5 Star Reputation – Digital Experts for Independent Dealers

The Value of Social Media for Dealers

Social media can be incredibly valuable. It allows companies to directly engage with their customers and get their brands seen. Determining just how valuable social media channels are, however, is complicated, because the value of a like or a retweet is not exactly something which can be quantified. Networking sites are about building familiarity and trust, so return on investment occurs over time and cannot be easily pinpointed.

Expert Market found in its 2015 study that:

  • 71% of consumers follow businesses for special promotions.
  • 66% follow companies for new product information.
  • Nearly half of all consumers connect with brands online for customer service advice.
  • 61% of consumers said that reviews impact their purchasing decisions.

This indicates how influential and valuable social media can be for consumers, which means it has plenty of potential for your dealership. Social media can be used for a variety of things: increasing traffic, generating awareness, driving sales and customer retention, and before you start a campaign, you must set goals that you want to achieve, so that you can tailor your social activity and work towards these objectives. Your approach and style of posts will change according to your company’s aims.

Increase Website Traffic

31% of all website traffic now comes from social media, according to Shareaholic, which is an increase of 9% over three years. This shows a growing number of consumers looking to social media to source their content. Over 62% of people now also get their news from networking channels; with trends like these, your dealership can’t afford not to be on these platforms!

Social media is different to a search result or paid ad. These are used to help people find what they are looking for, and once they have, they may forget your brand altogether. Social media, on the other hand, gives you the chance to repeatedly get your name and brand on users’ feeds, increasing recognition of your dealership. This means that people will be more likely to have you in mind when they’re ready to purchase a product you offer.

Generate Awareness

There are hundreds of millions of people who use social media, so your advert could reach places you’d never dreamt of. Once your name is out there, it’s important to make your story known. Users want to know what your dealership has been up to – that’s why they followed you – and it’s your job to deliver what the people want!

Consumers are more likely to trust your company if you show them the inner workings of your business through your social posts, and people would much rather buy from someone who’s passionate about their product, rather than someone who’s in it for the money, so make sure your enthusiasm and company values come across.

You can raise awareness quickly with a lot of followers, because when they like, share, comment and retweet, your content will be extended to their networks. Just ensure the people you connect with on social media channels are relevant to your business so that your content is reaching potential customers.

Be Present in Relevant Conversation

Twitter is perfect for engaging with consumers and fans of your business. The ‘hashtag’ gives you the ability to create and involve your dealership in global conversations through the use of keywords.

They allow customers and industry relations to view your content, even if they are not following you, which gives you the opportunity to grow your following too, and again, generate wider awareness. Using industry-related hashtags also gets you involved in relevant conversations, helping you establish yourself as a thought leader in your trade.

Hashtags are extremely useful, although, you must ensure you’re using them correctly. You should only use relevant keywords that you feel consumers will search for, as this is their way of finding you. Keep in mind that if you are using any more than 5 hashtags in a short tweet, it can look messy and can turn heads away from your profile.

Drive Leads and Sales Through Social Media

A Sprout report from 2016 found that 57.5% of consumers are more likely to buy from a brand they follow on social media and data released by J. Crew revealed that their followers spend twice as much as their average customer! This suggests that engaging with customers and developing trust with them on social media is likely to generate a higher number of sales and more profit over time.

Customer Retention

It’s clear that customers appreciate an active company on social media; interaction with consumers gains positive attention and helps them identify with your brand. These platforms are also becoming a common place to find product reviews and complaints. Posts like these can be very influential and can become viral very quickly, so being able to reply appropriately and promptly can turn an unhappy customer into a loyal patron.

People are constantly tweeting and posting to Instagram and Facebook about their experiences with companies, including yours! In the past, if someone disliked a product, they could stop purchasing it and they might have told a few friends. Now however, if a product or service isn’t satisfactory, customers have an open platform to voice their concerns and grievances.

Social media has excellent potential for increasing brand awareness and lead generation, but value isn’t just found in new customers, and networking sites can be just as useful for retaining existing customers.

Whether an individual writes a positive comment or a negative one, giving a personal response will make them feel valued, and if they are dissatisfied, you have a chance to regain their custom. Feeling appreciated is likely to make consumers more willing to return, and if other social media users see you caring for your customers they’ll be more likely to buy from you.

For more information on how Click Dealer’s team of in-house social media specialists can help your dealership, get in touch today via marketing@clickdealer.co.uk, 01782 478220 or through our contact page!



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