Why Isn’t My Social Media Engagement Growing?
Social media is one of the best ways to connect with your customers and potential customers. It can help you to build a strong, engaged audience, increase brand awareness, drive sales opportunities and meet consumers’ expectations for a personalized experience. Still, many dealerships struggle to effectively engage their audience and grow their followers through social media marketing. In this blog post, you will explore common roadblocks and learn a few practical solutions to help you maximize your social media reach and influence.
What’s Lacking in Your Social Media Strategy?
If your dealership’s social media engagement feels stalled (i.e. you’re not gaining followers or your posts receive very few likes or comments), it may be lacking one of the following aspects.
Lack of Strategy for Intentional Growth & Improvement
Social media, like SEO, takes time to build an organic presence. If you’re stretched thin across multiple social media platforms, you may not have the time to nurture any of your accounts.
Start small and focus on the channels that make it easy to interact with your followers. For many dealerships, this is Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly known as Twitter) and YouTube. Establishing social media interaction with your customer base will help you to get the ball rolling and discover which platforms and types of content are most effective for you.
If you’ve already narrowed your focus to the social media platforms that are right for your dealership and you still aren’t seeing an improvement in engagement, consider whether your content is properly optimized for the platform. Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram operate on algorithms. These platforms have specific requirements for high-performing content, including visuals in posts, the amount of overlaying text on images, links in posts (Instagram doesn’t allow this) and the use of relevant hashtags to connect with a larger community.
Lack of Consistent Posting
Consistency is key when it comes to social media engagement. An inconsistent posting schedule can lead to a lack of visibility and reduced audience engagement. If a user clicks on your Facebook or Instagram page and sees you haven’t posted in six months, they’re probably not very likely to follow your page. Social media algorithms also prioritize content that is regularly posted. If your dealership only posts sporadically, your content may not reach as many people.
To overcome this roadblock, develop a content calendar and utilize social media management tools to schedule and automate your posts. Develop a schedule for posting content regularly, whether it's daily, weekly or bi-weekly. This ensures a consistent presence and allows for better planning and organization.
Lack of Unique or Valuable Content
Like your other brand and marketing messages, your social media content has to stand out. In other words, don’t just post for the sake of posting. This will result in lackluster content that underwhelms your audience and fails to drive business for your dealership. Similarly, if you’re too focused on sales-driven messages or you’re posting the same content over and over again, your posts may come across as insincere or dispassionate.
In the saturated world of social media, it's important to stand out and offer something unique or valuable to your followers. This could be in the form of exclusive promotions, behind-the-scenes content, educational posts or entertaining content that sets your brand apart from your competitors.
Be cognizant of how your shoppers’ needs and interests may change from season to season, and capture these seasonal trends in your social media marketing. Again, if you don’t offer something of value, your social media presence may struggle to gain traction and engagement.
Lack of Visual Content
If your dealership is struggling with low audience engagement on social media, it could have something to do with your lack of visual content. Visual content is enormously important to both your audience and the social media platform’s algorithm. Images and videos are eye-catching and help shoppers quickly determine if your post relates to their interests.
A Swedish study found that 47% of adults prefer content in the form of images. Social media platforms are highly visual for a reason. They are designed to help you engage with your audience. In fact, posts without images stand out in all the wrong ways and appear out of place on social platforms. On the other hand, posts with images or videos tend to perform better in terms of reach and engagement. Your social media strategy should include a mix of visually appealing content such as photos, videos and graphics.
Lack of Interaction with Followers
Social media is a two-way street. It’s important to post content, but also interact with your followers. This means responding to comments and messages and actively engaging with other users' posts as well. Ignoring or neglecting follower interactions can lead to a lack of engagement and may cause followers to lose interest in your dealership's social media presence. If you’re automating your posts through a social media calendar or marketing vendor, keep an eye on any comments or re-shares of your content.
Audience feedback is invaluable, not only because it can help you engage with your customers, but also because it can help you understand your audience and refine your social media strategy. Actively encourage audience feedback and engage with comments and messages. By responding to feedback and addressing customer concerns, you can build trust and foster stronger connections. In fact, 71% of consumers who have a good customer service experience on social media are likely to recommend that business to their peers.
Lack of User-Generated Content
User-generated content (UGC) refers to any type of content that is created and shared by customers about a product or service. User-generated content is a powerful tool for building social proof and credibility. When potential customers see positive reviews or photos of happy customers on social media or review sites, it builds trust and credibility for your dealership.
User-generated content is seen as more authentic and genuine compared to traditional advertising, as it comes from real customers. When users share their experiences on social media, it increases the reach of your dealership's brand and promotes word-of-mouth marketing. This leads to new customers coming to your dealership and strengthens the relationship with existing ones.
Encourage your social followers to share their own photos or videos featuring the dealership's products, using a branded hashtag. This will help promote your dealership and drive more traffic to your site, while also creating a sense of community and engagement among your followers.
Lack of Targeting the Right Audience
It's crucial to know your target audience and tailor your social media content accordingly, whether you’re trying to reach them organically or through paid ads. But what exactly does “targeting the right audience” mean? In simple terms, it means identifying and focusing on a specific group of people who are most likely to be interested in your inventory or services. This could be based on various factors such as demographics, interests, behavior and purchasing power.
By targeting the right audience, you can ensure that your marketing efforts are not wasted on those who are unlikely to be interested in your offerings. Instead, you can focus on reaching out to potential customers who are more likely to convert into actual sales.
When targeting specific audience types, ensure that your content revolves around your intended audience. If you’re posting content that doesn't resonate with your target market, your content may not gain much traction or engagement and you’ve defeated the purpose of targeting in the first place.
Regularly review and adjust your target audience parameters, based on data and insights. Conducting audience research and adjusting social media strategies to cater to the dealership's ideal customers can help you to improve audience and engagement.
Lack of Social Media Analytics
Social media analytics provide valuable insights into the performance of your social media efforts. Regularly review social media analytics to gain a better understanding of what works and what doesn't. Keep track of which posts perform well and adjust your strategies accordingly.
You can also use analytics tools to gain insights into audience demographics, reach and engagement levels. By analyzing metrics such as engagement rate, reach and click-through rate, you can identify areas for improvement and refine your social media strategy.
Lack of Advertising or Promoting
Finally, a possible reason for low audience engagement on social media could be due to lack of advertising or promoting your dealership's social media pages. While organic reach is valuable, paid advertising and promotions can significantly boost your social media performance.
With so much content being shared online, it can be difficult for your posts to reach your target audience organically. Utilizing social media advertising and promoting posts can help increase reach and engagement on your dealership's pages. Furthermore, allocating a budget for targeted social media ads allows you to reach a wider audience and drive specific actions, such as website visits or product inquiries.
Getting Started with Growing Your Social Media Engagement
Growing your social media audience and improving engagement take time, effort and a strategic approach. By consistently posting valuable content, interacting with followers and utilizing various strategies, you can see a significant improvement in your social media presence and ultimately, your business.
If you’re struggling to grow your social media following and foster meaningful connections that convert into sales leads, consider partnering with a social media vendor. Partnering with a social media marketing partner can spare your team the hours of crafting content, researching hashtags and managing a social media calendar, creating more time to focus on your core business operations.
A vendor who has expertise in both your industry and the ever-changing landscape of social media can help you stay up to date with the latest trends and algorithms, ensuring that your dealership's social media strategy is always on point to resonate with your target audience.