New & Used Car Dealers Still Balk At Social Networking

Car dealers throughout the country are dabbling in Social Networking. I’ve located car dealers throughout the US who at some point signed up for a Twitter and Facebook account. The problem is, car dealers like instant results so within weeks they simply abandon their accounts.

In my opinion this can actually make a dealer look bad. Every Twitter Tweet and every Facebook Update has a time stamp. If I am starting the process  of buying a new or used car I will not simply Google it, find the car and run out and buy it today.

My buying process would take at least 30 days. There are 3 places I would start looking:

1. Google: I am a Googler, what can I say. I will look at any dealer that pops up on the first page. If I get greeted with a pop-up, I will be gone in a heartbeat. We call that a “bounce”. You see, you cannot trick me into filling out a pop-up coupon (I compare this to pulling into a dealership and a salesman pops out from behind a car and starts annoying me with sales pitches). I am the savviest 41 year old you’ll ever meet. Let’s face it, car dealers have a bad reputation that exists from decades ago. Your brand will not sell me either. I look at 2 things, your inventory and your prices. If it’s a new vehicle I will also look for incentives like 0% Financing. I hope you make it clear to me when I see your website. I really don’t want to have to navigate through all of that flash on your website because at some point it will probably lock up my computer.
2. Twitter: I love Twitter, and I love the power of it. If you are on Twitter I will find you and follow you. You will be placed on my “Twitter Probation”. If the first Tweet I see says you just had a Big Mac for lunch I am gone. You see, I don’t expect a Tweet from you every day. What I do expect is a Tweet every time you post a new vehicle on your website. Why? I am shopping for a car. I also want to know about a new incentive you have to get me in the door, but please don’t keep telling me the same thing.
3. Facebook: Facebook is great too, but it’s hard to find friends who will join a car dealer. I would look for a sales person that had a personal account. I would expect intelligent updates from them. I would also expect to see some inventory on there.

Most car dealers have an older “old school” management team who ultimately make all of the decisions. This can create a problem for the younger employees who see the potential in Social Networking. You will not start utilizing social networking today and reap the benefits tomorrow. Realistically it will take a couple of months.This is the new generation we are dealing with, and it’s here to stay.

Lorrie Walker runs a public relations firm in the Tampa Florida area. Last week she wrote an article about Social Networking. There was one particular quote in their that says it all:

“If Generation Y isn’t already part of your client base, they soon will be,” Walker said. “So businesses need to communicate on their level.”

I could go on and on with this post, but I highly recommend you read Lorrie’s article here.