Digital marketing across all social media platforms can be a little overwhelming. It can be tempting to hop from one "trick" or a shiny new thing to the next to try and draw in more potential customers without really making an impact on your overall automotive marketing. In order to move the needle, you need to focus on something, of course. But with everything out there, it can be hard to decide what is worth your time and attention to push your dealership in the right direction.
For starters, content marketing is well worth the effort. A solid content marketing strategy is the one thing that will help you build up your brand online and bring leads to you at the same time. Content marketing can also make social media marketing easier and even be useful for boosting your traditional marketing efforts. You just need to know how.
Use Your Content to Build Trust and Become the "Go-To"
Who would you trust more, the dealership with a single page website or the one with dozens of in-depth videos as part of a number of ongoing campaigns that help you understand the auto financing process and takes you through the buyer's journey? Most likely, you'd choose the latter strategy. People and businesses that are able to showcase how much of an expert they are in a given subject are more likely to be trusted.
With a well thought out advertising or marketing strategy, and search engine optimization (SEO), not only are you able to demonstrate business expertise but you are able to broadcast your brand to the right target audience and maximize sales. Better still, it won't cost you a cent to get started. However, you do need to go about things the right way in order for them to be effective. You can't just post whatever you want anywhere online and expect it to be found by the right targeted audiences.
Let Your Next Customers Find You
The best thing to do, at least initially, is to start locally. What is your local target area for sales? What types of questions does the local audience ask your sales team? You should already be an expert in answering these. That should give you some ideas about the type of content people in your area are looking for. First, you need to become a resource for them.
How to Create the Best Content for Your Digital Marketing Campaign
When you're going to create content, you need to first decide what your potential clients are going to be looking for. If you can provide them the right information or, better still, if you can provide them a solution, then they're more likely to both find and go to your content for a solution in the future.
For this reason, many automotive dealerships will have videos showcasing car features or explaining them, in case someone doesn't understand them from reading their manual or has lost it. Repair and basic maintenance how-tos and tips are also in demand. Writing about any local weather-related tips can also work in your favor.
Publish on Your "Main Page" and Distribute Your Content Everywhere
First, you need the main page to build up. Ideally, this will be your website. If you don't have one or don't have the time to learn how to create one, then that's okay. For now, you can start with a Facebook Page or go all-in and choose a done for your solution like the one offered by TurboMarketingSolutions.com.
In the meantime, remember to post often. If you can come up with 11 or more posts per month, you can expect to see as much as twice the traffic as you would if you posted five times or fewer.
Distribute Your Content on Social Media
Now that your content has been created, it's time to break it up into different pieces that can be spread across a variety of social media channels. Sometimes, this process is simple. LinkedIn posts can be shared on Facebook and vice versa. However, what if you want to tweet about what you've written?
There are also channels like YouTube to consider. Can you make your post into a short video? Doing so will drastically increase the exposure you can expect.
Reliance on Ads? Not with Content Marketing
In digital marketing, ads can yield great returns. They're what marketing is, essentially, built on. However, with content marketing, you don't have to rely on any ads at all to bring in customers and convince them that you're the best automotive dealer in town.
With 40% of US Internet users using an ad blocker, that's a powerful position to be in. Not only that but you're creating content people want to read, right?
Continue the Conversation
No matter where you have shared your content, you need to make sure you're responding to the people who take the time to read it and then reach out. If they say something nice, thank them. If they have a question, answer it. If they correct you, thank them for their feedback and consider their points, making changes as needed.
Use Formats That Make You Stand Out
The human brain devotes two-thirds of its processing power to visual data. That makes images and video that much more effective as a type of content for use in content marketing. There are a number of formats you can use for content marketing, not just text or blog post types.
For many people, writing does not come naturally. If that describes you, creating and sharing simple graphics or short videos may be more effective. Not only do they take less time to create but you can also have transcripts made for videos, and images and "infographics" tend to be shared more than text-only content.
Content Marketing Requires Organization to Work Efficiently
If you have decided to either start or make a more concentrated effort with content marketing by now, then it's important that you be organized. Not only do you have to create the content, you then have to distribute it to a number of different channels, sometimes in different formats with separate rules.
To do this, using a tool that can keep track of these things for you will effectively help you sell more by making sure you never miss out on a lead or sale. That's where TurboMarketingSolutions.com comes in. All in all, this kind of system is a small investment when it comes to making more sales and increasing the power of your content marketing.
Lucie Gauvreau is the CEO of Turbo Marketing Solutions. You can contact her by email here or reach her by phone every weekday at Turbo Marketing’s head office.