By Brian West, Social Media Strategist, Dealer Authority
The new year is quickly approaching and so is the deadline to nail down your Q1 strategy for social media. Below are eight ultimate must-dos for 2020 to take your automotive social media presence to the next level.
- Focus on Quality Content. If you’re still recycling syndicated content, it’s time for a refresh. Quality and unique-to-platform content on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter will dominate in 2020. Keep it simple, eye-catching, and stop asking your audience for “Likes, shares, and comments.” If you haven’t figured it out by now, when you use those buzzwords, you’re killing your chances of getting quality engagement.
- Plan Your Budget. It’s been a long time since Facebook (and Instagram) allowed much organic engagement. Keep in mind that both are pay-to-play platforms and require a daily Post Engagement budget. Post content, swap budget, engage in comments, repeat. As far as targeted ads go, the CPC days of $.08 are pretty much over – there’s plenty of competition and you need to fight to be the top in your area. I suggest a minimum of $5 per day for post engagement and an absolute bare minimum of $10 per day for each ad.
- Know Your Audience. There are two key parts to knowing your audience: 1) You need a third-party data provider if you want to target in-market shoppers in your local area, 2) You need to use Facebook’s credit category to even run ads that go to your inventory. Facebook is taking its users’ privacy more seriously now, and you’ll have to pay if you want to connect with people and get new website traffic.
- Collection Ads Reign Supreme. If you’re still running dynamic ads, you’re falling behind. Dynamic ads often feature missing images from your inventory and copy too long for the new “three visible lines of text” rule. They’re a garbage fire that should stay in the last decade.
Collection/Canvas/Instant Experience ads are mobile-optimized, hand-built, and you can customize them to feature the exact models you want to promote. They’re somewhat simple to build, they cut out the “accidental clicks” that increase your bounce rate, and are more aesthetically pleasing.
- Hop on the Instagram Train. Remember back in 2009 when you were saying “Facebook is for kids, why would I even consider trying to advertise my inventory there?” Yeah – that’s exactly how you sound when you say that your dealership isn’t on Instagram From featuring inventory to running uniquely placed ads, Instagram should be part of your marketing strategy.
- Live Video Domination. Dealerships that are engaging with their audience through live videos are on top right now, and that isn’t going to change in the new decade. A simple run-through of your inventory, going live during your sales meeting or showing the human side of your dealership brings in an engaged and attentive audience. Utilize this tool on Facebook and Instagram whenever possible.
- Integrate a Chatbot. Connecting your Facebook to whatever chat system your website is using is a simple and effective way to have a high response time on Facebook Messenger. Leads quickly and easily go from Facebook to CRM to BDC — it’s a no-brainer.
- Focus on the Future. While Facebook and Instagram are still the main focus, let’s not forget about other viable platforms. From Waze to Twitter, your dealership should market everywhere possible. Connect with your local market as a person first and as a dealership second. Always put the audience first in all of your marketing efforts and make conversations seem natural, unique, and purposeful.
About the Author
Brian West is an automotive marketing strategist for Dealer Authority.