How to Use Social Media for Car Dealerships?
Social media has become an increasingly important tool for car dealerships to reach out to their customers. It provides a platform where dealerships can engage with potential customers, showcase their latest offerings, and build relationships with existing customers. Through social media, dealerships can advertise promotions, share customer testimonials, and provide helpful information about their vehicles and services.
According to DataReportal, 4.6 billion people (about 58% of the world’s population) actively use social media by spending 2.5 hours daily, on average. Car buyers are also among these users to such an extent that about 70% of buyers prefer buying cars completely or mostly online, according to Cox Automotive. That is why social media activities are quickly becoming one of the most effective marketing strategies for car dealers. By leveraging the power of social media, car dealers can effectively reach their target audience, drive traffic to their website, generate qualified leads, foster customer relationships, and increase sales. Here are some examples of activities that car dealers can take advantage of through their social media presence.
Showcasing Inventory in Social Media
Social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube provide dealers with a way to showcase their latest inventory. They can share stunning photos and videos of cars and highlight key features and specifications. With the benefit of real-time updates on social media, dealers can share the details of their new cars as soon as they arrive on the lot. Also, they can incorporate information about their dealership’s history, values, and mission into these posts to be recognized by customers. So showcasing the inventory will keep potential buyers informed of the new makes and models and will also improve brand awareness.
Becoming a Trusted Source of Information
Sharing content is not limited to commercial purposes like selling cars to buyers. Dealers can also educate social media users by sharing educational content, including the car buying process, car maintenance, driving tips, financial suggestions, and car industry trends, to name a few. Thus, users will spend more time visiting the dealership’s social media accounts and it grows the number of people who follow them. Accordingly, this helps establish a dealership as an authority in the industry and increases brand recognition. Consider that each social media platform is suitable for specific goals and content. YouTube, for example, performs better with long videos; however, Facebook and Instagram are well-designed for short videos or photo-based content. Audience attributes in each platform may also be different.
Engaging with Customers and Serving Them
Sharing content can effectively build and develop interactions between a dealership and its community. As a significant part of the customer service process, car dealers need to take care of customer comments and messages in a professional and timely manner. This way, customers will go to the dealer’s social media channels as a reliable and convenient way of contact to get their questions and concerns answered. You can also share customer reviews, testimonials, and images or videos of the car they purchased from you as user-generated content. Not only does it show you value and appreciate your customers, but it also builds trust for your dealership and strengthens your brand reputation.
Promoting Events and Sales in Social Media Platforms
As mentioned before, users spend an average of 2.5 hours per day visiting social media. So, you can take advantage of immediate access to these active users by promoting dealership events, such as opening a new branch, hosting car shows and test drive events, holidays, and national events. Dealers can engage users to keep visiting their channel by sharing sales and promotional events, any discounts, or special offers for their car inventory. This can help drive traffic to the dealership and increase sales.
It is worth mentioning that you need to analyze the performance of your previous posts to figure out when your audience engages actively with what you publish. However, some online platforms provide you with insights on the time of day when your audience engagement is highest based on the chronological assessment of your posts. You can also plan ahead of the events by creating desired posts in advance and scheduling them to be published later. Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube suggest this feature. Moreover, having Social Media Management tools like Buffer or Hootsuite is also a convenient option to ensure you manage everything on your social media with ease from your smartphone.
Targeted advertising
The comprehensive use of social media helps car dealerships maintain a wide variety of people as their audience. Online advertising platforms like Google Ads, Meta Business Suite, and Tiktok Ads come with options to narrow down the audience based on the preferred customer attributes that car dealerships are looking for. You can target people, for instance, who live in a certain geographical location, are interested or employed in a particular area, and are in a specific age range and gender. Also, car dealers can build their own audience according to their social media activities. Then, they can target people who have already interacted with their social media accounts or website. Therefore, this can optimize your spending budget, increase the effectiveness of your advertising, and reach the right people with a tailored message.
Sean Toussi
If you have any questions or comments regarding this article, please email Sean@Glo3D.com
Glo3D.com Content Team,
AI-based, Digital Merchandising.
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