Here we are again, another Covid lockdown putting a holt to business. As many dealerships are forced to suspend trading due to the recent government laws it doesn’t mean you cannot work on future growth.
The number 1 way for car dealers to find high quality leads during lockdown is social media. Literally everyone in Australia uses social media daily – according to recent statistics, a whopping 21 million Australians use some form of social media. To put into perspective that is just under 80% of Australia’s entire population, and the numbers show no signs of slowing.
To put it simply if your dealership isn’t using social media to promote our stock you could be losing thousands in sales. 5 years ago, social media was used in a very different way. Today social media is an online ecommerce behemoth.
We know what you are thinking you’re not a marketer, or you’re not armed with the resources to grow your social media presence. If you have set up your social media pages and don’t know what to do, you’ve come to the right place.
Here are a few tips your dealership can use to grow your social media presence.
1. Post what’s happening at your dealership
It might seem like a no-brainer, but you would be surprised how many dealerships fail to post what’s happening at their dealership, put yourself in your audiences’ shoes. What would they want to see when they come across your page?
Social media gives a lot of freedom to people, they can post literally anything that does not offend or violate laws. Have new stock? Post it up, Having a promotion? Make a post, just lowered the price of a car? Post it up, offering extended warranty? Post it on your page. Give customers information that will be beneficial to them.
A trap many dealerships fall into is only positing images of stock. This can become boring to some followers, and you could risk them unfollowing your page. A successful technique that can be used to grow your sales is posting customer reviews, and images of the cars you have just sold. People want to see what you have provided to others just as much as what you are selling.
2. Post Consistently
A mistake many dealerships make is creating a social media profile and just letting it sit there. There is no point having a social media page if you are not going to use it. If you don’t post consistently your followers will become disinterested.
Social media preferences pages that post frequently with higher positioning on follower’s timelines. To have the best effect on social media it is recommended you post something on your pages every 2-3 days. This way it keeps you fresh in your followers’ minds.
3. Engage with Your Followers
Social media is such a diverse platform. Customers can message your dealership, comment on posts, share your posts and even purchase your vehicles instantly. The more you connect with your followers the more benefit you will get.
It’s important that you respond to all enquires in a quick manner to give your page maximum visibility. We get it, as a dealer, you don’t sit on Facebook all day waiting for an enquiry. A solution for this is to integrate your Facebook page with your DMS. This way you will be notified instantly if a lead has enquired. Your already use your DMS everyday!
4. Run a promotion
Stand out from your competition! The more you can stand out from the completion, the more leads you will receive. Customers see hundreds of identical vehicle posts from dealerships. Offering something different will catch the readers attention. The best way for this is by running a promotion or competition.
When you run a competition, you can implement conditions followers will need to meet in order to get the discount. Some examples include tagging 5 friends in the comments, sharing the post or inviting friends to like the page. This way it grows your following, lead total and gives customers a great saving in return, everyone wins! don't be afraid to think outside the box!
5. Ask customers to “check in”
A simple way to grow your dealership’s exposure is by encouraging customers who visit your dealership to check in to your page. This way it will update all their friends and followers. Even if their friends don’t go through and follow your page you will still earn great exposure for your brand.
Checking into your dealership is simple, all your customers need to do is visit your page and select “check in” it's that simple.
To conclude,
No matter the size of your dealership, social media is such a massive tool that increases sales and profitability. Using the tips mentioned above, your dealership can go a long way in growing your social media following and growing your sales.
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About EasyCars
EasyCars is a web-based dealer management system that automates all the common tasks of running a motor dealership in Australia. Using the latest technologies EasyCars reduces time spend on manual tasks – opening your doors for future growth.
EasyCars includes all your everyday features like stock management, advertising, government compliance, accounting, lead management and so much more – everything a motor dealer needs.
No lock in contract – Fast and Easy transition – No experience required