Social Media For Car Dealers

Author: Priit Kallas

Social media marketing becomes an everyday part of car dealers marketing. Companies should dedicate resources and harness social media to find out how to use social channels for the brand.

through barriers, become brand ambassadors and personally influence those who are important for your business.The communication is different now and should include combination of marketing, public relations, brand and product knowledge. The tone should be personal and you should speak with both authority and enthusiasm. This helps you to break

Think about your sales and marketing. How do you reach your target audience (true fans, enthusiasts, owners, prospects and industry watchers). What makes prospects into buyers? What social tools could be used to help people through different stages of consideration, evaluation and purchase decisions. Find out what works best for you building awareness, helping to make a decision, converting people who consider competitors, provide services to owners post-purchase?

Always ask yourself “why” are you doing something before “what”. This way you can concentrate on bottom line and real business value. Here are some tips, examples and links to articles that will help you to get you social media activities going.

Examples and cases

Jeep Community

Jeep combines different social media tools to tie together the community of fans. Twitter, Facebook, user images and featured content help users to interact with the brand and share it with their friends.

BMW of Minnetonka

is a really great example on how a local dealership can use Facebook. This car dealer integrated their entire lot to a Facebook fan page so you can can browse all the cars without leaving Facebook. BMW of Minnetonka have created a visually appealing landing page for people who are not yet fans and they have an active wall interacting with their fans.

Social success for Toyota GB’s iQ

During 2008-09 iCrossing UK, a global digital marketing agency, ran a programme of social media activity for Toyota GB to help raise awareness of its iQ city car. This initiative was based on a core blog and a series of activities designed to create word-of-mouth referrals that drove traffic to the blog and generated interest in the car itself. Download the iCrossing case study (PDF).

Volkswagen have been searching for The People’s Reviewer

Not a professional reviewer or a journalist but a real consumer who could give honest reviews and thoughts on Volkswagen’s small compact 4×4 the Tiguan. The reviews were then released online to help people see personal reviews and opinions on how this car performs in real life.

Ford Social Marketing+Auto Industry

Presentations from Scott Monty. He is the head of social media for Ford Motor Company.

Ford Social Marketing+Auto Industry Scott Monty

Source: http://www.dreamgrow.com/social-media-for-car-dealers/