Do You Know How To Leverage Social Media

So, are you a car dealer trying to figure out how to best leverage your marketing plan to take advantage of social media?

Everyone, including your neighbors, has a Facebook page. Your peers, desk managers and ISMs are constantly urging you to set-up a Twitter account. You also hear the words “Bebo” and “Digg” tossed around in conversation. There is so much confusion on your part, and you really don’t know where to turn. Look no further.

The purpose of this article is to give you some market perspective and a social media plan to incorporate into your strategy.

Before discussing social media, let’s quickly organize your marketing spend based on some critical facts:

Consumers spend most of their time online, and the majority of your media dollars should be following them to the Web

The use of traditional media should be re-assessed, if not minimized altogether

Building your brand and driving conversions online should be your top goal for the next 10 years

ROI measurement and analytics should be defined for all digital media campaigns

It is imperative that you don’t move forward into social media without making sure you have these basics expressly covered beforehand. If the desk managers and Internet department don’t know how to measure your digital media campaign effectiveness, how can you be successful in engineering a social media campaign? And, if you think your ability to measure “cost-per-leads” or “cost-per-sale” is all you need to understand, then you aren’t ready for social media.

For years, people have been buzzing about social media and the opportunity it provides to drive traffic, brand awareness, conversions, and most importantly, links. All of these beliefs are true. How do you, as a 21st century auto dealer, take advantage of these social media opportunities? Below is your five step plan.

Step One:
Familiarize yourself with this seminal article from Jeff Kershner, founder of the Dealer Refresh blog http://www.dealerrefresh.com/dealers-need-to-be-social-networking/.

Step Two:
Hire a specific person to manage the dealership’s e-commerce and social media strategy. This person should be accountable for the following: building and maintaining social media sites, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), reputation management and an e-mail marketing strategy. Do not make the mistake of promoting a current employee who doesn’t possess the expertise necessary to own this position. Or save money by having GPM handel it for you.

Step Three:
Define and create the brand’s “social media message” that will be prominently and repeatedly displayed across all your online sites, campaigns and among vendors. Keep this basic tenet in mind: “Say hi before asking them to buy.” This is a very important step and you can’t be successful without identifying why consumers should feel comfortable doing business with you.

Step Four:
Recognize that social media is uncontrollable. The age-old “six-step dealer-controlled process” does not apply with social media. Become a great facilitator and let consumers interact with your online brand in their own way. Reach out to them continually by branding yourself in a non-intrusive way.

Step Five:
Read cutting-edge sites on a daily basis to familiarize yourself with the latest trends and technologies shaping the online car buying ecosystem. Sites such as Dealer Refresh, Driving Sales, KBB Dealer Voice and Automotive Digital Marketing are absolutely essential for a big-picture understanding of social media for your store.

De-mystifying social media is simple once you have the right game plan. If you follow this plan, I’m 100 percent convinced your social media strategy will be successful going forward. Give it time and make sure you adapt and change along with the technologies. Your customers already have embraced this change, and so should you!

GPM Can help with all the above and more.

 

Jay Campbell