8 Reasons Your Dealership Facebook Page Isn't Working
1. You’re Not Posting Regularly. Facebook’s algorithms are set to foster and reward engagement. If you’re not posting 2-3 times per day, you won’t have built enough momentum to appear on the News Feed.
2. You’re Not Promoting Your Facebook Page. A month or two ago I did a mini-market study to see how many dealerships in the Orange County, CA area had icons for their Facebook Page on their website. I’m sorry to say, the results were dismal: About 35% had a link on their site. If you promote Facebook and offer the “Like” button in all your other media, then your customer doesn’t even have to leave your site to give you that coveted “Like”.
3. You’re Posts Look Counterfeit. Social Media cannot be automated. It must have a realness, an authenticity to it or people won’t engage. Is your provider’s branding apparent on your posts? Does it look like someone other than you is doing the work? That’s the quickest way for a user to by-pass you and look at the next post on their wall. Real people are behind your dealership’s name so let that shine through in your content.
4. You’re Not Posting Quality Content. Your fans need a trusted resource when they or someone in their network needs to buy or service a car. My motto for content is “Share or Solve, don’t Shill.“ Think about it, what attracts you to reading something or watching something? It has to be relevant to your audience or they won’t engage.
5. You’re Not Engaging Your Fans. Evoking emotion or playing into the natural human tendencies of seeking pleasure and avoiding pain can work to your advantage. Ask questions like, “What car would you drive to your ex-wife’s wedding?” Simple giveaways like “We’re having a contest for dirtiest car. Post your picture here and the winner gets a free detail.” Also, monitor your page at least 4 times a day. When someone responds to your post, you need to respond back quickly. It’s a SOCIAL medium.
6. You’re Not Leveraging Customizations. You need to leverage every opportunity you can for people to like your page. Install a nice landing page to welcome your new visitors. Point the user in the right direction by using a nice graphic, make it easy for them to do what you want them to do. It’s also a perfect chance to use a lead-generation graphic to schedule a test drive. For these customizations, you can hire a designer (prices are reasonable) or if there’s someone in the store that can do it, here’s a great tutorial on how to do it yourself.
7. You’re Posting at the Wrong Times. Dan Zarrella (Hubspot’s Social Media Mktg Scientist) has a great Webinar called The Science of Timing. He says generally that nights and weekends are the optimal sharing times on Facebook. That’s when most people are home relaxing and have time to really engage. There are certain times of the day that work better too. The best way to know for sure is to experiment with different times and track the results.
8. You’re Not Paying Attention To Your Analytics. You can’t manage what you don’t measure. Most stores don’t spend time looking at their results on Facebook. Facebook Insights is your best friend. It allows you to see what content got the most interaction. It allows you to see what you did right and what didn’t work so well. Spend a few minutes each week getting to know your fans better with Insights. You’ll deliver a better experience for them and make better decisions on your content.
Kathi Kruse
Kruse Control Inc.
Comment
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Comment by Zuzana Friedt on May 6, 2011 at 10:41am
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Kathi, the way I looked at it is - if I'm following lets say a fast food chain - I want to see their news feed more often because I'm buying their product almost daily, I want to know their specials etc.... so there is a high frequency of engagement. I dont have a high need to see my dealership or realtor's news feed several times a day since I'm not buying their products so frequently. But you are right - it is all about the high quality content and keeping the customer engaged. I spoke to so many dealers about this and everybody has different opinion, I guess we all have to figure out what works the best in our markets. Thanks again for a great article.
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Comment by Kathi Kruse on May 5, 2011 at 8:41pm
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Thanks Joe and Zuzana for your comments.
Zuzana--Every user's experience is different but we've had great success with 2-3 posts per day. If the content is relevant it won't be blocked by a user, if it isn't then you're right...it will be blocked. The secret is in the content. We do pretty extensive research focusing on number of posts, day of the week and time of day, and we keep honing it. Engagement and presence on Facebook is what will get the dealership seen. If you have too many posts with no engagement then yes, that could be spammy. But if you get good engagement with 2,3,4 or 10 posts per day then you're a Facebook star! It's all about the content and listening to your audience. Thanks again!
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very nice article, I totally agree with all the points but I'm hesitant about #1. If I'm a customer and you post on my wall 2-3 times a day I will just block you - I will be still between your "Fans" but you will never know that your messages are not showing on my wall anymore.
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Comment by Joe Clementi on May 5, 2011 at 11:01am
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Another great post Kathi. Sadly, I'm guilty of at least three things on your list. Now, I've learned what to do and what to keep an eye out for.
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Comment by Kathi Kruse on May 5, 2011 at 9:53am
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Thanks Gretchen and Nancy!
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Comment by Gretchen Kennedy on May 5, 2011 at 9:36am
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Great post, Kathi. My personal favorite is #4. I can't tell you how many of my own friends I've had to hide because they use FB as a one-way monologue (i.e. from my realtor friend, "CHECK OUT MY LISTINGS!" to a name-dropping fundraiser telling us who he had every meeting with all day... every... day... yuck). And, I will admit it, I've unfriended a dealer on both FB and Twitter because all they did was post inventory. I'm not looking for a car, so I certainly don't value seeing their inventory clog up my news feeds. The thing is, I'm sure I'm not the only one. The far more powerful alternative is to post inventory on Facebook Marketplace, where 15 million FB users go monthly TO SHOP. And if they "Like" or comment on a piece of your inventory, it shows up in their friends' feeds. Same effect of explosive visibility, but it's much more respectful--and in the end, more valuable since no one is unfriending the dealer who is abusing FB (or Twitter) with a constant stream of inventory.
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Comment by NANCY SIMMONS on May 5, 2011 at 7:44am
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@Alex...The dealership has to be a fun friend and not be posting ad after ad...If the dealership on fb is engaged in the community as they should be in the outside of fb world, they will build trusted relationships. Engaging in local school events, youth sports, community events, organizations, they will make a lot of friends/fans in their community on fb before they know it!
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Comment by Jack Higginbotham on May 4, 2011 at 9:23pm
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Got it now, Thanks Kathi
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Comment by Kathi Kruse on May 4, 2011 at 9:13pm
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Thanks Jack! To see the tutorial, just click on the phrase "here's a great tutorial" and it will send you there. It's hard to see the link because it's purple and the other text is black. Congrats on moving forward with Social Media!
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Great tips Kathi! Where is that tutorial you mentioned on customization in #6. That has my interest right now, then I can implement the rest along with a couple of my own ideas also. Keep up the great work here. I read all of your stuff
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