The way to a millennial’s heart is through Facebook and Instagram
If there is one tool that dealers should be focusing on to better service, connect and engage millennials in their business — it’s their social media efforts.
At least, that appears to be the thinking of many young consumers — including 23 year-old Sergio De Cubellis of Laval, Que. In an interview with Canadian auto dealer, this fourth year student of the Automotive Business School of Canada (ABSC) in Barrie, Ont., said many dealerships are making an effort to be present on social media.
“Whether or not they are doing it right, it has come to the attention of the management at most dealerships that social media is important and it’s not just a fad,” said De Cubellis. “They are finding ways to get involved with it — whether it’s having an in-house person take care of their social media or whether it’s outsourcing it to another company.”
De Cubellis said dealers should be focusing their attention on channels like Facebook and Instagram, rather than platforms like Twitter if they want to connect with millennials. And he may have a point.
A 2018 Pew Research Centre survey that looks at the use of social media by U.S. adults, found that Facebook and YouTube continue to dominate the landscape while the younger generation (aged 18-24) are using Snapchat and Instagram more frequently. Specifically, 35 per cent of U.S. adults are now using Instagram — up from 28 per cent in 2016.
The report also indicates that nearly three-quarters of Facebook users and approximately six-in-ten Instagram users will visit the website on a daily basis. As millennials begin to show a greater interest in these social channels, dealers will need to focus on leveraging the platform to their full advantage.
In other words, dealerships with an Instagram account should be using sponsored advertisements and collaborating with other local businesses on the platform, according to 22 year-old Alex Tucker, who is also a fourth year student at the ABSC.
“Cross-promotion is a great way to gain a following and expose your account to new audiences,” said Tucker. “Dealerships should use their social media to help promote events that they sponsor, (and) along with promoting sponsored events, the dealership should attend these events to represent themselves and help support the community.”
Connecting with millennials
Advertisement and promotion aside, engaging millennials in your business also involves a bit more effort. Since they value time and convenience, helping to minimize the time they spend at the dealership without sacrificing the quality of the buying or service experience would be advantageous to dealers, says Tucker. This means being available to reply to messages and questions — quickly — via text, live chat and other means.
Take Montreal-based millennials Pascale Julien, 28, and Marie-Maude Gervais, 30, for example. They purchased a new 2016 Hyundai Elantra nearly two years ago with the help of Julien’s father, who shopped around for a vehicle and negotiated the price with the dealer. Julien says she visited the dealership website and found the tools to build the car online were not very user-friendly. She also said there was no live chat option to answer her questions, although today many dealership websites have this option.
But not every dealer is available to “live chat” with someone on social media. Julien’s girlfriend Gervais is a big fan of live chat and says that dealers need to be more accessible through digital means. “Digital is a tool they can use, but even if they are on social media, for example, someone has to be there if I message them.”
For this younger generation, live chat offers the immediate communication that a telephone conversation typically provides, but without the hassle of a lengthy conversation. In other words, it’s the best of phone and email combined. It is, according to a January 2018 Help Scout blog, the “preferred support channel of millennials.” And it’s a medium that is growing.
Another study, this time from Comm100, shows the number of live chat conversations that retailers dealt with in 2015 nearly tripled in 2016. At the time, the company noticed the tool was being adopted by more and more companies on a global scale as consumers displayed a greater preference for live chat as a touch point with brands. In 2018, the preference for live chat is still very much alive, although marketers are also closely watching growing trends like Artificial Intelligence (AI) live chat and chat bots.
Selling to millennials
The increasing demand for less traditional forms of communication from millennials also explains (at least in part) why they prefer indirect sales messages. As Social Media Examiner blogger Michelle Krasniak puts it, “The secret to marketing to millennials is not to market to them; not directly, anyway. It’s the old ‘sell without selling’ idea.” It’s a concept that is echoed by ABSC student De Cubellis, who advises dealers to take the “soft sell” route and build an experience or story around the brand or the dealership.
De Cubellis has been working part-time at Georgian BMW Mini Turgeon in Barrie, Ont., for the past four years. He recalls a time when the company created an experience for consumers without directly selling to them. “There was an event going on in town and they provided a shuttle service to and from the event, shuttling people around for free,” said De Cubellis, adding that the dealership was not trying to directly sell a vehicle or product to anyone. They simply drove people around and those people had a few questions about the vehicles on the way.
Selling to millennials is “really more about building a relationship that is not directly concentrated around trying to sell to them at every opportunity that they get,” said De Cubellis. “It’s more about getting the relationship out there and letting them know that you can provide some great service and have it be interesting.”
The millennial population is growing and their influence on retailers simply cannot be ignored. The vehicle market share for this generation increased from 27.9 per cent in Q1 of 2017 to 29.7 per cent in Q1 of 2018. In comparison, market shares from other generations either remained the same or fell slightly. In other words, millennials were responsible for all new vehicle sales growth in North America during the first quarter of 2018, according to Marty Miller, Senior Product Marketing Manager for Experian Automotive.
“Millennials make up a significant portion of the population, and their earning potential will continue to grow,” said Miller. “Given their relatively young age, they will be in the market for vehicles for years to come — dealers need to find ways to resonate with them.”
Overall, the message is clear: the way to better serve, connect and engage with millennials is to meet them when and where they are comfortable. Dealers also need to woo them through an authentic and educational experience that builds trust, support and likely brand advocacy in the process.
