8:00 am, November 23, 2021
Being successful on social media doesn’t come overnight – it requires time, dedication, consistency and knowledge.
Social media success can be measured differently, whether it’s through reaching more people, raising your brand awareness, driving traffic to your website, bringing in warm inquiries or taking deposits on new/used vehicles (yes, sales!).
We have put together five tips on how to build a social media strategy that will take your brand and business to the next level:
1. Listening to your customers
Without your customers (past, present and future), your business wouldn’t be where it is today.
It is therefore important to monitor what your current, and potential, customers are saying and where they are saying it, to help you to inform your content strategy.
What are your customers saying about your brand and your competitors?
Are they discussing an imminent car launch that you could provide them with teasers for? Are they following certain hashtags you could get involved with?
Get to know them, keep them on their toes and give them what they are looking for!
2. Strategy formation
Staying up to date with the recent trends and social media updates can help to inform you of what platforms to prioritise, as the algorithms and platform behaviours change frequently.
It is not recommended that car dealers are active on all platforms (this can be onerous and difficult to manage). However, we recommend choosing a few platforms where your audience hangs out and focus on being successful on those.
Ensure you create the right content, relevant to the audience you have and wish to attract, posted at the optimum time and in the right places and spaces.
3. Content creation
Creating (great) content on social media isn’t a two-minute job. There are a range of factors to consider before a social media post goes live. Once the post is live, it’s live. (No one wants to have to delete a post, hey!)
• How do you want the post to be visualised?
• Image, video, carousel, reel, story?
• What is it asking the audience to do?
• Does the post comply with your brand guidelines, including colour palette, fonts and logos?
• Is it optimised to the social media platform you are posting on?
• Is it optimised for mobile devices, where most people are viewing your content?
• Can its success be measured?
4. Community management
Your audience follow your social channels for a reason.
It is therefore important to regularly engage with them and build your community on social media, to turn your following into fans, advocates and paying customers of your brand.
Think of community management as being a customer service and referral element for your business via social media – getting to the customer FIRST before the competition and have them consider you when they are ready to engage.
Responding to comments and mentions in the right tone of voice for your brand, with the right speed of response and care, will ensure your brand and business are giving the very best account of themselves in the biggest community of all – social media!
5. Reporting
Reporting and analysing your performance on social media will help you to understand what works and doesn’t work, to inform you on what to do more of and what to do less of.
What channels perform better for you? Where does your audience come from? When do they visit your website? Why? How long are they browsing for? When do they drop off? How best to convert them?
However, it is important to recognise that not everything that you post will perform! A/B testing is key to understanding what your followers engage with and what you should do more of.
Having a robust reporting tool that informs in real time will give you the insight to make sure your social media strategy is on point and getting you results.
If you’re unsure of how to action any of the above, or feel that you could do with a helping hand, then drop us a line at Motor Socials at www.motorsocials.co.uk or phone us on 01733 475560.
