Let’s face it, every dealership is looking for short cuts to help manage Social Media more efficiently and effectively.  One option is to outsource your dealership’s Social Media to someone who can take care of certain tasks for you.  Social Media still requires your participation and any task that doesn’t require your personality or involvement can be outsourced.

Here are 4 tips to guide you when deciding who should manage your Social Media efforts:

1. Identify what you can and cannot do.  Things you should outsource include Facebook programming and landing pages.  There are volumes written on content curation and strategy so you will most likely need assistance in the beginning with those as well.  What you CAN do is spend 10-15 minutes, two to three times throughout the day checking your Facebook wall, sharing and replying to what your fans are saying. Remember: Social Media is one big relationship fueled by conversation…act on what you can.

2. Your participation is still required. Even if you decide to outsource, your Social Media content must come from you.  It’s your store and your story. A provider can facilitate posts but your personality must shine through in what’s said.  Collaboration is the key.  Audience engagement won’t happen if you have an “I want to hire someone to do it all for me” mentality.  Engagement generates leads and that includes you.

3. Qualify the Provider. Dealership Social Media is still new and it changes often.  Make sure your provider has credibility with their own Social Media profiles (ie: established accounts with credible fans/followers).  Ideally, your provider has 3 things: automotive experience, Social Media experience AND Automotive Social Media experience.  Have they worked in a store?  Have they got Social Media credibility? Do they have experience generating leads in Automotive Social Media?

4. Measure your ROI.  The costs for social media support can vary widely–some Social Media consultants charge a flat fee per month for an agreed-upon scope of work, while others charge by the hour. Whatever the cost, the bar for success should be set much higher when you’re actually paying someone to do it–they are the expert.  Make sure you’ve established some measurable goals to ensure that your Social Media spending is moving the needle for your store.

These are examples of common Social Media goals and ways to measure how your provider is performing:

• Fan Base Growth: Hitting 1,000 fans or followers over a set period of time
• Customer Acquisition: Getting 50 redemptions per campaign on Social Media offers
• Support of Direct Marketing: Adding 100 names to your e-mail database per month
• Engagement: Achieving 20% participation by your fan base (ie: Facebook “likes” and comments)

Are you considering hiring an outside company to manage your dealership’s Social Media?  Before you decide, get to know your fans and followers.  People do business with people they know, like and trust. You’ll make a more informed decision and your Social Media will do what it’s supposed to do: generate leads for your dealership.

Kathi Kruse

kathi@krusecontrolinc.com

www.krusecontrolinc.com