Chris Brogan wrote about his experience buying a new car over the Internet.

Car shopping and social media – start building relationships now!

Why is this true? Simple. People know what they want and why they want it. They’d prefer to buy from someone they know, and someone who is familiar with what they do. Chris Brogan’s example was perfect, so when is this going to happen agian….. hint: could be today if you have your ears on. So what this means is utilizing Twitter, are people in your area sharing an interest in a new car? Yes.

I am writing a few posts that will hopefully help make the process of utilizing social media for dealers a bit clearer, and I’m also planning some training sessions for my clients, one of which is about blog commenting and why it’s important to respond to every single comment.

The intent of this post is to dive deeper into some of the points Chris makes and how dealerships can take immediate action. There’s still time for dealers who are uncertain about social media to get back on track, but be prepared to work hard to get results.

Building a dealership brand and hiring social media consultants will get you on the right path.

Chris makes some great suggestions on his blog about how dealership websites can improve, and dealers must get together and share what they have learned so they understand the power it has behind it. Unfortunately most dealers don’t have the understanding on how to get these tools setup, how to monitor them, and how to properly engage in online communication. That’s what this series of posts will be about.

These are just introductions to what we’ll be discussing in depth to help create a strong dealership social media strategy, so consider this to be your table of contents so to speak.

Analyzing Your Current Website and Making Improvements on The Usability

It is important to mention that changes should be made strategically and within a reasonable timeframe. The reason I am starting with this point specifically is that too many changes can be distracting to the user. It is better to announce that you are making these changes, and the goals that your dealership intends to achieve.

Announcing Your Efforts Through a Blog

Most important change needed is the addition of a dealership blog. This is a place where you will make your announcements about the changes you are making and how they will affect the overall dealer website experience.

Utilizing Your Social Media Voice and Getting Refferals

Let’s say for example you do not have any social media accounts, or you have not used them in a long time. First thing you need to do is create a list of usernames and passwords and store them in a Excel file. Include the URL the user name and the password.

You will need to have a process for posting useful information that isn’t just about your dealership. You are in the beginning stages of building relationships, so consider the fact that it can take some time to get acclimated.

Just having the assumption that content is everything will lead you down the wrong path.

Tracking Your Efforts and Learning Which Ones Work

In another spreadsheet list all of your public facing websites, in order of importance starting with the one driving the most traffic.

In another spreadsheet list all of the tools that you use on your website whether it be chat, Google analytics, or any third-party provider. Next column over put in the URL followed by usernames and passwords.

Another spreadsheet, list all of the people at your dealership who either have access and have used any of these applications such as your social media accounts, or your website monitoring accounts, or anything that produces monthly reports based on Internet traffic and leads.

You want to find the people at your dealership who are creative and can put ideas into action.

Now That You Have the Fundamentals

After you’ve done the above you now have a sense of where you stand. Now it’s time to dive in and figure out how to set all these up and what resources you may need to manage them effectively.

Subscribe to keep up with the process as we dive into specific details on how you can create good blog posts, work on your SEO, write guest blog posts, and start tracking what actually works and how you can improve upon those things specifically.

Of course if you want to work with me on your dealer solution I’m happy to share how I can help.

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