Billups Design

Any agency that earns its paycheck will tell you that the first thing you want to do is find the right medium for your message. If you are advertising for an old folks’ home you certainly have a place to advertise online, but it probably isn’t on Twitter or YouTube. (It looks like the only way to trend these days is to go to jail or leave your NBA team.) Conversely if you are working with a Hot Topic-esque retailer direct mailers or newspapers are probably not going to get you in front of the eyes you want to be in front of. (It will probably get some confused looks from your audiences parents though) There are some industries where certain forms of media are a perfect fit and to me it’s obvious that big ticket retailers like major electronics and auto Dealers are a perfect fit for Social Media advertising.

These days it’s a necessity for car dealers to have a presence online especially on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Automobile advertisers need a medium where they can market event sales, show pictures, show feedback and customer testimonials easily, make announcements and keep track of their customer base, all things that Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter were built for.

I once worked with an auto dealer regarding their internet advertising and they have a thriving YouTube channel that is still going strong today. (youtube.com/user/TomSparksBuick) With YouTube you can post videos of your sales staff so people know exactly who they are dealing with before they even step foot on the lot. You can build a relationship and make yourself look trustworthy. Of course with big ticket retail a trustworthy relationship is like solid gold. YouTube can help you build that relationship quickly. The biggest thing we implemented was the customer review videos. You can do this with just a video camera and a few minutes with a satisfied customer. You can either tell people how trustworthy you are or you can show them. The latter is clearly the more effective way – and YouTube makes it just as easy.

If YouTube is a great way to show off your sterling reputation and spotless feedback record, then Twitter is your ticket to make sure you become their source for news on their favorite brands. Take Gary Lang Auto for example. They’ve used their Twitter to tell their followers all about when the latest cars are coming in and what they have coming up down the road as far as new products and events – and they have 1600 fans who use them as a resource. People are most likely to go back to big ticket retailers if they have demonstrated value in some way and that’s the best way to use Twitter if you’re in that category. It can also be a great way to live-blog your events and sales to drum up interest similar to what some music festivals and conventions do.

There are a lot of auto dealers who understand the value of Facebook. Gartner Hyundai in Aurora Illinois built a pretty good following. They have a good amount of fan interaction, which as I’ve said before is a great sign your social media advertising is working. It’s updated regularly with links and interesting discussion topics. They attract followers by holding Facebook exclusive contests, answering consumer questions on their page, and showing them new product pictures to get them interested. Another great feature in Facebook that more auto dealers and big ticket retailers could take advantage of is the ‘event’ page. You can use them to drum up interest in your holiday sales and tradeshows you’re sponsoring. The more pages you have the more chance you are going to catch someone’s eye. As long as you make sure to tie it all together at least.

As with everything one of the keys to having a social media presence is tying it all together. Tom Sparks’s great YouTube presence doesn’t do them much good if they don’t direct people there from the website, show them were they can ask questions on Facebook, get news on YouTube, or show it off in their advertising materials. Just in the last week, I had a freelance client that I was trying to encourage to do just the things on these pages. They don’t take a lot of time and ultimately will help your business, especially with big ticket items like cars it can really lead to a great windfall.

www.topdealerseo.com/7-benefits-for-car-dealers-using-twitter

www.goso.com/blog/2009/10/social-media-best-practices-for-auto-dealers/

www.pressdistribution.net/14896/tips-car-cars-sales-online-searching

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