GNYADA August 2016 Newsletter

Social Media: A Key Dealership Marketing Tool

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Newsflash: A car dealership is not maximizing its business outreach by merely having a Business Develop- ment Center. As we move further into the digital age, BDCs can only be truly effective if partnered with active social media marketing. Here are some ways to make your social activity a prime marketing driver for your dealership: Brand Personality Social media is the key to establish- ing your personae. For example, your salespeople and servicepersons are the public faces of your dealership. Let social followers get to know them. If they consent to the use of their image, encourage them to pub- lish charismatic posts, smiling photos and work anniversaries to shared social profiles. Engage Your Community The more popular your posts are (likes, shares, etc.), the more often friends of your customers will be prompted to follow you, even if they’re not currently in the vehicle market. CarFax, Inc. is being sued under alle- gations that the online vehicle history service used an unfair billing model in charging for long-term subscrip- tions. The suit, which represents numerous individuals and small busi- nesses who entered into contracts with CarFax, seeks more than $5 mil- lion in damages. Charges were formally brought on June 10, claiming that CarFax not only inflated monthly installments on 15

A great way to boost your activity is to promote your community-based events. If you’re celebrating an awareness month, hosting a “kids’ day” with ice cream, having live entertainment, these events should dominate your social accounts. Public Responses Pay Off Consider any digital medium where people share thoughts about dealer- ships (review sites, automotive blogs, etc.) to be part of your online social strategy. Respond to reviews whether negative or positive. Even if you can’t turn a public objector into a fan/customer, other potential customers will still see those responses and may like how you handled the situation. Leverage the Team If you can’t devote a fulltime position to digital marketing, no problem. Designate trusted social-savvy employees to share posting responsi- bility for your accounts. If you want to establish a “point-per- son” to maintain frequency, consider its subscriptions without justification, but also concealed the severity of these planned increases from sub- scribers upon registering. CarFax’s customer contracts are year- long, and renew automatically. According to the suit, the renewal point is when subscription prices have shot up. The principal com- plainant cites that the initial price bump, after a six-month trial period, was disclosed and consented to; how-

your receptionist. Administrative per- sonnel often jump at opportunities to own projects, they have permanent computer stations, and you’re show- ing that every member of your staff plays an important role. Promote Your Website This is even important if you don’t update your website as actively as your social accounts. The more visits to your website that come from social media channels, the higher your rele- vance in search engines. Measure Performance If you want deeper analysis of your social media results (beyond likes, retweets, etc.), register a staff mem- ber for a class about uncovering and examining these numbers. Google Analytics, for example, is a free traf- fic reporting service, and there are also free classes that show how to use it. The Association thanks Randi Siegel, Digital Marketing Director for Legend Auto Group and member of the NextGen Committee, for contributing to this article.

CarFax Sued for Unfair Price Hikes

ever, subsequent jumps (generally 15 to 20 percent higher than the initially agreed upon rate) were unexplained and also seemed to come at arbitrary renewal points. We will keep our members informed regarding the developments in this case.

Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association • www.gnyada.com

The Newsletter • August 2016

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