If as a dealership you’re reading this, we can assume that your dealership already has a presence on social media. How effective is your current social media marketing campaign? How do you measure the success of your social media? There are some common mistakes that auto dealerships make on social media whether they’re new to it or they’ve been using it for years. Keep reading to find out how to fix these mistakes and increase your effectiveness on social media.
1. You haven’t defined a strategy or goals.
Without a social media marketing strategy, it’s hard to keep any sense of consistency throughout your posts. It’s also impossible to meet your social media goals if you don’t set them. Your goal might be to increase brand awareness, gain more followers, increase engagement with car buyers, or provide more useful information. These are all great goals, but be careful not to focus too much on trying to gain followers that have no interest in your dealership or buying a car. It’s better to have a smaller group of engaged followers than a large group of followers that ignore your dealership’s posts. Using a strategy to achieve certain goals can help guide your posts.
2. You’re too self-focused.
This is a nice way to say that your dealership spends too much of its time talking about itself and trying to sell its vehicles. Many social media users follow company pages to receive exclusive discounts and coupons, but you should be giving your followers more than just that. Using the famous 80/20 rule works well here. Don’t post about yourself more than 20% of the time. Try to share valuable content and useful links for the other 80% of your posts. Your goal should be to give consumers the information they’re looking for conveniently.
3. Your posts aren’t engaging.
Potential car buyers don’t want to see every brand of car and the services that you offer in every post that your dealership makes on social media. Pictures of feature vehicles and videos of client testimonials can add an eye-catching visual aspect to your posts. If you want to get more creative and appeal to a younger age group, you could try using humor through memes and GIFs. Another key aspect of quality posts is sharing original, useful content for your followers. Focus on what they want to know more about, and answer their questions. You can find out their interests and questions by asking for feedback on social media or through emails. Think about how your dealership can answer specific questions or offer a fresh perspective for potential car buyers.
4. You haven’t perfected the timing.
The time of day that you post on social media can have a big impact on how many and what kind of people see it. People with different lifestyles and different ages check social media at different times of the day. Do some testing to find out when you get the most engagement and impressions from followers. It’s hard to make an impact on consumers if you post when they’re not online. Your dealership should update potential customers regularly on social media through consistent posts. However, you don’t want to annoy your followers with too much information.
5. You’re not where your target audience is.
Are you targeting young people? Instagram and Snapchat are where they spend the most time. Do you want to target men? They use Twitter more than women do according to the Pew Research Center. Do some research to find out which social media platforms people used based on their age, gender, income level, and more to learn where your dealership should be targeting. Reaching consumers on their preferred social media platform can have a big impact on your brand awareness and engagement.
6. You’re not putting in enough effort.
Don’t give up on your social media marketing strategy before it has a chance to make a real difference. Switching from one strategy to another too often could confuse followers or counteract the work you put in. You should also be sure that your posts are designed to be mobile-friendly since people frequently check social media when they’re on-the-go. To create meaningful relationships with your potential customers, you have to put in some time. Have conversations with potential car buyers, and answer their questions quickly and completely. Responding with personal messages can also help to humanize your auto dealership and allow people to relate to it more.
Social media is a great tool to create relationships with your market of potential car buyers. However, it can take some time and work to make it most effective. If your dealership is struggling to overcome some of these challenges, try the tips provided, or call AutoJini at (515) 232-2024 to see how we can help!