Nowadays if your dealership is not active on social media, you’re missing a key part of your marketing mix. Social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube allow your dealership to build an engaged community and fuel conversation.

Most dealers are using these platforms, but to put it bluntly, they’re doing it wrong.

The goal of this piece is to educate dealers on properly using social media to build a community, create engaging social content and understand their social audiences.

The first step: understanding social media and how it’s works.

social-media

 

How It Works

Social media is far more than just a place where your dealership can mirror ads you’re posting in newspapers.

You can advertise on social media, but it’s important to understand that is not what we’re discussing here. To learn more about advertising on social media click here: http://www.edealer.ca/auto-advertising-on-facebook/

With that in mind, I’d like to introduce the social media rule of thirds: https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-rule-of-thirds/

The social media rule of thirds is a great guideline to follow and will give your dealership social pages a healthy content balance.

⅓ of your social content promotes your business, converts readers, and generates profit.

⅓ of your social content should surface and share ideas and stories from thought leaders in your industry or like-minded businesses.

⅓ of your social content should be based on personal interactions and build your personal brand.

If each day you can share three posts, one of each type on your social channels, you’re already on the road to success. Learn more social media best practices like post frequency here: https://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-social-media/best-practices

Judging The Book By It’s Cover

The first touchpoint with your dealership social channel is the profile picture. Before even interacting with your content, consumers will  judge your brand based on your profile picture. This judgement could be the difference in a consumer interacting with your dealership’s social page or not.

So how do you optimize to get that interaction? Model what OEM social media pages are doing.

toyotacanada-fb

Use your dealership logo as a profile picture. 400×400 will work for all of your platforms. Keep in mind that your dealership logo should scale well, it will appear at varies sizes on social media across devices (see below).

toyota-small

For the cover photo, a wide angle photo of the outside of your dealership usually looks good. You can find out the right dimensions for each platform cover photo here: https://www.vieodesign.com/blog/social-media-image-sizes-dimensions/

On Facebook, make sure you add a button to your profile too. This button can drive people to your website or allow them to contact you directly. More details here: https://www.facebook.com/business/help/1626883224209011

Finally, be sure to complete your social media profile by filling out all relevant dealership details like location, phone number, hours of operation, etc. under the “About” section of your Facebook page.

Understanding Your Audience

Before you begin posting content to your social channels, you need to understand your audience. Your audience will inform your content, not the other way around.

Ask questions like:

Who should the dealership audience be?

Where are they located?

What are they interested in?

How can I engage my audience?

How is my audience engaging with my content?

What content is popular?

These answers will direct your dealership content strategy while helping build your community and engage your existing audience.

For example if the majority of your social audience is made up of new vehicle buyers, content surrounding service will be received better than other new vehicle offers.

Building & Engaging Your Community

To turn your audience into a community, you need to treat them like one. Instead of treating them like potential buyers, treat them like family members or friends that you’re happy to be connected with.

People turn to social media for content that is valuable to them. Valuable content can be informative, educational, comedic, viral, current, local and shouldn’t always be sales focused.

Strategize content that will resonate well with your audience and spark conversation. When you find content that works, make sure it lives on. Reply to users who have engaged with your content and encourage them to share with their own networks.

Here are some examples of good social media content covering all of the social media rule of thirds:

⅓ of your social content promotes your business, converts readers, and generates profit.

aoh

⅓ of your social content should surface and share ideas and stories from thought leaders in your industry or like-minded businesses.

new-roads-gm

⅓ of your social content should be based on personal interactions and build your personal brand.

experience-hyundai

Sometimes sharing simple content like the weather for the day does more for your brand than sharing the latest vehicle deal. People don’t want to be sold to, especially on social media.

Be a valuable friend, not a pushy car salesman.

Want To Learn More?

Connect with us on our own social platforms and don’t be afraid to message us on your favourite platform!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eDealerSocial/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/eDealerSocial
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/e-dealer/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+EdealerCa