Even with people buying from traditional dealerships, the digital age has no doubt permanently changed the game.
A recent Social Media Trends study by Digital Air Strike showed that car shoppers, for the third consecutive year in a row, ranked social networks as more important than a dealer’s website when choosing which dealership to visit.
Companies in the auto industry will definitely have to reinvent themselves in the digital space.
Moving on…….
Staying Relevant Using Social Media.
What is that and more specifically, what does staying relevant using social media mean for businesses in the auto industry?
Well, basically, it is how businesses in this space can utilize social media to reinforce their presence to consumers. Because they can and they should!
At this time when the world is learning how to adjust with COVID-19, more and more people, now more than ever, all over the world are spending time on their smartphones as a response to have to stay at home for the most part. So what better place for a business to meet it’s audience than where they spend most of their time on? ONLINE!
And that brings us to some ways businesses in this space can use social networks to stay relevant.
1. Visible & Available.
Be digitally visible as well as digitally available. Having a social media presence doesn’t mean anything for your business if it’s not a strong one. Communicating with your followers & target audience and at this time, over communication is also great!
Respond promptly to comments & enquiries on your social platforms. Keeping the engagement going with your audience creates a positive impression on them. You cannot be on a social media platform and not be social!
Constantly remind your audience through posts of your operating hours.
Keep reminding them how they can reach your sales team online: WhatsApp/ Messenger, etc.
Keep your content consistent.
Use the traffic to attract website visitors.
Your audience will be able to tell the difference between who’s making time for them and who isn’t.
Not only is that the case these day, trends have shown that smartphone users visit the businesses social networks more than the website itself.
So go meet your audience where they are!
2. The Experience.
Make the person’s digital retail experience SMOOTH. With people being encouraged to limit movement out of their homes and hanging out more on their phones, the best time for optimizing your site is NOW.
Give users “Shop Now” options on your Facebook page.
Remove unnecessary friction that could make your website visitor leave your page.
Post more videos of your car showroom for people to view from the comfort of their home.
Constantly showcase your inventory through videos.
If your website has integrated payment options, optimize your site to make the buying process easy to navigate.
The better the experience, the more likely you will have a surge in traffic to your networks. Also using this traffic, you can generate leads as well.
3. Knowledge is Power.
Commerce has evolved from “show me everything” to “show me what I like”.
Thanks to machine learning, we are and can always be one step ahead of our potential buyer. We can post content that we know our audience will be interested in, we can drive conversations that we know our audience will be most likely to engage in, we are basically showing them what they like; and what they like, THEY WILL DEFINITELY BUY. 9 Times out 10. Am I right? Or am I right?
So how do we show them what they like?
Track the journey of the customers who are still buying during this time. What are they doing on social media? Where do they hang out when they’re online? What are they clicking on the most when they’re online?
Answer these questions and create content based on these answers.
Get on your insights. Which videos are getting the most engagement? What type of conversation is on that content? What questions are being asked there?
Answer these questions as well and create more content based on these answers.
Finally, it is important to understand that these tips may be helpful during this time but some of them may not be useful after the pandemic is over.
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