As an automotive dealership, it’s likely that you’ve thought about (or already have!) using a multitude of digital media platforms to help boost your sales. Considering how ingrained they are in online culture, and how they seamlessly engage directly to a user base to build a loyal following, it’s easy to see why practically every business needs to use them in today’s world to run a successful operation, and get more people through your doors.
There are, however, ones that are better than others, and ways you can more easily and effectively target shoppers based on their media type. And so, we thought it best to take you through not only how best to use digital media platforms to boost your sales, but also which ones to use as a starting point. Read along as we walk you through what you need to get your media platform campaign off the ground!
How to Start Utilizing Digital Media Platforms for Your Dealership
The starting point for any truly optimal digital media platform campaign is to know just how a digital media platform works. Facebook (or Meta), for example, can be a mix of written, visual, and video content that can serve as ads for whatever part of your dealership you want to highlight at that point in time. Once you know what type of content works best on the media platform of your choice, you can then create content and ads to engage customers, inform them, even entertain them, and sell to them.
Once your posts and ads are out there, don’t sleep on them either: make certain to take a look at the analytical data to see how much engagement they're getting. This will let you know if the type of content you chose to create is the most appropriate for the media platform you chose, and whether or not you should try other options, be that different content types or different media platforms. Use your data to hone your platform strategy, see what works, see what doesn’t, and go from there.
Why You Should Cross-Platform Your Content
Don’t be afraid to cross-platform as well, which is when you put the same core content up on different media platforms. A good example of this is a short video showing the newest model to your lineup that you can put up on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and even TikTok for the largest reach. With some simple re-purposing of the content itself, cross-platforming in such a way can make it that much easier for your potential customers to see your video and potentially come into your dealership to make a purchase. This interconnectedness helps you find different types of customers on the media platform they prefer, maybe they enjoy the long-form style of a YouTube video, maybe there’s others who just prefer the bite-size of a TikTok, or maybe it’s an older demographic who are strolling through Facebook.
Utilize the Skills on Your Team to Succeed on Digital Media Platforms
Take yourself and your team into consideration. If you have a team member that is a whiz at creating videos, then use that to your advantage! If you like the look and feel of posts more, then put your efforts into creating that kind of content more than others. It never hurts to experiment with different types of content, but it also helps to play to you and your team’s strengths so you know you’re always putting out the best content that you can. For example, don’t feel like you need to force making videos on YouTube if you’re not really sure what you’re doing, or don’t really have a passion for it, it doesn’t help to pump out sub-standard content that neither you or your potential customers will care about. If you don’t have team members that have the skills to utilize digital platforms, you can always outsource to teams such as our team at EDealer to do it for you as well.
Which Digital Media Platforms to Use
Once you know the type of content you want to create, you can pick the appropriate digital media platform to use. When it comes to reaching the largest audience though, the following are definitely worth considering:
Facebook (Meta)
Facebook, or Meta, is the perfect platform to start with when it comes to boosting sales for your dealership. With integration into Instagram and the ability to get more brand visibility, leads, and website traffic, it’s a one-stop-shop that a lot of dealerships use wisely to help boost their sales. Whether you prefer Posts or Reels, there’s a way to put out the type of content you both prefer and believe will better appeal to your customer base.
Facebook and Instagram go hand in hand, so if you’re interested in trying cross-platforming, this can be an easy way to do so. Meta lets you post to both Facebook and Instagram with ease, allowing for an interconnectedness that lets you reach the audiences on both platforms. Similarly to Facebook, Instagram has the ability to do both Posts and Stories, allowing you to fully utilize your abilities when it comes to types of content you want to put out. For those with high-quality images who want image-forward content, Instagram is definitely a good place to go.
YouTube/TikTok
If you’re aiming to go for video content, there are no better places to go than YouTube and TikTok. YouTube allows for both shortform and longform video content, which opens your dealership up to different ways of showing what it has to offer to potential customers. TikTok is a good place for more short-form video content, and it’s quite often that people cross-platform by taking their TikToks and repurposing them for use as YouTube Shorts.
Google Business Profile
Your Google Business Profile is another great place to put content. With Updates (also known as Posts) you can roll out effective images that include content with links to your website that can draw in potential customers by letting them know about the deals and new inventory currently available at your dealership. Your Google Business Profile is also a great way to connect with people looking for your business, as it lets you clearly put your hours, services, images of the models in your inventory, reviews, and more.
Boost Sales with Effective Ads & Content with Our Advertising and SEO Services at EDealer
Jumping into using digital media platforms to better your sales can seem daunting at first, which is why our team at EDealer offers both Advertising and SEO Services where we do the heavy lifting for you! Simply let us know which platforms you want to use, and we’ll put together a proposal to make your dealership truly shine. Reach out to us for more information, or to get started boosting sales on digital media platforms today!