Tips and Tricks to Make Your Social Media Marketing More Successful
By John Yoswick
Whether you swear by social media marketing — or swear about it — it’s becoming increasing difficult for any business to avoid. More and more consumers are turning to Facebook friends and online reviews when choosing a shop, and many rely almost exclusively on Google and other social media — even aside from company webpages — for basic information like your shop’s location, hours, etc.
Mastering social media can be a challenge, and one you may well turn to outside help to manage. But here are some tips and tricks that can help get you started or improve your social media efforts to stay connected with your customers and connect with others like them.
Make sure your Google My Business page is claimed, correct and current.
Your shop already has a free Google My Business page; you just have to make sure you claim it and ensure it has the appropriate information about your business hours, etc. It’s a quick process that can help give potential customers lots of information they may need about your business (even if you don’t have a website or Facebook page), along with a look at some of the online reviews others have given your shop. Get started by typing “Google My Business” into the search engine of your choice.
Use LinkedIn for business-to-business marketing. Frank Terlep of eMarketing Sherpas, a marketing firm focused on the collision repair industry, said LinkedIn is the social media tool that can best help shops with their business-to-business marketing. Want to connect with State Farm agents? Type in “State Farm agents” and your city and state and find a bunch of them. Want to contact a local fleet about doing their work? Type in the fleet name and your city.
“You’re going to find probably most of the executives in that organization,” Terlep said.
Consider advertising on Facebook.
If you’ve spent any time at all on Facebook, you’ve no doubt seen that the social media behemoth continues to find new ways to get paid ads in front of users. Speaking at NACE this past summer, Terlep said he considers Facebook ads “the best value in the market today” because of how specific a target market you can reach with them. You can specify in which zip codes (or even just a radius around your shop) your ads are seen, and you can specify the age or gender you want to reach.
“It might not be [the best value] for long, but if I were to advertise in a local market, I would recommend shops use Facebook ads, because you can really target them,” Terlep said.
Turn to the automakers for content ideas.
Some of the messages the automakers like to convey to consumers — such as the value of using OEM parts and a certified repair shop — may be ones you’d like to get in front of customers as well. One website, www.CrashRepairInfo.com, has been built by the automakers to house a lot of this sort of information, and it could supply dozens of social media posts for your shop.
You can also type in any automaker name followed by “news videos” to bring up dozens of potential video posts (some from the automakers, some from third-party sources) for your social-media channels. They may include videos on new technologies coming on vehicles, like the lane-departure warning system on the 2017 Dodge Charger (http://tinyurl.com/LaneDeparture), or videos on interesting car-related topics, like the restoration of Elvis’ BMW 507 (http://tinyurl.com/ElvisBMW).
Contests and puzzles are a great way to solicit interaction on social media.
Watch for good (perhaps car-related) trivia or quiz questions you can post, offering some reward for the first one to post the correct answer.
Get them looking for your other marketing.
Offer a reward to those who post to Facebook a photo of your shop’s ad on a billboard or bus (or wherever else you advertise).
Let customers vote.
Let two or three popular local non-profit groups know you will be making a donation to one of them based on the votes of visitors to your Facebook page. They will help direct their supporters to “like” you on Facebook and cast their “vote.”
Hashtags also can help extend your reach for such things. When posting something about assistance your shop provided to a non-profit, include a hashtag for that group (e.g., #NameOfCharity) with your post. Anyone (whether they’ve connected with your business previously or not) who is following or searching for that hashtag will see your post.
Get some outside help.
Just as you might hire someone to drive around town on your behalf to visit insurance agents and other referral sources, you might consider getting help with your social-media marketing. Your time might be better spent on other aspects of business, and as with any skill, the folks who specialize in social-media marketing often know a lot more about how to make it work.
The help available can come in a variety of levels and formats. For those looking just for ideas, subscribers to the weekly “CRASH Network” newsletter (www.CrashNetwork.com) now have access to a growing library of ready-to-use social media postings (the author of this article is the editor of the newsletter). More in-depth social-media management by those specializing in this industry is available through such companies as Admin Concepts (admin-concepts.net), AutoShop Solutions (autoshopsolutions.com), eMarketing Sherpas (www.emarketingsherpas.com) and Optima Automotive (optimaautomotive.com).
Generate online discussion.
Post a flier in your customer area offering customers some reward if they “check-in” on Facebook at your location. Their Facebook “Friends” will no doubt be interested to know why they are at a body shop, and it will be a chance for them to explain to their friends and relatives how your shop came recommended, whether they’ve used your services before, how satisfied they were, etc.
A question connected with most or all items you post on social can help spark interaction as well. If you post an article about the most popular color choices for new cars, for example, include something like, “What will be the color of your next car?” If you post something about autonomous vehicles, ask: “How soon would you like to have a self-driving car?”
Then acknowledge or respond to every comment, even if it’s just clicking the “like” button. Keep your interactions professional but also friendly and informal.
Get a little personal.
Your company website probably isn’t the place to tout your “employee of the month” or to post a photo of the plate of cookies that a satisfied customer brought you. But Facebook should be more informal and personal, so it’s ideal for this sort of thing that gives people a look inside your business and into the people who are there to help them.
If an employee brings his or her new baby to work, or is celebrating a long-time anniversary with your company, post a photo. If an employee accomplished something significant in his or her free time — climbed a mountain, obtained a blackbelt, or got a new puppy — put it on social media. Ask that customer who is so happy to have their repaired car back if they are willing to “give it a hug” for a Facebook photo. These things connect with people far more than just before-and-after photos of cars.
Keep it professional, too.
Showing off the lighter side of work is great, but social media is probably not the place to post photos of your company holiday party or of techs horse-playing in the shop. You might want to use social media to remind and encourage people to vote, but you probably want to avoid political endorsements. Humor is great, as well, but make sure it’s still in good taste.
Get your employees involved.
Everyone in your company who uses social media can do their part to help your marketing efforts. Encourage them to “like” your Facebook page and to “share” your posts, “re-tweet” your company’s Tweets, etc. Their friends and acquaintances may know where they work, but frequent reminders through social media can help keep your shop’s name in front of those other people at just the right time. But also make sure you have an appropriate social media policy in your employee handbook, and don’t, for example, ask employees to participate in your social-media marketing during work if doing so violates your “no social media use while at work” policy.
Get a calendar and plan ahead.
Check out a source like National Day Calendar to find out, for example, that Nov. 17 is this year’s National Baklava Day and post that you’re offering free baklava for anyone who stops by. Or point out that November is Historic Bridge Awareness Month, and mention some nearby drives that include historic bridges in your area. It can also be a way to tie back in with you community service, making a donation, for example, to a local pet shelter in honor of “Adopt A Senior Pet” month in November.
Look beyond your own social media accounts.
Some of your time on social media should be spent commenting beyond, for example, your own company Facebook page. You’re a “subject-matter expert” related to collision repair; look for groups where you can share that knowledge. Local car clubs likely have Facebook groups, for example, with vehicle owners who may have questions related to body repairs and painting. Your neighborhood association may have a group you could stay active in (online as well as in person). If local dealerships or mechanical shops refer work to you, keep an eye on their social media to watch for their customers needing your services; be good about promoting their businesses just as you’d like them to help promote yours. •
John Yoswick, a freelance writer based in Portland, Ore., who has been writing about the automotive industry since 1988, is also the editor of the weekly “CRASH Network” (for a free 4-week trial subscription, visit www.CrashNetwork.com). He can be contacted by email at jyoswick@SpiritOne.com.
