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Dispelling social media myths digital dealer magazine

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Ralph Paglia
Ralph Paglia

Brian Epro dispels common myths about social media marketing for auto dealerships. He argues that (1) social media has reached auto customers, as most people now participate on social platforms; (2) many dealerships are already using social media like Facebook and Twitter, so dealers don't need to feel like the only ones; and (3) social media marketing can be simple and driven by customers, not require a big separate campaign, if dealerships provide good service, information, and enable customer sharing.

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D IGITAL Dealer INTERNET SALES Brian Epro Dispelling Social Media Myths D oesn’t it seem like everyone is pushing social media these days? While new social media “Give customers impeccable service, valuable solutions come to market every day, there remain very few real statistics information and a way to spread that information about how social media is working for dealers and whether it’s actually bring- to friends and colleagues and they will do the ing in paying customers. To help you sort through the noise, below are some social media marketing for you.” of the common myths associated with —Brian Epro social media marketing and what you can do to get in the game without in social media, it does not have to be customers. Give customers impeccable spending a penny. complicated or time-consuming. service, valuable information and a way Which brings me to my next point… to spread that information to friends Myth 1: Social media hasn’t reached and colleagues and they will do the auto customers yet Myth 3: Social media is complicated social media marketing for you. As long Social media has slipped into every The best kind of social media as you have a way to track where your industry and nearly every customer’s campaign begins with a loyal customer articles, coupons and offers show up on life. While it’s true that not all people base who appreciates and sends on the various sites, your social campaign can are tweeting on Twitter or posting to a information you share with them. I ride right alongside your traditional Facebook page, there are a host of know an Internet sales manager who marketing services. other social applications out there. had a customer post one of their e- Social media is not only here to stay, Have you ever read or posted an newsletter articles to his Twitter, but it is slowly creeping into the plans opinion or review on a web site? That’s Facebook and LinkedIn accounts. of every dealership. However, instead of a type of social application. What That’s a triple social media hit for the forcing a social media plan, go back to about watched YouTube? If the answer dealership completely driven by one your traditional ways of doing business is yes, you have participated on a social customer! This dealer didn’t have to do – excellent customer service, valuable media site and more than likely, so anything “outside of the box” to create information and the invitation for two- have your customers. The idea that a social media hit, they merely enabled way communication – and your social media is not used in automotive their customers to post e-newsletter customers will do the work for you, free circles is outdated. articles to different social media chan- of charge. nels. The ISM is letting the dealership Myth 2: No other dealer is doing it, customer do the social networking for Brian Epro is director of Automotive why should I? him, which should be the goal of any Services Group at IMN Loyalty Driver. All it takes to dispel this myth is viral campaign. typing the words “dealership + Facebook” into Google. You’ll find Myth 4: Social media needs to be a If you wish to discuss this article with pages and pages of dealerships that have separate campaign other dealers, or with the author, posted their store profile on Facebook While social media is spreading like please go to the “Discussion Forums” and are building “fans” on their page. wildfire right now, dealerships don’t at www.DigitalDealer-magazine.com Recently more than 600 dealers were have to do anything particularly costly and enter the “Internet Sales” forum or identified as having a Twitter account. or time-consuming to get it going. As e-mail him at bepro@DigitalDealer- However, while it is true more dealer- noted above, the best social media magazine.com. ships than ever before are participating campaigns come directly from DD 18 November 2009 DigitalDealer-magazine.com

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Dispelling social media myths digital dealer magazine

  • 1. D IGITAL Dealer INTERNET SALES Brian Epro Dispelling Social Media Myths D oesn’t it seem like everyone is pushing social media these days? While new social media “Give customers impeccable service, valuable solutions come to market every day, there remain very few real statistics information and a way to spread that information about how social media is working for dealers and whether it’s actually bring- to friends and colleagues and they will do the ing in paying customers. To help you sort through the noise, below are some social media marketing for you.” of the common myths associated with —Brian Epro social media marketing and what you can do to get in the game without in social media, it does not have to be customers. Give customers impeccable spending a penny. complicated or time-consuming. service, valuable information and a way Which brings me to my next point… to spread that information to friends Myth 1: Social media hasn’t reached and colleagues and they will do the auto customers yet Myth 3: Social media is complicated social media marketing for you. As long Social media has slipped into every The best kind of social media as you have a way to track where your industry and nearly every customer’s campaign begins with a loyal customer articles, coupons and offers show up on life. While it’s true that not all people base who appreciates and sends on the various sites, your social campaign can are tweeting on Twitter or posting to a information you share with them. I ride right alongside your traditional Facebook page, there are a host of know an Internet sales manager who marketing services. other social applications out there. had a customer post one of their e- Social media is not only here to stay, Have you ever read or posted an newsletter articles to his Twitter, but it is slowly creeping into the plans opinion or review on a web site? That’s Facebook and LinkedIn accounts. of every dealership. However, instead of a type of social application. What That’s a triple social media hit for the forcing a social media plan, go back to about watched YouTube? If the answer dealership completely driven by one your traditional ways of doing business is yes, you have participated on a social customer! This dealer didn’t have to do – excellent customer service, valuable media site and more than likely, so anything “outside of the box” to create information and the invitation for two- have your customers. The idea that a social media hit, they merely enabled way communication – and your social media is not used in automotive their customers to post e-newsletter customers will do the work for you, free circles is outdated. articles to different social media chan- of charge. nels. The ISM is letting the dealership Myth 2: No other dealer is doing it, customer do the social networking for Brian Epro is director of Automotive why should I? him, which should be the goal of any Services Group at IMN Loyalty Driver. All it takes to dispel this myth is viral campaign. typing the words “dealership + Facebook” into Google. You’ll find Myth 4: Social media needs to be a If you wish to discuss this article with pages and pages of dealerships that have separate campaign other dealers, or with the author, posted their store profile on Facebook While social media is spreading like please go to the “Discussion Forums” and are building “fans” on their page. wildfire right now, dealerships don’t at www.DigitalDealer-magazine.com Recently more than 600 dealers were have to do anything particularly costly and enter the “Internet Sales” forum or identified as having a Twitter account. or time-consuming to get it going. As e-mail him at bepro@DigitalDealer- However, while it is true more dealer- noted above, the best social media magazine.com. ships than ever before are participating campaigns come directly from DD 18 November 2009 DigitalDealer-magazine.com