There are three huge ways to transform the Social Media at your Dealership.
Tell Your Story
Telling your Digital Story is a huge step in the right direction. In the most recent quarterly conference call, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg indicated that stories were the next big thing, and he’s a guy that knows the next big thing when he sees it.
Not surprisingly, going vertical with your phone, planning for NO audio, and capturing users’ attention in 3 seconds or less are key. Stories can be skipped. Think accordingly.
Transform the Story
Many stories struggle with the command and control concepts of industrial business. The goal of corporations, after having established a competitive advantage, is to prevent risk and avoid failure. Thus, communication is approved and controlled by the business entity’s marketing department.
In a world of social media, the game has changed even though the decision-makers haven’t. As such, the command and control approach ironically gives the power to the dissatisfied few. Employees that leave on less than friendly terms can be a detriment; they will, can, and do leave negative comments. It happens – and those negative comments stand out!
A better approach is to drown out the naysayers. Align all employees with the company’s culture and how they should share their stories and experiences via the various platforms – the good stuff.
Think about it. Silence allows the squeaky wheel to get the social media oil.
If everyone at the store—say 100 employees—has 150 or more friends, the good—and it is good—will decidedly outweigh the occasional bad.
Boost the Posts
Organic traction on dealership posts is non-existent. Set aside a minimum of $100 to boost your own posts. Otherwise no one, but your employees and competitors, will see them.
I also recommend setting aside at least that much money, if not more, to incentivize employees to post perhaps by giving out a $25 Starbucks gift card to the employee with the best weekly post, then sit back and watch the healthy competition transform your culture in meaningful ways.
Sure, it’s scary at first, but what powerful, meaningful transformation isn’t?
Source: Jim Flint - Digital Dealer
