Social Media for Dealers

A resource from HuebnerPetersen's Dealer Marketing Services

May 7, 2012 • 10:49 am 0

Marketing tips all day long!

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Did you know that RV Social Media now has a Twitter feed that provides rv-oriented marketing tips all day long?!  It’s true!

Follow us on Twitter under the handle @rvsocialmedia .

We cover all sorts of social media and digital marketing tips and news.  Plus, we provide tweet ideas, blog content ideas, and resources that you can use to connect with your own audience.

Give us a follow and drop us a tweet.  We’d love to say hi and converse with your dealership in Twitterland!

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May 1, 2012 • 3:13 pm 1

S.M.A.R.T. Social Media Goals.

Goals Matter! Whenever you’re doing any kind of marketing, including social media marketing, you need to have a clear understanding of what you want to achieve.  When thinking about your dealership’s social media there are 5 important things to keep in mind that will help you make your goals ‘S.M.A.R.T’.

S = Specific

M = Measurable

A = Attainable

R = Realistic

T = Timely

Be Specific:

When stating your goal, make sure it’s very clean and states exactly what you expect.  You can achieve this by answering the Who, What, Where and Why.

  • What: What are you trying to accomplish with social media?  Get fans?  Find followers?
  • Why: Specific purpose or benefits you’re hoping to achieve.  Are you trying to get more on site traffic?  More web traffic?
  • Who: Who needs to be involved?
  • Where: Does your goal take place in a specific area?  Facebook?  Twitter?  YouTube?

Measurable:

Social media goals need to be measured. It can be anything from: “We need to sell at least 5 units with this promotion” or “We need to reach XX number of people”.  To effectively measure, you’ll need to track your efforts.

Attainable:

Make sure to set your goal at an attainable level.  To get 1 million video views isn’t an attainable goal.  To get 10-25 “likes” on Facebook is something more realistic.

Relevant:

Does this goal make sense for your dealership?  Do your social media efforts fit with the overall direction of your dealership’s marketing?

Timely:

When are you going launch your social media campaign? When should you have it completed? If your answer is more than a year or two, you should break it up into smaller attainable goals.  What could you accomplish in 6 months?

Learn more about SMART goals here.

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March 21, 2012 • 11:24 am 1

Social Media and their mean words…

It’s great when customers write love notes on your Facebook wall or Twitter feed but what do you do when they write some, well, less than favorable reviews? I know there’s no way someone would think that your product or service was less than legendary, but mistakes happen. Below are five steps to dealing with uncomplimentary comments on social media.

1. DON’T IGNORE IT! Don’t just assume the negative comment will get lost in the feed or other customers will come to your rescue.  Not only is the angry customer expecting you to respond, but all your other customers will be watching to see how you handle the issue.

2.  Comment and Apologize RIGHT AWAY! No, you don’t have to admit you were wrong but you do have to apologize for the experience your customer went through.  A number of times, customers just want to be heard.  If you comment “I’m really sorry to hear about that! I can understand your frustration’, you are demonstrating that their comment is a concern of yours and you heard it.

3. Be Quick About it. One of the most important things to remember is to respond right away! Consumers using social media to express their concerns are looking for a response within hours! YES HOURS! Keep an eye on that feed/wall and make sure to respond as soon as possible.

4. Get Details in Private. Ask the customer to ‘explain the experience in an email to info@issue.com (your email) or by phone 555-123-4567’ so you can fully understand the situation. If they don’t email or call, at least other customers see that you are trying to fix the issues and you’re dedicated to your customers. Also, this way they don’t hear all the negative details.

5. Fix the Issue. Is it something as easy as apologizing and promising to look into the situation? A good way to not give away the bank, is to ask the customer what you can do to fix it.  Most of the time you were willing to do more than they need.

 

photo by Life As Art

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January 18, 2012 • 8:00 am 0

The Importance of Updating

We cannot stress enough how important it is to update your social media regularly. Social media is a virtual extension of your dealership. The values you portray in your dealership need to also be portrayed through your social media. Would you shut down your dealership for a week at random? Of course not! If someone came in to your dealership with a customer service question, would you ignore them? No way! You need to act the same way in your social media outlets. Here are a few tips on how to keep your social media current:

1. Make an appearance.  At the very least, post something weekly. If your last Facebook post was in September 2011 promoting your last sale, you have a problem. People need to see you engaging in their community. If someone walked into your dealership but couldn’t find a soul around, that would be an issue. It is the same way with your social media outlets. You need to show them that you are there.

 2.  Make it a customer service priority. More and more people are using social media, rather than an email or phone call, to resolve customer service issues. If someone posts on your Facebook wall or tweets you with a question or comment, respond! Even if you don’t have an answer right away, tell them that you will find out and get back to them ASAP.

3. Don’t be afraid of negative comments. You should always respond to comments immediately, especially negative comments or complaints. When you immediately respond, it shows that your dealership takes customer service seriously.

4. Have a current and quality profile picture. Your profile picture is the first thing your customers see, so make sure it represents your dealership well. If you have a 2009 model of a camper in your picture: change it. If you have a picture of your staff from five years ago: change it. If you have your old logo as your picture: change it. Your profile picture needs to describe the way your dealership looks today.

5. Keep your BIO and information current. Any time your dealership makes a change, think about how it could affect your social media. If you change your phone number, you may need to update your Facebook page. If your store hours change, update your information. If you have a new web address, change it on your social media.

Quite simply, if you remember that your social media is an extension of your dealership, then keeping current shouldn’t be a problem. You want to make sure that people can always reach you with as much ease as possible. The more they trust your social media, the more they will trust and recommend your dealership.

photo by Ias

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January 5, 2012 • 7:47 am 2

Developing Your Social Media Goals

With this new year, and the season of resolutions, we challenge you to set social media goals for 2012. Whether you are already cruising along or you hardly know where to begin, it’s a great time to set goals for how your dealership wants to use social media. Here are some tips on setting and accomplishing your 2012 social media goals:

1.    Be specific. The more specific you are, the more focused you will be. Don’t just say, “I want to use social media more”. How do you want to use it? What relationships do you want to build? Where should you focus your attention? When you have specific goals for your dealership it will be easier to keep on track.

2.    Aim high. Don’t be afraid to shoot for the stars. If you are just starting with social media for your dealership, you will find that once you get the ball rolling, it can really take off. When you are persistent in your social media habits, then it won’t be hard to reach those lofty goals.

3.    Write it down. They say that 97% of people who do not write down their goals fail to complete them. Don’t just verbalize your goals. Once you have it written down, share it with your team. Let everyone know your social media mission for 2012; then they can help you work toward accomplishing that goal.

4.    Make it a habit. Once you have your goal, practice it every day. Even if you aren’t posting something every day, be checking to see what people are saying. Get in the habit of getting on your social media daily.

5.    Use good judgment. When you set out trying to accomplish new goals for social media it can be very easy to get caught in the spamming web. It is something we always stress: Do not resolve to posting quantity over quality. Make sure that what you are saying is important and pertinent. For example, if your goal is to post onto Facebook x number of times per week, great! But don’t tell your followers what you had for lunch because you can’t think of anything better to say.

Once you have your social media goals identified, go for it! Jump right in and start talking. It might be very helpful for you to go back and look at some of our previous blog posts to get ideas. If you follow these tips in setting your goals, you are already starting 2012 off right.

photo by Nico Soler

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