Brand Marketing In Social Media

Getting your car dealership noticed on the web can feel like shouting into the void. You have a website, you pay close attention to your SEO and analytics, and you’ve got a healthy ad spend, but it still feels like there’s something missing. For many car dealerships, that “something” is robust and active social media dealership marketing. Why is social media important for car dealerships? And where do you turn for help? The answer to the second question is easy — you turn to CarCasm — but the answer to the first question takes some unpacking.

Why is Social Media Marketing Important?

Much of what we think about as marketing centers around our brand, and brands in turn are shaped and driven by conversations. If you’re not guiding the conversation, someone else will do it for you, and they’ll usually do it on terms favorable to them, not you. So what’s in it for you?

Build Your Brand

Simply put, your brand is what differentiates you from your competitors. It’s a promise — sometimes implicit, sometimes explicit — you make to your customers about what they can expect from you. The clearer you define that brand, the more effective it will be.

Build Loyalty

You don’t even need to be the best at what you do to build loyalty. If you think about it, you can think of several hamburgers better than McDonalds, but their brand attracts millions of people per day because of its consistency, which in turn builds loyalty.

Generate — and Convert — New Leads

Anywhere your dealership can be seen is an opportunity to find new leads. Social media excels here, because there’s a low barrier of entry (anyone can do it), a relatively low cost to reach your audience, and there’s also social proof. The last part is especially important, because if a prospective customer sees someone thanking your sales staff for their professionalism, or your service department for their high level of care, that’s extremely persuasive in turning browsers to buyers.

Improve Traffic

It’s axiomatic but it’s true: the best way to do well on Google is not to need Google. Social media signals brand engagement to the search engines the same as it does to your customers, improving the perception of value and trust.

Improve Customer Experience

Think about the last great customer service experience you had. It wasn’t just the results someone delivered (although those definitely matter). It was the fact that you had a problem, someone listened, and they addressed the issue quickly. Brands have plenty to say, but brands that listen and respond based on what they hear — whether it’s a bad review on Facebook or a passing complaint on Twitter — do well because they’ve gone the extra mile.

How to Incorporate Social Media in Your Dealership Marketing

Now that we know the why, what about the how? Social media marketing doesn’t need to be a time sink. Mind you, it’s worth doing right if you’re going to do it at all, but CarCasm offers social media dealership marketing tools that streamline the process. We’ll walk you through the setup so you can spend more time on the fundamentals and get more out of your social media strategy. Call us at (954) 361-1227 or email CarCasm support at support@carcasm.com for more information.