Selling a car used to be so simple — you walked into a dealership and you relied solely on the knowledge of the salesperson to help you determine which car was best for you. Then everything changed when the Internet came into the picture. Nowadays, car shopper researches everything online — from the car itself to the dealership’s reputation even before they visit a dealership. Customers have evolved from shoppers to “social shoppers” who rely heavily on social media as source for product research. This new breed of shoppers know what they want and have in-depth knowledge about the vehicles they’re interested in. That’s a good thing right? Well no, not to the auto industry, according to this article from Dealer Marketing Magazine.
As consumers rely more on social media to influence their decisions, car salesmen are losing their power over them. Since the good old car salesman approach wasn’t working anymore, many dealers and auto brands started to tap into social media in an attempt to increase their visibility online. However, the blatant self-advertisement has turned many consumers off and resulted in a serious lack of engagement.
So how do you unlock the infinite potential of social media and use it to your advantage? The key is to get your most influential stakeholders — your satisfied customers to spread the good words on your behalf. It is human nature to trust people you know. Recommendations from your customers are definitely more convincing than any advertisement you can purchase.
If someone is happy with the car shopping experience with you today, you want to see them mentioning you days or weeks from now on social media. You know this person is out there somewhere. As a matter of fact, you probably have an army of satisfied customers out there who are ready to put in good words for you. All you need to do is ask them.
Read about Advocacy Management and learn how you can identify your potential advocates and ignite them to share their wonderful experiences they had with you.