You know that you need to have a presence, so you set up a fan page - but what should you be posting?
There are almost ONE BILLION registered Facebook users as of 7/22/12. When posting as a dealership on Facebook, you SHOULD NOT just be talking about the vehicles, manufacturer and/or the dealership. Facebook is the world’s biggest cocktail party – who wants to talk to people who only talk about themselves? There’s a whole world outside your walls – acknowledge that you’re a part of it!
Keep in mind that the ultimate goal is to show up consistently in peoples’ News Feeds. That’s how the “Rule of 7” in branding can take effect, and the fan can get a feel for the personality of the dealership. Studies are showing that visits by fans to Facebook business fan pages and their custom tabs is declining. However, once someone “Likes” the Fan Page, they then have the potential to see every post of yours in their News Feed without ever visiting the page again. Do not post every car you get into stock to people’s news feeds or they will either block your posts from appearing in their feeds, or just un-like your page entirely - you just lost them.
It should be dealership policy to engage with every commenter and liker – thank them for commenting, have a conversation back and forth, but keep in mind that the conversation is in public. Even if they have a negative comment, you should still thank them for their feedback and provide them an offline method of contact with which to resolve the situation amicably. Use Facebook’s FREE Analytics - if a certain type of post is garnering more engagement than others, try to create posts like that more often…
Here’s the type of posting activity that will be relevant to fans:
- Local news – anything interesting but not controversial that you think your Fans would value.
- Special offers – and make them exclusive to Facebook. People like getting something they think nobody else can get. Once you set up a Check In Deal (see below), you can create as many “Offers” as you’d like.
- Events – is something happening at the dealership or in the area?
- Coupons – service, discounts off of vehicle purchases
- Funny items you find around the web involving cars or current events
- Pictures of happy customers – try to get them to tag themselves and comment
- Customer reviews / recommendations / testimonials
- Community involvement – does the dealership sponsor little league, hospitals, municipalities, etc?
- Surveys (Questions) – people love to give their opinions
- Recipes
- Local Gas Prices
- Check-in Deal – create it, promote it, track it . There’s a limit of one – ex. $9 oil change, $500 off Any Used Purchase, 15% off all parts, 10% off Extended Warranties, etc. People can use them and share them…
- Facebook Offers Help Section - http://www.facebook.com/help/offers
- Deals PDF Help Guide - http://ads.ak.facebook.com/ads/FacebookAds/Deals_businesses_US.pdf
- How to Create a Deal Video Overview – http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10100211990206733
Thanks, JD and Kathi!
Nice informative post Adam. Love to see you blogging and kicking butt.
Great guide, Adam. Posted it on our wall.