Social media kicked off the New Year with some interesting updates geared toward increasing content exposure and diversifying communications tools. While some automotive professionals have expressed thatsocial isn’t selling cars, these updates may yet give us hope!

So far, here are 2015’s five social media updates your dealership needs to know about:

1. Twitter's "While You Were Away"

To provide more relevant content,Twitter has adopted an almost Facebook-like approach by adding a “While You Were Away” feature at the top of mobile users’ newsfeeds.

Users will soon see recaps of what Twitter calls “best Tweets” to keep them updated on the most interesting things happening in their Twitter world. While it’s not yet clear how tweets make it into the highlighted section, high-engagement rates seem to be a common factor.

What it means to you:

This is a tough blow to your dealership’s social marketing strategy if you are having trouble with engagement on your tweets. Your posts are now less likely to be seen by your mobile audience, since the “While You Were Away” feature will be located at the top of the newsfeed, pushing all other content down.

Getting to the “While You Were Away” section of your audience’s feed is no easy task, but it’s not impossible! Here are 5 ways you can increase engagement on your Tweets:

• Hold a contest using a hashtag to increase consumer interaction. Check out Honda of Kingston’s #SelfieForACivic campaign for inspiration.

• Post newsworthy Tweets related to weather conditions, interesting automotive articles, even big sports games -- find topics users WANT to read.

• Include compelling images with your tweets. According to Twitter, photos average a 35% boost in Retweets!

• Engage with others -- that way you’ll develop an active follower base who will in turn engage with your posts.

• Invest in Twitter Ads such as Promoted Tweets to increase the visibility of your posts.

2. Twitter's New Bing Translation Tool

This new feature on Twitter is pretty simple to use. Users must activate the translation tool in their account settings, and then they’ll start to see a small globe icon next to tweets. When you click on the globe, a translation appears below the original tweet.

What it means to you:

Using Bing’s translation tool for tweets can be a great way for your dealership to market to a wider audience -- especially if you serve a diverse demographic of automotive customers.

While it may not always provide the most accurate translation, having Bing’s translation tool incorporated in tweets is a giant step toward better digital communication with non-English-speaking customers.

3. "Facebook at Work" for Businesses

Facebook just launched a standalone platform (and mobile app) that allows companies to build internal social media networks for business purposes.

Facebook at Work is supposed to work a lot like Facebook Groups in the sense that:

• Your account is only visible to people within your company

• You can still access things shared on Facebook

• You can upload and share documents

  • There’s no in-app editing yet, but according to Facebook, this feature may be added soon!

What it means to you:

It’s likely that your employees are already on Facebook at work to begin with... unless you’ve blocked their access. In either case, implementing your own social platform could make everyone more happy and productive.

A major concern, however, is user privacy -- which is not one of Facebook’s strong suits (recall the creepy mood experiment). In order to be company-ready, Facebook at Work will need to implement high-grade enterprise security features like the ones DropBox just added last month to provide more security to its users.

Facebook at Work is still in the beta stage, but if the reach on Facebook is any indication of what social users want, this might be the platform to use for internal social sharing in the near future.

4. Pinterest Search Filters Based On Gender-Specific Interests

Personalization is key when it comes to marketing, and Pinterest is looking to do just that -- which is why the platform now allows users to find relevant results based on whether they are male or female.

For example, if I were to start a search for “best cars for…” on Pinterest, it would automatically find filters such as: “best cars for new moms”, “best cars for girls”, “best cars for women”, and “best cars for families”.

A male profile might show filters like, “best cars for drifting”, “best cars for road trips”, or “best cars from Fast and Furious movies”.

What it means to you:

I’ve read many times that Pinterest marketing for dealerships should be mostly, if not completely, directed toward women. These new, gender-specific filters can help you gain more traction with your male demographic.

According to TechCrunch, Pinterest’s male user base grew 73% year-over-year. So, while the platform is still predominantly used by women, there is an opportunity for more growth in male users in 2015. This means your messaging, if it doesn’t already, will soon have to change to accommodate both genders on Pinterest!

5. Google Knowledge Graph Can Now Include Social Profiles

Thanks to Google, online shoppers can now access your social media pages via social icons on your Google Profile when they key in your dealership’s name in Google search.

What it means to you:

If you utilize social media sites for brand exposure and engagement despite serious declines in organic reach, this is a great opportunity to skip the algorithm-newsfeed madness, and
allow shoppers to reach your social media pages more directly.

Is this the panacea your social media pages need to increase click-through-rates? Maybe, maybe not. But any time Google gives you more space on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) for FREE, you should take it!