BY JOHANNA STUBENHOFER, COMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATE, NJ CAR According to a 2023 Pew Research Center study, approximately 68% of adults reported using at least one social media platform. That means dealers can reach as many as 6.3 million of New Jersey’s 9.2 million residents with a well-developed social media marketing strategy. With such a wide range of potential customers to reach, using social media to attract potential customers who are in the market for a new vehicle sounds like a no-brainer. Unfortunately, some dealers don’t take advantage of the many benefits offered in putting a consistent social media management plan in place. Some New Jersey dealerships are currently using social selling, which is a method for sellers to connect and build relationships with potential customers through social networks. HubSpot, a company providing businesses with social media tools and resources, estimated that 87% of businesses using social selling have found it to be an effective tool to grow their business. CONTENT IS KING Whether you have a social media advertising strategy or not, it is critical that dealers find ways to create content that encourages engagement with consumers (and potential customers). For example, dealers might create an eye-catching post that reminds drivers to keep up with their vehicle service with a call-to-action to schedule an appointment at the dealership. It is important to note that the average consumer is not well-schooled in the wide variety of preventative maintenance needed to ensure their vehicle operates at peak performance. Easy-to-understand social media content provides an excellent opportunity to educate a large audience about their vehicles, while simultaneously encouraging them to get their vehicles serviced at your dealership. Building a connection between your social media content and potential customers is a great way to build brand awareness. Dealers can also create posts that focus on vehicle and driver safety tips centered around weather-related conditions, such as flooding, snow, black ice, high winds, and more. These generic posts aren’t dealer-specific, but can help viewers associate your dealership brand with driver safety. This is another way to help dealership stand out from the social media noise. In order to encourage more potential customers to come into your showroom, dealers should create social media content that focuses on how the services they provide benefit consumers. SAVING TIME WHILE MANAGING SOCIAL MEDIA There are a wide variety of online tools to help with content design including Canva and Photoshop, as well as a variety of artificial intelligence (AI) platforms to give your dealership a jumpstart in social media content creation. Once you’ve created your content, some may be overwhelmed by the sheer number of popular social media platforms [Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, YouTube, etc.] and struggle to determine which ones are the best to meet your specific social media goals. Fortunately, there are affordable, user-friendly online tools to help your dealership manage social media like a professional. NJ CAR itself uses a platform called Hootsuite that makes it incredibly easy to manage multiple social media accounts at the same time. Hootsuite’s streamlined process is designed to help make social media management easier, making it the ideal tool for dealerships who want to dive into social media but also want to use their time efficiently. If you have any questions about social media content creation or management, please contact the NJ CAR Communications Department — Brian Hughes (bhughes@njcar.org) or Johanna Stubenhofer (jstubenhofer@njcar.org). Social Media Content Tips for Dealerships 18 NEW JERSEY auto retailer
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