This Week in Social Media

News for the Week of July 25

Periscope Replay Highlights, Tweet Embedding, and Live Autoplay

Periscope has been busy adding new features, and users can look forward to checking out the latest, such as Replay Highlights, Tweet Embedding, and Live Autoplay.  The new features make it easier for users to find and view exactly the broadcasts they’re interested in.  With Replay Highlights, viewers are able to see a short trailer for every Periscope broadcast, allowing them to see an overview of their entire feed and catch up on any broadcasts they may have missed.  Embedded Tweets are also available now, allowing users to embed Periscopes anywhere on the web simply by embedding the Tweet.  Finally, for Android users, live broadcasts will autoplay in the Watch Tab and Global Feed, allowing users to immediately see what’s going on when they open the Periscope app.  Dealerships, if you haven’t yet checked out Periscope, now’s the time to give it a try.  Viewers are sure to be intrigued by the newest features, and you now have even more ways to reach shoppers in the moment.

New Snapchat Features

Snapchat recently added brand-new features to help users gain followers and stay up to date with the best snaps.  Snapchat’s Suggest is an enhancement that allows users to suggest a friend follow another user.  Since there are no suggested user lists and no leaderboards on Snapchat, some users have found it tough to find people to follow; the Suggest feature helps out in this area.  Now, users can make suggestions to others based on their Snapchat follows, enhancing the experience and making it easier than ever to find accounts to follow.  Additionally, Snapchat has added the ability to screenshot other users’ Stories and then share it via the new Memories feature.  Memories helps users save Snaps and Stories in their own personal collections of favorite moments.  Dealerships, keep in mind the power of Snapchat when you’re communicating with consumers.  With over 9,000 Snaps shared per second, there’s plenty of room for you and your dealership to reach interested, in-market shoppers via this wildly popular app.

Facebook Messenger Reaches 1 Billion Monthly Users

Facebook Messenger recently reached a mega milestone of 1 billion monthly users, making it one of only a few apps worldwide that reaches such a vast number of people.  As more and more businesses join in and use Messenger to connect with consumers, they’re realizing the convenience and efficiency of building social relationships.  Be sure to utilize all the features Facebook Messenger has to offer—like private messaging, saved replies, and page admin capabilities like archiving—to help you reach more consumers and build relationships that will carry over into your dealership.

Facebook Live Audience Restrictions, Continuous Live Video, and More

Facebook Live has added audience restrictions, which allows for the ability to better target specific audiences, aiming certain live streams toward specific ages, genders, languages, or locations.  This makes it possible to offer a more relevant experience for users as live video is streamed.  In addition, Facebook has added continuous live video, enabling more in-the-moment viewing.  This tool has been used successfully for vacation spots, zoos, aquariums, and more to engage viewers and boost traffic.  A new Page metric has also been added, allowing Facebook users to see daily follow and unfollow counts, allowing for a more specific breakdown of follower preferences and actions.  With all the updates coming to Facebook, it’s no surprise it remains on the top when it comes to social interaction.  Dealerships, stay in touch with your customer base by interacting and sharing on this platform.  Be creative and interactive, rather than simply posting content and disappearing.  The more you interact and build relationships with consumers, the more they’ll want to do business with you.

Facebook Blueprint Webinars for Business

Brand-new for businesses, Facebook has launched a webinar series to help them grow via Facebook, Instagram, and the Audience Network.  Offering strategies for business growth through social media, webinar topics include things like using Instagram as part of a marketing strategy, creating video for mobile, and performance marketing best practices.  Registration is currently open for several webinars, and attendees can expect to learn a variety of strategies to utilize their social platforms to optimize their businesses.  Dealerships, however you go about your continuous learning, it’s important to stay on top of the latest and greatest when it comes to technology, social media, and the things your consumers are interested in.  When you demonstrate to shoppers you’re on their wavelength, you’ll earn trust and build loyal brand followers.

Tip of the Day – Make Your Followers Feel Included

As you grow your relationships with consumers via your dealership’s social media platforms, it’s important to keep in mind consumers want to be involved with your brand.  Today’s shoppers want to feel included in what you’re doing, and when you pull them in and make them feel important to your everyday interactions, you’ll end up building better relationships that lead to increased sales and long-term loyalty.

Try the following quick tips to ensure you’re making your online followers feel more connected to you:

• Be a good listener. In addition to being present on a variety of online platforms, it’s important you focus on building your social listening skills so you can absorb what consumers are interested in, what they’re saying, and what’s important to them.  This way, you can respond and provide content that’s relevant to the things that truly matter to them.

• Be a good responder. Once you’ve perfected your online listening skills, it’s just as important that you become good at responding to your online followers.  It’s key to pay attention to your social platforms and answer the questions that are being asked, respond to concerns, and give feedback in a timely way in order to build trust and ensure shoppers turn to your dealership.

• Engage in conversations. Don’t just wait for consumers to turn to you with concerns and questions; instead, be the one to start pertinent conversations that get shoppers talking about your brand, your business, and their needs within the industry.  Find ways you can connect with consumers outside their questions and concerns by posing interesting topics of conversation, and you’ll build a great rapport with consumers who will be more likely to visit your dealership.

• Share helpful content. When you share helpful and relevant content, consumers will begin to see you as a trusted source, and they’ll learn to look for the things you post online.  Consider topics like seasonal maintenance, helpful financing tips, or other tricky topics shoppers may have trouble navigating in the dealership setting.  When you offer up content that makes those topics more digestible, you’ll become a valuable resource for consumers, and they’ll feel more connected to you.

• Change it up. Don’t get stuck in a rut.  Constantly be thinking of new and different ways to reach your consumers by changing up your content and your conversations.  This way, you’ll reach a broader audience, and you’ll keep them engaged with fresh topics and conversations.

• Be reachable. Once you’ve offered up content or started a conversation, don’t disappear.  In fact, make it easy for consumers to find you and reach out to you.  In addition to being available for online conversations, make sure your followers know how to message you in a variety of ways so they can contact you at their convenience.

• Recognize influencers. You’ll have a number of online followers who stand out as brand ambassadors—the ones who speak out to support and share your dealership with others.  Be sure to recognize them!  You can do this by offering a simple thank-you, an exclusive coupon, or even create an event that’s specifically for your best customers.  However you decide to show your appreciation, your online influencers are sure to be happy for the recognition.

• Create a plan. Don’t let the social scene overwhelm you.  When you make a plan and stick to it, you’ll find it’s easy to draw your audience in and show them how important they are to you.  Be sure you’re disciplined about posting, interacting, and having an online presence.  Once consumers know where and when they can expect to see you, they’ll be there ready to participate in valuable dialogue.

Building relationships with consumers is the most important thing you can do in today’s fast-paced marketplace, so it’s worth it to invest the time in building your dealership’s social presence.  Ensure shoppers you’re there to work with them, offer valuable insights, and listen to what they have to say; it will pay off for your bottom line in the long run.