Social Media Day

Ask yourself the fundamentals, who are your customers, where they are located and what drives them to buy their next car. What are their automotive interests, what car brands tantalise them the most, their age and profile demographics, their budget, location, are they in the market for a new or used car right now?

Knowing key information about your target audiences and where they are based helps build tailored personas and is the foundation for your social media campaigns and content success…plus you can start the digital consumer journey with them early. We know from our experience that 95% of car sales are within 15 miles of dealership locations, so aim to dominate the local marketplace to get maximum return from budgets by minimising wastage. 

Develop a social media/digital strategy. Creating a defined digital strategy and content plan is key for building brand, lead generation and in-market traffic. Setting digital objectives aimed at your target audience so that your social content talks their language and deciding which platforms to use based on your target audience and the frequency of your paid adverts and organic content, is a good place to start.

It’s important to engage and build brand loyalty and trust on the most successful digital platforms. Setting your social media advertising budget and organic posts to build brand awareness and scheduling carefully crafted Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Youtube ads (or blended approach) to suit your social media budget.

New offers, showroom events, new reg plates, mouth-watering finance deals…. get those juices flowing and hook your audience in early. Plan engaging content in advance throughout the month in line with your strategy and content schedule using a blended approach to retain interest such as paid, organic posts, business updates, video, competitions.

Being organised with social media campaigns and content is also key as it’s all about the timing! Coincide latest car and finance deals with calendar events for extra impact. Don’t forget the creative impact too…all content needs to look the part and grab attention with eye-catching customer led designs that encourage call to action and car purchases.

Own your identity, build your dealership brand, and create your tone of voice across all digital platforms to be heard amongst the crowded marketplaces.

Once you have mastered this, these principles can be applied to all social media posts and advert content/design for greater success.

Hook them in with fresh content, statement designs and a tone of voice which talks to them directly. You'll leave them wanting more.

Build custom reports for analysing what social media campaigns are working and driving content to your website and from which source/platform. Track and measure total reach, impressions, click through rates, conversions, and CPC rates to fine tune for future campaigns.

Having a robust retargeting strategy is key to social media success as holding onto existing customers who are already in your digital eco system and communicating with them is proven to be more cost effective than attracting new customers in the first place…in fact 10% of the cost.

Combining organic posts on social media with paid adverts for maximum impact and to build your brand. Organic posts can help build brand and reputation such as news stories, images and thought leadership pieces. Having a combination of paid for space and organic content can be effective.

Using automotive key words and hashtags within each social post are a great way to reach your target audiences, categorise posts, attract new followers, increase organic reach and engagement, and strengthen your brand image.