when you capture sales from social leads, the time and energy are worth it.
What Are the Goals of Your Dealership?
How are you engaging with your local audience? While social media is a global source of information, you need to engage with and attract your local customers. Your goals need to include how you’re going to do this and where you will showcase various aspects of your dealership, including the vehicles that you have to offer.
Currently, Facebook Marketplace is one of the most popular places to buy and sell cars online. This is where you should begin if you don’t have a social presence, but you need to make sure you find ways to engage with your local community in many ways. Create a calendar of social postings and events to make sure you stay relevant and present in front of the customers who will eventually walk through your door.
What is Your Social Media Audience?
What type of car dealership do you own? Are you a high-end luxury dealer or one of the mainstream brands with several affordable models to offer? The difference in who you are can translate to the difference in the demographic you’re working to attract. If your target audience is older and well-established, Snapchat and TikTok won’t be of much use to you. On the other hand, if you’re targeting a younger crowd, these two social sites could be helpful.
Ensure your website showcases the fact that your customers can find you on social media as well. It’s also extremely important to ensure all of your business information is accurate to support the Google searches that can take place. If you need a boost in viewers, go ahead and pay for your spot in the Google searches for the keywords you use in your content.
Social Media Requires Consistency
When you engage with your local community on social media, you must be consistent. This means posting regularly to stay relevant. Post about the vehicles you offer, post how-to videos about the features of the models you have in stock and host a few question and answer sessions to give your audience something new and different throughout the week. The more you stay in front of users, the better chance you have of creating sales from social leads.
Some social sites have made it more difficult for companies to stay in the newsfeeds of their users. This doesn’t mean you should ignore these sites. Instead, make sure you have tons of content on these sites to ensure customers can find you and what you have to offer more easily. You’ll create an organic relationship through social media this way, which is one of the most trusted ways to connect with new buyers.
Reviews and Inquiries are Important
If customers take the time to give you a review, it’s imperative you respond to their review quickly. When customers offer inquiries and ask you questions, make sure you respond and answer these questions quickly and intelligently. These are two ways that your customers are trying to engage with you and build a relationship, which means you need to do your part and respond to any information and questions they might have for you.
Along with the customer engagement focus of your social media strategy, you need to ensure your content is fresh and significant to your dealership. What makes your location stand out from the rest of the dealers in town? This is what your audience wants to know and will use to help them decide where to buy the next car they will drive.
Review Your Social Media Metrics Regularly
Knowing how your social media content is performing is key to the success of your strategy. You can throw noodles at the wall and see what sticks or you can have a well-designed and thoughtful approach to your social content. The metrics will help you figure out where you need to make changes and improve your connection with the audience you’ve created. Check out the analytics section of Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to see where you stand.
You can improve your metrics and engagement with more interactive posts for your customers. Whether you offer a quiz with a prize at the end or you set up a poll with questions for customers to answer, you’re giving them an opportunity to offer feedback to you. Use social media to enhance the experience of your potential customers who want to know what to expect when they visit your car dealership.
