7 Automotive Social Media Marketing Strategy and Tactics

Alex Suprun

December 5, 2022

Automotive marketing is a booming industry that no longer uses conventional marketing methods. With the Millenials and GenZ being addicted to, auto dealership businesses are now headed toward digital marketing. You must now ace the race by turning to online social media marketing and conducting a thorough research about it if you are a dealership. Let's dive deeper to learn more about 7 social media marketing tactics and strategies.

1. Choose Multiple Social Media Sites for Marketing

Many dealership social media platforms have their pros and cons. You must choose the best for you according to your needs. According to the changing trends, all platforms cater to separate audiences, for instance -

Instagram has become a shopping haven for Millennials. Millennials are no longer found on Facebook as they are on Instagram shopping, making reels, and sharing pictures. This makes Instagram a good market search tool for increasing brand awareness, marketing and image building. They also use Instagram for making big online purchases like cars, which is why dealerships should definitely be on this platform.
Despite the Millennials being on Instagram, Facebook is still used by a vast number of people. It allows you to streamline the online audience based on the location of your dealership, view the types of models your inventory has, along with various other features which attract a large audience to your dealership.
Twitter may not be as popular as its counterparts but it still has many car buyers online. Using keyword targeting and communication with consumers, Twitter has become a widely used communication platform for car buyers.

2. Flaunt Your Experience on Social Media Pages

As a local dealer, your main media marketing goal is car selling, but there is a lot more than that you can do on dealership social media. If you offer other offers or services, business social media lets you advertise them, thereby giving you an additional profit.

3. Make Stunning Videos for Organic Engagement

All social media marketing platforms have one thing in common. No prizes for guessing; that is video advertising. You can choose from an array of video ideas displayed on the platform, some of them include -

About Us - It is always a good idea for you to educate your audience about your business. Who you are, your years of experience, and what makes you a cutting-edge dealer compared to your competitors. You can also tell them why they, as a car buyer, should choose them.
Customer Testimonials - These videos usually involve customer conversations about their experience with your dealerships. You can also include your success stories highlighting your problem-solving skills, providing excellent customer service, etc. These videos can be short so that the customer can find them engaging.
Promotional Strategy Video - As the name suggests, these videos feature specials or promotions. You must create and promote such videos if you know that your pricing and offers will remain unbeaten.
Product Demo - These videos usually demonstrate the working of a particular vehicle or service. These videos must be planned strategically to attract the audience.
Behind The Scenes - Behind the scenes videos that show how you work can add more credibility to your brand.
Model Comparisons/ New Car Launches - Comparison videos on digital platforms are highly beneficial as most car buyers view them while deciding between similar models. These videos help your prospective customer decide better while buying a car. Similarly, new launch videos are identical as they showcase all the latest launches and their features, which may pique a buyer's interest.
Social Videos: Videos related to corporate social responsibility with meaningful messages are also great for engagement and growth.

4. Retargeting Ads

Retargeting is essential when it comes to automotive digital marketing strategies. The goal is to bring back those prospective customers who visited your website but did not opt for any vehicle or service. In this case, Facebook/ Instagram marketing acts as a magnet and allows you to pull back these leads to your website. It is an opportunity to remind them about your vehicles by either sending them lucrative offers or incentives or just informing them about the new vehicles added to your market inventory. Retargeting ads may include the online latest offers, which may expire soon, or referral schemes. Add urgency to these offers with the ‘ending soon’ tag so they can head over to your website as quickly as possible.‍

5. Attract Leads Instantly with Facebook Automotive Lead Ads Strategies

Lead ads are a crucial part of dealership marketing strategy. If you offer lead magnet services like test drives or brochures that can be downloaded, they can be the most effective for you. They help you accumulate a lot of lead data which you can then use to keep the customer connected to you through their sales funnel journey. You can use this lead information to send out newsletters, special automotive offers, and car launch invites. The possibilities are endless! In fact, a survey has stated that once a customer is connected to you, they seldom leave the funnel.

If you need to know precisely what a lead ad is, we have broken the journey into two simple steps -

The consumer sees your car ad.
Clicks on the ad give them your information to get the lead magnet you are offering and submit the information to you.

6. Market Your Cars With Digital Carousel Ads

If your business has no videos, you can use good images in slideshow ads. You must get good photos, include some text, and voila! You are done. If you are weaving a story through your ads, this ad type will work best for you! Showcase all the features of the vehicle to attract your online audience. These ads are easy to create which makes them the best choice for automotive dealerships. You could also showcase your latest additions and even the services that you offer.

7. Attract Customers With Social Media Content- Video Ads

Videos are the most consumable form of social media content. People usually prefer video content over written posts. Therefore, social media channels have come up with video marketing. Auto dealerships can market their cars by creating video ads. Since 84% of car buyers are attracted to video ads and videos when they wish to buy a car, this form of advertising is the perfect way to get more customers. Since more than one platform offers video advertising, you, as an auto dealer, need to decide which is the most suitable for you. Here are some options -

i) YouTube Digital Advertising

YouTube offers various formats you can choose from. You can sign-up for your channels and create videos that are as short as 5 seconds and as long as 30 seconds. However, it is not advisable to go higher than 2 minutes as you might fail to grab the attention of the audience.‍

ii) Facebook/Instagram

Facebook & Instagram offer many online options and social ad types which allow you to feature your ads. Since the number of users on these platforms is high, your business has a good opportunity to offer many video options. It is common knowledge that scrolling through these platforms is allowed only if you see a video ad. Facebook has a special mobile section dedicated to videos and when you watch these videos, you come across a lot of ads.

This gives your automotive social media marketing an edge to reach the maximum audience in the market.

Commit to Your Automotive Social Media Marketing

The automotive marketing strategies mentioned above can only be a success if you manage and execute them well. Once you have created content, told your story, and provided all the information, it is not a good idea to stop. Dealers should remember to communicate with social media by handling complaints and general questions and thanking customers who have shared stories.

Social media marketing is a speed-based medium, and car dealers should always be on their toes to handle any communication with their audience. Otherwise, they may miss out on many crucial issues.

Apart from using the online digital marketing strategy to market your brand, social media success lies in providing consumers with the best possible customer service.

If you are still trying to figure out a good social media strategy to market your automotive business, an experienced marketing service provider can come to your rescue! Contact us today for a no-obligation call and we'll be happy to help build a strategy for your automobile business.

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