5 Ways Car Dealerships Can Use Social Media to Drive More Business
Ever since the existence of internet-enabled car marketplaces like Carvana and Autotrader, car dealerships have been under pressure to adopt new marketing strategies. Without an online presence, it’s hard to stay competitive these days.
Unsurprisingly, we’re seeing many car dealerships pivot to online marketing strategies. This allows them to reach a wider audience and let potential customers browse through their inventory from the comfort of their homes. Then once they have their eye on a car, they can come into the dealership in person to give it a closer look and take a test drive.
But getting eyes on your dealership’s cars for sale online is the first step.
One way to expand your online reach is to leverage social media. It lets you connect directly with potential customers, lead them into your sales funnel, and ultimately sell more cars, parts, and services.
Benefits of social media marketing for car dealerships
The benefits of using social media as a car dealership can be broken down into two main categories: lead generation and customer loyalty.
Anytime you post on social media, you are creating opportunities for others to engage with your brand. Leads are never guaranteed, but the more you put your brand out there, the more its name will get around.
According to Tiger Okeley at used car dealership Oak Motors, “Transitioning away from traditional newspaper advertising to social media marketing has allowed us to stretch our marketing dollars further. We can reach way more people than we did before.”
Of course, social media marketing isn’t just about generating new business. It’s also about maintaining strong relationships with existing customers. Customer loyalty is huge in the business world. If you can’t retain your customers, you’ll constantly be looking for new ones.
How to get the most out of social media marketing as a car dealership
Now that you understand the benefits of social media marketing for car dealerships, here are six ways to get the most out of it:
- Promote content. Your car dealership probably has announcements and runs special deals from time to time. These make great opportunities for short social media posts. So do sweepstakes, coupons, and other limited time offers. You may also want to share stories about satisfied customers.
- Pay for social media ads. Most major social media platforms let you pay for native ads (ads that blend in with regular posts). Meta (Facebook), Instagram, and Twitter, for example, all offer this. What’s more, they let you target the ads to specific demographics by age, gender, location, etc. so you can get your brand in front of those most interested in a new car.
- Create short-form videos. Online videos will soon take over TV in terms of the average daily time consumers spend watching them. This is especially true of short-form video content like TikTok. Use this to your advantage by sharing short videos of cars for sale, test drives, and how to buy a new car.
- Engage consistently. The more you engage on social media, the larger your potential impact. Like, share, and comment on other users’ posts and watch them do the same for you. Consistency is key. So develop a strategy and stick to a posting schedule if possible.
- Monitor social media accounts. Unfortunately, engaging on social media opens the door to negative comments and feedback. But as long as you monitor these and address them in an appropriate way, you can keep any PR damage to a minimum. Try to respond to complaints in a timely and empathetic way. This shows that you take them seriously, and potential customers will respect you more for it.
Final thoughts
At the end of the day, social media marketing is a net good for car dealerships. Harness its power to see your business grow and remember to adapt over time. If your social media marketing strategy isn’t working, find out why by gathering data on social metrics, ad conversions, and so on. Refining your social media strategy over time is the surest way to success.
