How to Create an Outstanding Social Media Campaign

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Let’s say that your dealership has a big spring sale coming up. There’s old inventory to get rid of and brand-new 2018 models that your store wants to promote. How are you going to get the word out about this big sales event to your customers and prospects? While there are many ways to advertise the event – website graphics, email announcements, TV and radio commercial spots – running a campaign on social media is a smart and cost-effective way to reach tons of potential buyers who would likely be difficult to reach anywhere else.

We are not talking about a few Facebook posts here – we’re talking about a full social media campaign that spans across several platforms and really makes an impact.

The first step you should take is to determine the sweet spot between the prospects’ wants and needs and your goals. For example – your ideal prospect is in the market for a trailer. They may not want to spend money on a brand-new trailer, but they do want to be sure they’re making a good investment. Here comes your solution: 2017 models at a reduced price – the customer will be saving money but will still go home with a fairly up-to-date model that is in great condition. If the customer makes a purchase, you’ve achieved your goal too.

Next, think about the timing and length of your campaign. If your sales event starts on March 15th, you may want to start about a month ahead of time. Consider how many posts should go on each social media channel, depending on the purpose of that channel. Facebook may serve as a good platform for multiple posts per week, sharing short videos promoting the event as well as images and status updates. At the same time, it might be worthwhile to post about the event on Twitter only a few times, simply sharing brief details about the logistics and maybe a few updates. How often you post on each platform and what kind of content you devote to it depends on the number of followers and level of engagement on each platform, as well as the purpose that each one serves for your business.

Now that we’ve covered our basics, we need to put some extra work in to make the campaign outstanding. Here are some ways to achieve that:

Monitor keywords and hashtags that are on trend among your customers or related to the products and brands you carry. Incorporate these to increase the visibility of your campaign as well as the interest of your followers.
Be aware of the messages your customers are getting outside of your dealership. What are your competitors doing on social media? This is an area that you should have your finger on the pulse of. The popular brands you carry most likely have active social media accounts – what can you do to align your messaging with theirs?
User-generated content can have a tremendous influence on sales, and it translates very well on social media. This could be a testimonial from a happy customer, pictures of recently purchased units, or many other types of content that come from your users/customers.

Last but not least, don’t forget about your followers once the campaign goes live! You need to maintain your presence on all channels and monitor engagement closely – are people asking questions? Answer them! Are you getting comments from excited customers planning to attend? Be sure to acknowledge those, too. Customer service through social media is an important element that many businesses unfortunately do not consider.

Especially when coupled with paid social media advertising, your well-planned and carefully crafted social media campaign is sure to be a hit. Leverage the audience you’ve worked so hard for – and the sheer volume of users active on social media – to cultivate serious results.