News for the Week of November 9

Buyable Pins for Android

While iPhone and iPad users have been enjoying buyable pins, the feature is now being offered to Android users. Pinterest lovers can now shop directly from the app and choose from over 60 million buyable pins. The blue ‘Buy it’ button indicates an item can be easily purchased in-app with only a few taps, and users can shop in confidence knowing Pinterest reviews and approves every seller, so they know they’re buying from trustworthy sources. In addition, Pinterest is introducing the new Pinterest Shop, which offers hand-picked collections that include everything from department store offerings to unique, one-of-a-kind products—all located in a centralized location users can access by tapping the ‘Shop’ icon. Dealerships can explore the advantages of broadening their online platforms and reaching a unique set of online consumers by taking advantage of the benefits offered by using Pinterest. Consider posting pins of your service offers and in-house product offerings to entice online customers to visit and shop at your dealership.

Pinterest Search for Similar Items

Continuing to add features users will love, Pinterest welcomed its newest enhancement, visual search. Now, shoppers can select a specific item pinned on a board and visually search for similar items throughout the site. Adding to its capabilities for users focused on shopping, this opens up a whole new level of possibilities and ideas. Shoppers can simply click the search button and zoom in on items of interest. Additionally, key words can be used to narrow down a specific shopping search. Dealerships should continue to pay attention to added Pinterest features and consider interacting more with users by offering things like oil changes and service offers via the shopping feature. Consumers are continuously looking for new and faster ways to shop and check things off their lists, so get in on the early stages of new technology to be seen as a leader by offering new and easier ways to access dealership offers.

Twitter and Vine Welcome Heart Icons

Gone are the days of stars; users are welcoming hearts in a big way and using them as the common language to signify online likes. Twitter and Vine are the latest to update their like icons and use the heart to indicate user likes. In an effort to make the sites “easier and more rewarding to use,” this change is seen as an expressive, universal symbol that will resonate across all cultures and languages. Dealerships should continue to make their Twitter presence known by providing quality content that educates consumers and links them back to dealership blogs or home pages for even more in-depth information. Consumers will place value on content that is engaging, unique, and full of useful and timely information.

Periscope on Apple TV

The popular live-streaming app is now coming to Apple TV, allowing Periscope users to stream broadcasts directly to consumer homes. Offering a genuine experience of what’s going on with friends, family, and acquaintances in an in-the-moment format, Periscope users can open the app to see a collection of live broadcasts from around the world, send hearts to the broadcaster, and read comments from other users. Once a broadcast ends, Periscope automatically takes users to the next broadcast. Dealerships that are already working to keep customers updated with videos and lot walk-throughs can take advantage of this app as it expands its reach even more. Get creative with your broadcasts and get your message to consumers via their Apple TVs to gain traction with a new and growing audience.

Instagram Curated Content Streams

Similar to Snapchat Live Stories, Instagram has hopped on the bandwagon and introduced its version of curated content streams. Offering curated content for events, like Halloween and other holidays, for example, allows users to select a specific feed, which will offer up videos that stand alone on their phone screens—without the standard border, text description, and Like count that would typically accompany an Instagram post. This will make it easier for users to find some of the most popular Instagram content and view it in a curated stream. Dealerships using Instagram can look forward to a more organized format, allowing users to more easily access content—including video. So keep posting and updating, as Instagram continues to enjoy impressive numbers when it comes to engagement and follower interaction.

Tip of the Week—Variety Is the Spice of Life

Even if you’re a content-creating machine, it’s important to keep in mind your consumers are rapidly taking in many different forms of content every time they access online media—so by changing things up and offering a variety of content options, you’ll be more likely to draw in more people and garner a higher level of interest. Think about the social media platforms available to your dealership today. If you’ve mastered two or three of them, consider adding an additional outlet in order to reach even more people. If you’re great at writing content for your blog, take some additional time to add visuals to up the appeal and reach more online users. Check out some of the following quick tips to help you as you spice things up on your social platforms:

• Offer valuable insights. Continue to offer valuable written insights through your website, blog, and other online platforms and educate consumers on current industry topics in order to position your dealership as a thought leader.
• Create infographics. Infographics are a fun and interesting way to spice up your posts and give readers a memorable visual guide to your topic. While you may not be able to include every in-depth detail in an infographic, hit the highlights and entice consumers to want more and seek out in-depth content via blog and website posts.
• Compile an ebook. Use your resources to offer consumers a compilation of valuable information in a longer ebook format. By creating a downloadable format, you are able to use this as a lead source, gaining valuable information about potential customers as you share information.
• Include customer testimonials. An excellent way to build your credibility, testimonials are a way to give potential customers insight into how previous customers have interacted with your brand.
• Create short video clips. Online consumers are drawn to video, and video advertising will hit somewhere near $7.8 billion this year. Furthermore, in a recent study, while only 14% of consumers remembered the last display ad they’d seen, a whopping 80% were able to recall online video ads that took place within the previous week. This makes video extremely important for your dealership when it comes to connecting with consumers and creating relationships.
• Add photos. Not only are 65% of humans visual learners, but according to eMarketer, 87% of shared Facebook posts contain photos. This is another reason to ensure your dealership is on the bandwagon when it comes to providing visual input for consumers. By offering up inviting visual content, you’ll be satisfying shoppers’ needs to see and more fully understand your products and updates.
• Start a contest. Gamification ranks high with consumers and is generally a successful marketing tactic if you’re looking for enhanced engagement, interaction, and even feedback. When consumers see the payoff that results from gamification, they are more likely to offer up their time, spread the word about your contest, and therefore, boost your dealership’s brand-building efforts.

Today’s consumers are bombarded with online marketing from the second they log on to their devices, so it’s essential you continually offer up content that’s original and helpful in order to catch their attention. By changing things up and offering a variety of formats, you’ll keep consumers on their toes and keep them interested in what you have to say. Be sure to take the time to sit down and devise a content plan that includes a wide range of topics and formats—and you’ll end up with consumers who continuously return to you for trusted updates and industry news.