The Gap Between Auto Dealers and Social Media, from The New York Times.
Matt Howell, the general manager of a Hyundai dealership in Huntsville, Tex., has been in the auto business for 18 years. In all that time, he said, “I can think of one deal that originated on Facebook.”
In January, marketing managers at Hyundai’s American headquarters in Southern California persuaded Mr. Howell to give social media a more serious try. They asked him to use new software to post videos, photos and text updates suggested by the company on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks.
Two months into his social media experiment, the efforts had drawn such little reaction that Mr. Howell, 42, decided to drop out of the program.
Although he plans to keep posting photos of happy buyers on Facebook and encouraging them to write reviews, he does not have much use for the rest of it — especially since Hyundai began charging $275 a month for the service.
