Stop pushing new vehicle inventory or your prospects will tune you out
At any given point in time, eight per cent of the population is in the market for a newer vehicle. These are called intenders.
Dealerships all fight for their share of the intender market. This means that 92 per cent of the population are non-buyers but are still being bombarded with vehicle advertising. Consumers can’t avoid this advertising. However, they can turn off your social media posts — in fact, it’s an option on social media platforms.
The primary reason that people turn off your dealership’s or your sales consultants’ social media feeds is that they are continually being shown products for sale and this simply alienates many of the people who initially started to follow you.
Most people grow tired and irritated with the constant barrage of advertising that features vehicles for sale; sometimes they’re seeing posts several times a day.
By continuing to solicit business with vehicle ads, many block your posts — or worse, unfollow your social media platforms altogether. You can certainly target potential customers with your vehicle specials by using targeting filters but consider that 92 per cent are not paying attention.
Consider a different approach. Start leveraging your social media strategy to brand your dealership. Branding is how you want your company to be perceived and how you want customers to describe their experience using your products and services.
It’s what makes a memorable impression on consumers and it allows customers to know what to expect from your company. Brand your dealership as the preferred supplier of the goods and services you provide and position your sales consultants as experts. Information is the valued currency of the internet and those organizations that give more, earn more.
Providing information that is helpful or enlightening is termed “content marketing.”
If we simply go by the numbers, eight per cent of your posts should advertise vehicles to the intenders, while 92 per cent should strive to create confidence and make the dealership or a sales consultant a potential buyer’s first and logical choice when considering a newer vehicle.
Most dealership websites have very limited informational or educational content. Many of the pre-owned pages are merely inventory search tools.
Think about what consumers search for on the internet when they’re in the market for a vehicle. Create posts answering questions that consumers are posing on search tools or YouTube. Here are some questions:
- What are the top five fuel efficient small/medium/large size SUVs?
- What is the battery range of electric vehicles?
- Should I buy a hybrid or plug-in hybrid vehicle?
- Should I buy gas or diesel?
- What are the lowest maintenance costs for SUV/pick-up trucks/cars?
- Which manufacturers include maintenance with a purchase?
- Should I finance or lease my next vehicle?
- Should I get an extended warranty?
- Do vehicles today need rustproofing?
- Which cars/trucks/SUV’s have the highest resale value?
- 2025 F150 review
- Etc.
Most of your posts should be videos. Most people like to watch a video rather than read a lengthy post.
If you produce videos on any of these topics answering these questions, you have a much greater chance of becoming noticed and you are building a brand.
If you don’t have the resources to produce your own content, there is an endless stream of videos available online that you can post. Many manufactures have produced videos already about how features on their vehicles work that can be shared on your social media platforms. Here are some examples:
- How does lane departure work?
- How does adaptive cruise control work?
- How does lane keep assist work?
- How does the hill stop feature work?
- How does adaptive cruise control work?
- Etc.
Also include ‘CALLS TO ACTION’ within each piece of content that you produce that will drive potential customers to your website such as:
- Learn more about our 24-hour test drives.
- Schedule a sanitized test drive at your home or work. Learn more.
- We bring NEW and PRE-OWNED vehicles to your home or work. Learn more.
- Learn more about our SAFE and RELAXED showroom experience.
- Get a FINANCE PRE-APPROVAL before you visit us. Learn more.
- Get a TRADE-IN VALUE for your vehicle. Learn more.
If a potential customer visits your website, you will have now created an opportunity to retarget them with online tools as they travel through their buying cycle.
All these videos and articles can now be shown on any of your social media platforms. Social media platforms are the new networks for your marketing and advertising just as ABC, NBC and CBS were for television for decades.
Syndicating your content on many online platforms and blogs will allow you to reach an infinite source of new customers. Everyone in your dealership (and especially sales consultants) should be producing content NOW.
Growing your followers should be a top priority as the people who follow you now are probably the people who purchased or leased a vehicle from your dealership — you asked them to follow your feed. Targeting your posts to potential customers through advertising options that social media platforms offer you is a smart choice. Contest and giveaways are also a great option to grow your followers.
If you would like to learn more on how to leverage social media to sell more vehicles, register for Wye Management’s 1-day ONLINE workshop on ‘How to Sell More Cars Using Social Media.’
