social media

Does Your Dealership Hide Behind The Curtain?

by Tim James

Virtually every dealership today uses their website, social media channels, and email to be a part of their “voice” when it comes to communicating with their customers and begin building a “trust” relationship long before the shopper ever visits their store.

The ultimate goal of each of these communications is to drive the consumer to your lot. Your team is very good at building that “trust” relationship with each shopper once they do actually visit your dealership. The question is, are you putting your best face forward on the web?

The faces behind the voices

To really accelerate the “trust relationship,” consider putting short videos of each of your employees on your website. Vehicle shoppers are now used to using electronic devices and many prefer a more visual approach to research. They like to use videos to help better educate them on their options. This is a great opportunity to highlight employee knowledge and expertise and to personalize your store for the customer. It is human nature to want to do business with someone that you feel a personal connection with. We all know that people buy from people they like. Well, people will choose your store to visit for a test drive over your competitor’s if they feel that personal connection, too. In fact, you will find that many shoppers may visit your store just because they feel a personal connection with a member of your sales team, even while they are still undecided on a vehicle. At the very least, consider including names, photos, contact information, and perhaps even short text bios, as this can help build customer trust. This practice can even assist a customer to reconnect with a specific person they dealt with on their previous visit and liked.

Personal video e-mail bios are also an excellent way to connect with your customers, the response rate can double as consumers like to receive personal contact from a “real” person. “Thank you” and “Welcome” videos from the dealer or general manager integrated into auto-responders for incoming leads can also further personalize your store. This simple action can elevate you over your competitor’s uninspiring automated responses. In addition to the personal video e-mail bios and visible employee information on the website, consider including a thumbnail photo, or at the very least, a specific person’s name, and title plus their contact information on all emails.

Building rapport with the consumer and developing trust usually pays off in dividends with in an increase of customers into your dealership, as well as higher loyalty and retention from existing customers. The customer’s ride may begin online, by phone or through email, but if you are to help them on their journey, your dealership and your staff need to be visible and available so that there is no mystery about who or what is behind the curtain.

How to Tame the Bull Named Facebook

by Tim James

In 1991, a 5’2” 125-pound cowboy stared into the face of Wolfman Skoal. a young 2,000-pound bull with a bad reputation. So bad, in fact, that a $500 bounty existed for any rider that could tame the beast and ride a full 8 seconds. Wade Leslie accepted the challenge. As he mounted the bull in preparation for his ride, the bull promptly lay down in the pen. He considered getting off. But then the bull’s owner reassured him that Wolfman Skoal would perform. Sure enough, once the gates opened, the bull leapt straight into the air like a rocket and preceded to do its best to eject Wade. Wade had different plans, however. He not only succeeded in riding Wolfman Skoal for the full 8 seconds, but also became the first, and to date, only bull rider to score a perfect 100 points in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association.

Not unlike bull riding, marketers are constantly creating content that is competing with both their competitors and the platform on which that content is published. Right now, the biggest and baddest bull around is Facebook. One could say that as Facebook grows up, its personality continually changes, forcing marketers to continuously change with them. As it finally enters its teens, this 10-year old has decided that, at the moment, it happens to like video content. In bull riding, judges calculate a score for both the rider and the bull. Riders know that their score depends on both how they ride and how their bull performs. A rider can stay on a bull for the full 8 seconds. But if the bull isn’t rowdy enough to impress the judges, the rider can still receive a sub-par score. Keep this in mind when developing your content. In marketing, the success of your content starts with the content creator (the rider) and is dependent on Facebook (the bull).

In early summer of 2014, Facebook began releasing in-depth data on video performance. Social media resource Socialbakers eagerly dove into that data in an effort to tame the bull and finally give marketers information that would assist them in their quest for video marketing success. Through the study of 1,000 Facebook pages containing over 3,000 videos, it was found that videos of ~21 seconds long were the most successful. The main metric used to determine a video’s success was its completion rate (i.e.: the percentage of people who watched at least 95% of a video). As in most rules, there are exceptions, yet the in-depth study showed that the longer a video was, the lower the completion rate.

There are many variables that can be used to explain this phenomenon, ranging from attention spans in general, content that’s not engaging, and the bandwidth needed to view a longer video on mobile devices. Not enough time has passed since the release of this data for more comprehensive studies to be done. One thing is certain, however, and that is that Facebook is increasingly choosing to deliver video content to its users’ newsfeeds. The study of Facebook video performance found that ~57% of viewers who started watching a video, completed the video. The Socialbakers study even went as far as to make a preliminary finding that “If this data holds true, Facebook videos are outperforming YouTube videos.” They speculate that the reason for this “could be attributed to more intelligent distribution of videos on Facebook, due to Facebook’s News Feed algorithm doing a better job of matching interested users with engaging videos than YouTube does.”

Keep in mind that these statistics are based on a preliminary study of Facebook video content in general. We’ve found that the money spot for completion rates on videos are between 1-1/2 to 2 minutes long across all other video platforms. The reason for this is that product videos tend to be sought out by a consumer rather than being delivered to them by the platform. We expect that this will remain consistent, as consumers who visit a dealership’s Facebook page to view an inventory video have purposely sought out this content. Consumers looking to purchase a vehicle are willing to make a longer time investment for the simple reason that it is directly tied to a significant expense. Mobile users are statistically willing to make even longer commitments ranging from 2-1/2 to 4 minutes depending on the device.

Any type of content produced by a business has a limited amount of time to capture a person’s attention. Video content has an advantage in that it is the only content that tells a viewer exactly how much of a time commitment they have to by displaying its total viewing length. And if your content is engaging, consumers will give you more of their time. If not, you’ll find them abandoning your message quicker than a bull can throw a rider.

The next time you create video content and stare the bull named Facebook in the eye as you prepare to either submit or be submitted, keep in mind the following: high quality, engaging video content that quickly captures a viewer’s attention will increase the length of time that you’re able to stay on the bull and impress the judges. And just like bull riding, they are the only people that matter.

Announcement: Like Accelerator for Dealer Ads on Facebook

Strategic Service Delivers Ultra-Targeted Ads to Accelerate “Likes” and Drive Leads

Picture this—an ad for your dealership on the world’s leading social networking site with over 150 million users in the United States. Now envision a truly relevant, interactive ad that is precisely targeted and customized to reach the Facebook pages of the exact demographics groups you select—created and combined with monthly performance monitoring, analysis, and strategy management so you can continually fine-tune your approach to achieve your evolving marketing goals. The result: super-targeted ads that generate more “Likes” and traffic, and ultimately, more revenue opportunities for your dealership.

Introducing The “Like” Accelerator Service

With the “Like” Accelerator Service, your ads are created, targeted, monitored, managed, and adjusted, as needed, to maximize effectiveness on the ever-expanding universe of Facebook. In seconds, you can exclusively pinpoint which customers or potential customers you want to reach—all by specific groupings, such as:

Age
Gender
Location radius
Workplace
Education
Interests
What they like—and what they’re talking about on Facebook
Your dealership’s current fans or customers
Or individuals who are not yet fans or customers

Your dealership’s color logo, active “Like” button, and promotional messages stand out in the right column on the Facebook pages of your targeted users. When a user clicks the “Like” button in your ad, they automatically begin receiving daily News Feeds from your dealership on their profile page—which provides yet another vital touch point to share your unique deals, discounts, rebates, and specials with users.

The “Like” Accelerator Service gives your dealership the power to:

Leverage the unparalleled distribution potential of your dealership’s ad on Facebook
Handpick the targeted audience members who can see and respond to your dealership’s ad
Accelerate “Likes” and interaction from those who view your ad
Deliver customized, call-to-action messages to the right individuals at the right time—who can share word-of-mouth details about your dealership with their friends, family, and coworkers

Identify promotional opportunities through ongoing ad consultation to further target specific groups to optimize impact and response
Deepen your dealership’s Facebook presence through highly-focused, strategic marketing
Generate engagement online that translates offline into increased leads and revenue opportunities for your dealership

The “Like” Accelerator Service is available to you as a cost-effective standalone service, or as an add-on option for any of our existing R1, R2, R3, and R4 Digital Marketing and Social Media Packages. The Service is standard as part of our R5 and R6 Full-Service Packages.

To learn more about leveraging the “Like” Accelerator Service for your dealership, please call Dealer Impact Systems today at 877-334-9638, or send email to us at innovation@dealerimpact.com.

The Rules of Engagement

Win Your Customers by Wooing Them through Social Media

Winning the hearts, trust, and life-long loyalty of your dealership’s customers begins by following a few simple rules of engagement on the social media sites of your choice—Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, or Google+, just to name a few. By keeping the following fundamentals in mind when managing the content on your social media venues, you’ll keep in touch and in tune with your customers. And in turn, this will help you stay on target with your dealership’s sales goals. Think in terms of your customers’ lifetime value. Put a greater emphasis on investing the relatively small amount of time and energy regularly to cultivate high-quality relationships that offer long-term satisfaction and returns for both you and your customers.

Be informative. As often as you can, post on your dealership business pages on your favorite social media sites. Your customers are anxious to hear from you. They want to know about your dealership’s latest discounts, rebates, incentives, giveaways, and upcoming events. They want to know about manufacturer and industry news that may impact them. They want facts that will help them make the most informed decision when buying a vehicle. They want service specials, links to other helpful automotive resources, along with maintenance and safe-driving tips. And don’t forget to share videos and photos as well to engage them. If you can save your customers time, money, and headaches, they’ll remember you, thank you, and stick with you.

Be ready. Be on your toes and ready to share news and announcements at a moment’s notice. Your next prepared post can be online in seconds, and that immediacy works to the advantage of you and your customers.

Be concise. Your customers will appreciate short bursts of information on your social media sites that they can scan, absorb, and act on at will when it’s convenient for them. Being brief also cuts the prep time for you in drafting and finalizing the details to be posted.

Be inquisitive. Strike up a healthy conversation with your customers. Pose some thought-provoking questions online. Ask for comments, opinions, and reviews. They’ll appreciate the chance to speak their minds. And when they do, you’ll receive valuable feedback that will help you continue to support and satisfy your customers—now, and down the road.

Be yourself. Being honest and genuine is the key to having sincere, open, and ongoing interactions with your customers online—just as it is in person.

Be committed. You believe in your business, the vehicles that you sell, and the service that your dealership delivers. Make sure your customers know this. Show them every day in the way you talk about your dealership, its inventory, and its services. Use your web presence to most effectively present the distinct elements of your dealership’s brand personality and to reinforce them.

Be there. When something goes wrong for your customers, be there for them. Be responsive. Acknowledge what happened in general online—and in particular offline, directly with your customer. Offer your dealership’s apologies. Research the problem. Then make it right, and learn from it. Very often, what began as a strained customer relationship can be transformed into an even stronger bond when a dealership responds sincerely and promptly with a satisfactory resolution to a customer’s complaint.

Be generous. You and your dealership are a living, breathing, vital part of your neighborhood. Be sure to let you customers know about the variety of community and charitable events and causes that you and your dealership put your time, money, and muscle behind. It’s feel-good news that everyone loves to hear, and it’s news that you should be very proud to share.

Be grateful. Every business is in business because of its customers. Thank your customers as often as you can—for their patronage, their patience, and for the trust they’ve placed in you, your dealership, and in the vehicles that you deliver.

Be good. Keep up the good work that you do at your dealership every day, and be sure to share it with your old and new friends who interact with you on social media forums. This interaction is vital for developing enduring customer relationships. And it offers countless mutual benefits for you and your customers—right this second, and right on down the road.

For more information about engaging your customers through social media and expanding your digital reach and market presence, visit our Full-Service Page for details or contact Dealer Impact at (877) 334-9638, or email us at sales@dealerimpact.com.

Introducing Full-Service Digital Marketing and Social Media Programs for your dealership

Dealer Impact Systems is here to let you focus on what you do best, Sell Cars!

Let’s face it, in today’s digital marketing world things are moving so fast it takes a team of people to keep up with everything; writers, bloggers, web developers, marketing personnel, social media experts, reputation management, and someone to manage everything to make sure it gets done on time. All this equates to more employees, more programs, more training, more time, more money and more headaches.

What Should Your Dealership Do? Nothing!!!

Let our Team of Digital Marketing Professionals do the work for you.

1) Retrieve
Your dealership has content in many forms and places. Whether it’s an ad, news, or special generated from your sales or service department, or a marketing agency we retrieve your content.

2) Ready
Once it’s in our hands, we ready your content for the web. Optimizing for maximum benefit.

3) Release
Our content team takes your optimized content and syndicates it across the digital landscape, building your presence and getting you noticed!

4) Radar
Once released, we keep our ear to the ground, monitoring for social media likes, tweets, mentions and reviews. We even help respond!

5) Recruit
Our team creates and conducts proactive campaigns to build traffic, enhance web presence, increase Facebook likes & followers, and requests customer reviews.

6) Report
Your customer success manager will conduct monthly, bi-monthly or weekly reviews of your results, and provide recommendations for content that enhances customer engagement.

Click Here for Details.

If you would like to get going on one of our new programs contact us at 877-334-9638 or email sales@dealerimpact.com and get in the queue first.