Social media is the most powerful and organic tool any business can leverage in today’s digital landscape, especially in 2024. Platforms like Instagram and X are where younger car enthusiasts gather, providing a prime opportunity for engagement and customer loyalty.
But is social media really worth it for high-end dealerships? Absolutely.
In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of Automotive Industry Social Media Marketing, its impact on the industry, and some effective campaign ideas. Keep reading to discover how to maximise your dealership’s online presence and drive sales.
Benefits of Automotive Social Media Marketing
Automotive social media marketing offers unique advantages that can help your dealership stand out and achieve real results.
With it, you can:
- Share authentic brand stories and engage customers through genuine content.
- Tailor marketing campaigns to specific customer groups for better engagement.
- Build a community of car enthusiasts by hosting virtual meets and sharing user stories.
- Showcase vehicle innovations and tech through insightful content.
- Highlight user experiences with testimonials and real-life videos.
- Host interactive virtual events like VR showrooms and live Q&A sessions – making your brand seem more approachable.
- Provide responsive customer service by addressing inquiries and issues right away.
Essentially, you can use social media to connect with customers better and gain a more positive reputation.
Creative Automotive Industry Social Media Marketing Ideas
Here are some great strategies we’ve seen car dealerships use to connect with their audience, boost their brand, and drive sales on social media:
1. User-Generated Content (UGC)
Get your customers to share photos and videos of their new cars on social media. They’ll serve as great organic testimonials.
Create a fun hashtag for your dealership, and promote it everywhere—online, in-store, and on your website.
Run monthly themes or challenges, like “Best Road Trip Photo” or “Show Off Your Customisations,” and offer prizes like service discounts or free accessories for the best posts. This builds a sense of community and shows real-life testimonials of your cars.
Based on the platform you’re going for, you can run effective campaigns using Instagram marketing services or a Facebook advertising agency.
They’ll help reach your target audience while tailoring the campaign for the platform that’s their specialty.
2. Behind-the-Scenes Content
Show what goes on behind the scenes at your dealership.
Share video tours of your showroom and service areas, introduce your team with fun facts or personal stories, and document the car prep process from arrival to the showroom floor.
The last one is especially important.
You can also create videos showing a day in the life of different team members, like a service manager or a sales consultant.
This builds trust and makes your dealership more relatable.
3. Highlighting New Arrivals and Features
Announce new models or updates to popular vehicles on social media with excitement.
Use high-quality photos and videos to showcase new features, colors, and technology upgrades. Do live reveal events, or first-look photo galleries.
Create detailed posts that explain the benefits and unique points of the new arrivals.
Alongside all that, you can also engage your audience by asking what features they’re most excited about and encourage them to book a test drive to experience the new models firsthand.
4. Educational Content
Share helpful content to position your dealership as a trusted resource.
Post blog articles, infographics, and how-to videos on topics like car maintenance tips, buying guides, and understanding new car technologies.
For example, create a series on “Understanding Electric Vehicles” or “Tips for First-Time Car Buyers.”
Use visuals like diagrams and step-by-step guides to make complex topics easy to understand. Host live Q&A sessions where your team answers common automotive questions.
This helps potential customers make informed decisions and shows your expertise.
Not sure what to do? You can try to create engaging posts with custom social media content creation packages from Happy Hank Media. Good content keeps your audience interested.
5. Capitalise on Holidays, Seasons, and Major Events
Align your marketing with holidays, seasons, and major events.
Create holiday-themed content and promotions, like a “12 Days of Christmas” sale with different offers each day or a “Anzac Day Sale” with patriotic branding.
Seasonal content can address specific needs, like “Winterise Your Car” tips in the fall or “Best Cars for Summer Road Trips” in the spring.
You can even take it a step further and be more involved – join in on major local or national events, like sponsoring a local sports team or hosting a viewing party for a big game.
Adapt your content to these events to stay relevant and create urgency around limited-time offers.
Facebook is a great place for that – a lot of people use it for news. And Kiwis in particular use it a lot. By the start of 2023, Facebook had the highest usage among all other social medias, at 78.6%.
If you’re just getting started, it’s still a good place to begin your campaign. If you’re not sure, just hire a Facebook Marketing Agency.
How Does The Automotive Industry Use Social Media?
Social media is the go-to tool for the whole automotive industry to connect with customers, build brand loyalty, and launch new models.
They also provide real-time coverage during major automotive events.
As a dealership, adopting these strategies helps you connect better with your audience and stay updated about the biggest automotive brands.
Effect Of Automotive Social Media Marketing On Customer Experience
Let’s break down how car dealerships’ social media efforts impact customers:
- Short-term: More people know your brand, folks engage more, and customer service improves.
- Long-term: Customers stick around, you build stronger connections, and more people buy cars.
In short, you can stay far ahead of the competitors with such marketing.
Avoiding Automotive Social Media Marketing Pitfalls
You need to watch out for these social media slip-ups:
- Posting Randomly: Instead of posting randomly, create and adhere to a content calendar to maintain consistency.
- Ignoring Complaints: Always handle issues quickly to build trust. This is one of the most important ways to leverage social media.
- Being Too Salesy: Mix in helpful info with your car ads. Don’t just focus on buzzwords.
- Using The Same Content Everywhere: Tweak your posts for each platform. Algorithms and formatting is usually very different.
- Sharing Blurry Pics: Use clear, eye-catching photos and videos of your cars. Don’t use generic angles or have unremarkable settings as backdrops. Visuals are vital for brand recognition – especially in social media.
If it starts feeling like too much, you can get help managing your social media profiles from a social media manager agency. They can handle posting, engagement, and analytics for you.
Tools for Automotive Social Media Marketing
These tools will make your social media marketing easier:
- Post Scheduling: Hootsuite, Buffer, Sprout Social
- Checking What Works: Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, Twitter (X) Analytics
- Making Cool Visuals: Canva, Adobe Spark, Snapseed
- Keeping Track Of Customers: Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho CRM
- Seeing What People Say About You: Mention, Brandwatch, Talkwalker
What Social Media Platforms Are Best For Car Dealerships?
Now, let’s get to the final point: where should you start? Go for reliable basics, like Facebook, Instagram or X.
However, you should also experiment around with places like Reddit or forums specific to a car model you want to sell. There’s a lot of those out there.
Don’t want to focus on a specific platform? You can work with a social media agency or even a digital marketing agency in NZ to develop a clear online plan.
Whatever plan you make – stick to it and you’ll be selling all your cars in droves. Good luck!
Check out more on our Social Media Marketing here or get in touch.