By Cavan Robinson, Product Manager, OEM, DealerSocket
We’ve come a long way since the days when the business rule of thumb when it came to social media was to treat it like a cocktail party: Ease your way in by listening, don’t dominate the conversation, and whatever you do, don’t try to sell something. The prior two guidelines still apply, but the prohibition on selling seems to have lifted in recent years thanks to Facebook.
The social media site is definitely changing the game with a wide variety of automotive-specific offerings. From listing pre-owned inventory on its online marketplace to layering in localized special offers through Automotive Inventory Ads. Problem is, most dealers simply check the box when it comes to social media marketing. The marketing channel is seldom embraced to its complete potential — both as a customer engagement tool and an advertising platform.
Sure, some dealers have embraced their social presence with relevant, community-based posts. Unfortunately, when it comes to their business, most of the content they post is related to new model releases, offers, and OEM information, which results in poor returns and fuels the belief that social media isn’t a starting place for serious shoppers. Yet, Facebook stats tell us differently, as millions of Americans currently use Facebook Marketplace every day to shop for vehicles.
So, what’s the answer? Well, like everything in automotive, success comes down to the three Ps: people, process, and profits. A key area many dealerships tend to forget when developing a social media plan is to segment and target. Now that Facebook has stripped third-party data from its platform, dealers need to work with their existing software systems (i.e. leveraging CRM customer data) to accurately reach shoppers and set real-world attribution goals.
The key to any strategy is to use multiple social channels to reach different segments of your customer base. It’s also critical that you leverage your dealership’s social influence and engage other brands to help spread your message. Doing both will allow you to utilize your inventory and social media to help move the sales needle on a monthly basis.
Now, the number one question from dealerships is this: Is it worth my time and advertising budget to invest in social media as a way for shoppers to view and buy vehicles? The short answer is “Yes.” Again, Facebook Marketplace is going up against sites like Craigslist, eBay, and Cars.com, but the real magic is in Facebook’s Automotive Inventory Ads. They are designed to enhance the exposure for marketers looking to leverage their real-time inventory.
The online marketplace and inventory ads seem to be only the tip of the iceberg in terms of what Facebook has planned for the automotive vertical. In fact, there are plenty of product enhancements already being offered in beta. But before you even think of taking advantage, there are four primary areas your dealership needs to focus on before when attempting to leverage Facebook as a marketing and advertising platform.
1. Audience Growth: To turn social media into a sales platform, you need to constantly grow and add to your community. That means using your CRM to onboard new customers. Simply set up a review request email that lets customers know how to interact with you. Importing data-driven audiences, including service opportunities and customers reaching the end of their lease, is another way to ensure you get the most out of your posting activities.
If you’re just getting started, you may want to consider an all-customer campaign that focuses on growth. Just be ready to respond. And be sure to leverage your community relationships to gain followers from other organizations.
2. Organic Content Development: Remember, what you post will determine whether you retain your community’s interest. In other words, quality and thoughtful planning will always trump quantity. So, pull out the calendar and make sure you know in advance what’s going out and that the content you post speaks to your initiatives.
As for content, follow the 80/20 rule: 80% of your posts must be cool, relevant content, while the remaining 20% should target specific revenue initiatives. As for what to post, videos with captions for auto-play are a must, mainly because they’re image-forward and shareable. In fact, anything that fits under that heading is key. Just don’t post your store’s newspaper ads and think you’re a social marketing genius.
3. Paid Advertising Campaigns: It’s critical that you designate your interactions and strategy between organic initiatives and paid campaigns. For the latter, the key to success is to start with a goal in mind. In other words, selling or servicing more cars may be the overall objective, but the goal should be more precise, such as generating 20 sales leads or setting 30 service appointments.
Once you have a goal, it’s a matter of working backward. Is it awareness and branding that will get you to the goal, or are you looking for immediate action on the part of your audience (i.e., low-funnel campaign)? The beauty of Facebook is you can run lots of small-budget campaigns and be hyper-specific. Just be sure to use diverse populations, both through targeted and uploaded audiences. In fact, Facebook’s Lookalike audiences, or audiences generated by the social media site that are similar to your audience based on the platform’s vast amount of user data, have incredibly high conversion rates.
4. Just Be Social: Hey, that cocktail party analogy still applies when it comes to social media. You don’t want to be the person spouting sales messages. Have a conversation with people. Being social also means responding to reviews, comments, and direct messages, and that includes the negative ones. Just be sure to take those angry conversations offline. Most of all, be authentic, have fun, and interact with other pages, because being part of the community is what drives marketing success on social media.
Learn ways to use multiple social channels to reach different segments of your customer base at Digital Dealer 26 on Wednesday, April 10, 2019: 9:00 AM – 9:50 AM. In this session, Kris Nielsen of Aristocrat Motors, promotes the idea of advertising inventory on social media and shares success stories from his nine years as customer experience manager. Cavan Robinson, director of product marketing at DealerSocket, explains the digital strategy behind social media and how dealers can now use integrated technology, like CRM, to specially target consumers.