How Car Dealerships Can Take Advantage of Social Media

If your dealership isn’t on social media, you’re almost certainly missing out on loads of potential customers. With Facebook usage predicted to hit 33 million in the UK by 2018, it’s fair to say that most of your leads have a profile and a social media presence.

Just because your business isn’t currently taking advantage of social media, doesn’t mean people aren’t already talking about you online – nicely or not. So, isn’t it best to join the fun and take part in the conversation? After all, it’s the ideal place to promote your stock, network with customers and reach new people who haven’t heard of you or your business before.

Content Marketing

Content marketing is at the very core of an effective digital marketing strategy, but your dealership’s content means nothing if you never show it to anyone.

By posting your content across numerous social media platforms, you’ll make sure it’s read – and by the right people too. Not only will you increase your credibility with current customers, you’ll also attract new audiences that are likely to appreciate your content.

Whether it’s blog posts, stock posts or even the latest supercars, your social media content is a fantastic way of increasing brand awareness and marketing your business to the masses for free on Facebook!

Building Customer Relationships

When a customer buys a car from you it shouldn’t mean that the relationship is over, it should only be the beginning of a beautiful friendship with mutual respect and benefits.

It’s vital to keep customers happy for various reasons. Firstly, you want them to speak highly of your dealership to others so that you can acquire new customers and establish your reputation as the best dealer around.  Secondly, you want them to keep you in mind as their first choice for the next time they’re looking to upgrade their vehicle!

By engaging with your customers on social media after a sale, your relationship can be maintained and strengthened even after money has changed hands. People often like to show off about things they’ve bought, especially cars! Reach out to your customers online and encourage them to share photos of their new vehicle and tag your company in their posts. It’s also an idea to ask them to leave a review of your dealership on social media as well!

The opposite is also true though: if a customer has a bad experience with your dealership, they may want to rant about it on social media! But now that your business has a profile you can detect and respond to those negative messages in a timely, tactful fashion thus repairing the relationship and showing other potential clients online what a genuine and reasonable dealer you are.

Finding New Customers

Parties and industry networking events are places for meeting new people — not crowding in a corner with your core group of friends and social media is no different!

If all you’re doing is sharing your content with the same followers every time, you’re not putting yourself out there. Increase your exposure and generate new leads by reaching out to people who have never interacted with your dealership before.

By creating posts that encourage likes and shares such as industry news, blog posts, supercars, vintage cars and interesting facts and figures, your likes and followers will increase over time. In addition to organic posts, which are shown only to the people who like your page, dealers can create paid ads, which are distributed to a wider audience to generate even more exposure.

Social media marketing is like fitness training, you only get out of it what you put into it! It’s far better to have no social platforms at all than stagnant ones which are never updated and reflect badly on your dealership. There are many services available to make social media easier and less time consuming for dealers, it doesn’t have to be expensive either.

Not being on social media is the equivalent of closing your dealership at weekends, you’re missing out on leads and people are going to your competitors instead. It’s an opportunity that you simply cannot afford to miss out on, take the plunge and make the most of the free online advertising and word of mouth!

Looking to get your dealership started with social media? Want to find out more about the Click Social bolt on feature? Contact Click Dealer today by emailing marketing@clickdealer.co.uk or calling 01782 904 715.