A Strong Facebook Presence Starts with a Strong Facebook Page
Two-thirds of Facebook users visit a local business’ Facebook page on a weekly basis (1).
If your dealership is focusing on growing your online customer base, then Facebook will be a critical part of your strategy.
Facebook exceeds 2.8 billion monthly users, though tapping into their extensive audience will require you to put careful thought into your business profile, which is the home base of your Facebook strategy. It serves to connect prospects with your brand. Creating an engaging Facebook page goes beyond adding a profile picture and posting every few weeks – it needs a comprehensive strategy.
Completing Your Facebook Business Page
Create an official Facebook Business Page. Avoid making a personal profile for your dealerships, as personal pages don’t have access to robust content tools that will greatly help your page. A Business Page will also let prospects interact with your page without needing to send you a friend request.
Choose a good profile picture. Your profile picture should accurately represent your brand (for example, your logo) to make your page instantly identifiable. Your photo should have a high resolution and the right dimensions to fit the frame – for desktop, profile pictures are 170x170 pixels, and on smartphones they are 128x128 pixels.
Add an engaging cover photo. Your cover photo appears as a large header image at the top of your profile page. Since it’s one of the first features that your page visitors will see, it should be a high-quality, relevant photo that assures prospects they’re on the right profile. Good examples of a cover photo are your logo, a picture of your dealership or team or an industry-related image.
Include a call-to-action button below the cover photo. You can choose from multiple call-to-action options to encourage page visitors to interact (such as visit your website or browse your inventory listings). Click the “Add a Button” tool on your Business Page profile, choose a call-to-action such as “Shop Now” and include a corresponding URL.
Fill out your “About” page. New leads are curious about your business, and your About page lets them know who you are. Using quick, descriptive copy, you should inform prospects of the most important parts of your dealership – industry, store information, background and your mission and/or values. The About page is also a great place to share milestones and achievements like awards, business anniversaries and community recognition.
Be intentional with your page posts. Ideally, businesses should post on their Facebook pages two to three times per week. To ensure your posts are interesting, engaging and purposeful, you could create a social media calendar to plan out your content in advance. If you want to hit peak traffic times in the afternoon but are pressed for time, Facebook’s posting tool lets you pre-schedule your posts. You can also pin important posts at the top of your page so that they don’t get pushed down in your timeline.
Take advantage of targeting tools. Facebook’s audience targeting tool allows you to laser-focus promotional posts on specific audiences. Get your content seen by likely buyers by choosing the demographic, interests and location of your post viewers.
Make sure comments are enabled on your page. You want prospects to be able to share their thoughts and questions on your Facebook posts, so make sure the comments are turned on. Monitor your posts, as well as your Facebook Messenger, and get in the practice of responding to prospects within 24 hours.
Share the good word! Once your dealership’s Facebook page is live, it’s time to start attracting traffic. Once of the fastest ways to do so is to create a brand-boosting ad. Choose your objective (eg, raising brand awareness, growing your audience or increasing website traffic), select a target audience, set a realistic ad budget and add some punchy copy to grab audience attention.
Make the Most of Your Facebook Page
Fleshing out your business profile is critical to boosting your Facebook page’s presence. Dealer Spike encourages you to not set and forget your page, as this won’t do you any favors. Maintain your page as a lead-driving hub by posting regularly and checking your comments and messages at least once a day. Investing in your Facebook page will ensure it grows into a valuable sales asset that feeds back into your revenue.
Want to learn more about strengthening your dealership's Facebook presence? Connect with Dealer Spike today!
(1) Facebook