You dedicate at least an hour of your day on your dealership’s Facebook business page. You chime in on posts about the auto industry, you change your profile and background photos, you post 8 times a day - YOU ARE COMMITTED. So why aren’t people liking your page?
The most successful businesses follow these 6 easy steps to ensure they aren’t sucking on Facebook:
Facebook is not Twitter and Twitter is not Facebook. Less is more on Facebook. While you should be promoting your dealership and staying fresh in your followers’ minds, you need to do it tactfully or it will backfire. Your followers won’t like their newsfeed bombarded with posts from you, one after the other - no matter how interesting you think your content is. If they stop engaging with you (likes, comments, etc.), Facebook will stop showing your content in their feeds. So don’t drive them to press that “Unlike” button!
TRY THIS: Stick to posting once or twice a day, five days a week - and make it count. While it might seem like this will simplify your life (and it probably will), you still want to engage your shoppers in that one post. Just because you cut down on quantity, doesn’t mean you should cut down on quality. Red Mango (who is on Inc. 500’s 20 Best Company Facebook Pages) for example, posts around once a day and gets quite the attention from fans.
Facebook is a place consumers go to entertain themselves and learn something useful or interesting. So take off your sales hat! Leave the information about your dealership like “where we’re located” “why you should pick us” out of your posts and in the “About” section of your business page. That way your Facebook fans can still know where you are without you risking sounding spammy.
TRY THIS: Post helpful tips for things such as oil changes, and ways to save gas. Use infographics to keep the visuals interesting and the actual post short (shoppers are more likely to read it if it’s 70 characters, or less). Be current, and share new and interesting automotive news. Your Facebook followers will get a sense of your dealership’s automotive expertise without you having to out and say it.
The tone of your content is almost as important as the content itself. It’s part of what attracts your readers to continue reading your posts. If you constantly use dealership jargon or post things you like as a dealer, but that is of no interest to your consumers, they won’t read it!
TRY THIS: Post things customers might actually want to read like service specials, throwbacks of classic vehicles, and how-tos for anything auto-related. And start including pictures on your posts! It’ll add some pizzazz to your content and increase virality by 69%!
Show your Facebook peeps that you’re taking the time to actually come up with your content. Get rid of the cliche quotes from famous people - they only look like great content fillers, but really, they’re a little played out. Also, when you “share” content from other businesses, credit them in some way! It’s not classy not to, and I’ve seen businesses get called out on social media for it.
TRY THIS: Test the newsjacking waters by keeping up with trending topics and giving them your own automotive spin. It’ll show your followers that you’re current, original, and fun (not some uptight, sales guy). Make sure your newsjacking is not offensive as some current events are sensitive subjects. Check out these creative newsjacking examples of the Oscars from some popular brands, courtesy of Hubspot.
Sadly enough, some dealerships are still guilty of ignoring customers’ comments on their Facebook page. Social media gives shoppers the “floor” to say whatever they want about your dealership, good or bad. If you aren’t there to thank them when they praise your service, or to apologize to an unhappy customer, it’ll be out on the web for everyone to see.
TRY THIS: Spend about 15 minutes in the morning, noon, and evening monitoring your Facebook. If someone likes, shares, comments, or reviews your dealership, write them back!
Thank them for taking the time to write about their experience and maybe even prompt them to engage further by asking them other questions.
If you come across an unhappy customer on Facebook, apologize PROMPTLY for their experience, and invite them to call your dealership. Reaching out will show your other Facebook followers that you care about your shoppers and your reputation. Plus, if that customer was willing to share his/her bad experience on social media, you can bet they’ll share how you made things right!
Facebook Insights shows you how many page likes you’ve had in a certain time, how many people your posts reached, and how many people have shared, liked, and commented on your posts. You have all this information at your disposal, FOR FREE, so why wouldn’t you be using it in your content marketing strategy?
TRY THIS: Use it in conjunction with your other analytics tools. Monitor your progress and pay special attention to what works and what doesn’t. Then tweak your posts’ tone, length, and content to fit what has worked for you. This will ensure you don’t stay in the rut of trying and failing to engage your shoppers.
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How do you keep your Facebook content fresh and engaging? Share your tips below!
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