Here at Spidersnet, we’ve been banging out about how useful Facebook can be to car dealers for a while now. It’s a tool that, if utilised correctly, can help raise brand awareness, drive new leads and expand your dealership’s reach in your local area.
If you haven’t already, we would highly recommend you read our article titled – Car Dealer’s Guide to Facebook. This will give you a nice overview of just how vital Facebook can be for your business, offering tips on setting up your page and what to post.
However, in today’s guide, we thought we’d take a look at some dreadful mistakes that many businesses make on Facebook all the time. Our first guide was telling you what to do, this one focuses heavily on what you really, most definitely, should not be doing!
Never ignore people
This is a big no no. Facebook is such a public forum that it is vital that you are never seen to be ignoring people. If someone comments on your page or leaves a complaint then you really do need to make sure that you respond!
Firstly, this is extremely important if you want to maintain high levels of customer service. To leave a good impression on anyone, be they a previous or potential customer, should always be high on your agenda. Therefore, if someone leaves a comment asking a question, or raises a complaint about your previous service, then replying to them should be at the top of your to-do-list.
“Every time there’s an angry customer, you’re not just dealing with him or her. You’re dealing with the thousands of other people connected to your social platform who are watching you on dealing with this angry customer.”
Social Times
Secondly, whilst it’s good for customer service, it’s also worth bearing in mind that most people will be able to see any comments left on your page. Not only will they be able to see any complaints, but they will also be able to see if you ignore them. This means that a timely response is imperative, as all eyes will be on how you respond.
Not only is it important that you respond quickly, but you also need to ensure that you do so in a calm, friendly and professional manner. As previously mentioned, people will be able to see how you respond, so it’s imperative that you do so in a fashion that will do nothing but enhance your dealership’s reputation for professionalism and top-notch customer service.
Leaving your page stagnant
This is another issue that small businesses have when it comes to Facebook. They read all about how useful and effective Facebook can be and proceed to sign up. Then, they start posting regularly and begin to build a following. But for some reason, so many companies begin to lose interest and their Facebook page regresses to one which is barely ever updated.
If this is the case your followers will get bored and some will unlike your page, meaning your following will decrease. And, just as importantly, any new potential customers who land on your page will see that it hasn’t been regularly updated and will decide not to turn into followers themselves.
“Too many dealers get excited, sign up to Facebook and start posting, before their enthusiasm starts to tail off. A neglected and stagnant page doesn’t just look bad, it can negatively effect business!”
Adam Rowden, Spidersnet
When it comes to Facebook you should always be posting regular, interesting and informative posts. This is a fantastic way of gaining followers. Once you have people liking your page and interacting with your posts, you might just turn them into customers.
Not only this, but a neglected Facebook page may end up doing much worse than failing to drive leads. It might also have a detrimental impact on business as it could leave you looking unprofessional and inattentive. Your dealership’s online reputation is, these days, an incredibly important aspect of your business and is something that should be nurtured greatly.
Don’t spam your followers
Another way to turn people off is by spamming them. If you post too regularly then their newsfeed will simply be full of updates from your page and no one else. So first and foremost you need to ensure that you aren’t posting too often – once or twice a day is perfect to start out. Then, once you’ve got the regularity of your posts sorted, it’s important that you aren’t solely posting salesy and spammy content.
Whilst we do advise dealers to post links to their vehicles, we also say that these should be interspersed with other types of posts. It’s important that you’re offering potential customers interesting and informative content to keep them engaged. That way, when you do post some of your stock, they will be more likely to take a look and interact.
Here are a handful of suggestions for the sort of things you can post:
- Links to interesting articles from around the web
- Nice looking images of flashy cars
- Images of your staff at work
- Updates from the dealership
- Links to articles from your blog
- Funny and entertaining links
- Relevant industry related posts
- Local news and events
For more detail on what to post read our Guide to Facebook today.
Don’t forget images & videos
Don’t forget that Facebook is a very visual medium. People don’t want their newsfeed to be entirely made up of text and comments. When it comes to posting from your dealership’s page, it’s important that you almost always include an eye-catching image, or even a video to go along with your post.
People will be flicking through their newsfeed casually and will tend to only end up on your page if something has caught their eye.
Don’t ignore your inbox
We have stressed just how important it is to ensure that you are responding to comments and questions posted on your page. And, whilst Facebook messages are more private – meaning others won’t see them – it is still very important that you are responding to them in a timely and professional manner.
“Just because the communication is not happening in the public eye, it doesn’t mean you can sweep it under a rug and ignore your customers. Make sure you engage with them in a timely fashion, and if they have issues, find a solution.”
Hootsuite
If you want your dealership to get a reputation as one that cares and offers high levels of customer service, then it’s important that you don’t ignore questions in your inbox.
Responding to questions and queries in a friendly and informative way should always be something you strive to do. We shouldn’t be telling you this, and we are sure you already know how to handle customer queries. However, some dealers don’t ignore customers intentionally, some simply forget to check their Facebook inbox. We’d advise you to be checking your inbox on a daily basis as it could be full of questions from potential customers who are just waiting to purchase!
An incomplete profile
Another cardinal sin is having an incomplete profile page. If someone sees one of your posts on their timeline and then end up on your profile page, they should be able to access all of the relevant information that they require.
You should be including your dealership’s name, location, phone number, web address, email addresses and any other vital info that you feel is necessary.
Not only this, but you should also ensure that your profile picture is nice and clear and your header image is also in place and looking stylish. If you haven’t gone to the effort of choosing a nice clear header image then your page can look shoddy, leaving people with a bad impression of your dealership.
Not using Facebook Insights
If you are not using Facebook Insights, you really need to start! Facebook allows you to monitor how well your posts perform, which will help you understand what types of posts your audience interact with, and therefore wish to see. On the flip side, it also means that you can easily identify which type of posts aren’t doing well, which helps you to make the decision not to continue posting them. This feature allows you to experiment on your Facebook page so you can perfect the perfect posts for your audience.