Porsche is the first automotive brand to reach one million fans on its Facebook fan page, beating many much larger brands to the punch in automotive social media marketing. What strategies has this German luxury car manufacturer used to pull in fans and see this success? Obviously, a sports/luxury brand often has a large fan following, but auto dealers can still learn from Porsche’s page. The mantra that sales is all about the customer rings true.

First of all, Porsche offered an incentive to its fans and is rewarding them by inscribing their names on a special Porsche model, to be displayed in the Porsche museum. Fans must have a reason to like your automotive Facebook page, and Porsche supplies plenty of interesting content. A quick look through their wall shows a lot of videos, images, contests, and polls.

People like to see visual content like videos of test drives. Also, they will interact if you encourage them to do so, using polls like Porsche’s question about what wheels users prefer on the 911. Almost 3,000 people liked this comment, and 363 responded.

Make the people feel that they will see content that’s meant for them, not just be blasted with your sales spiel. In Porsche’s info tab, they talk about the page being geared toward the fans with fun videos, pictures, and more. In developing social media for your auto dealership, you can learn from a manufacturer page like Porsche how to appeal to people, making them want to like your fan page and interact. Remember, it’s all about the customer!

Paul Potratz