Like hiring a part-time employee to write custom comments for inventory and shoot walk around videos?
Selling cars on facebook
- Thread starter Alex Snyder
- Start date
Like hiring a part-time employee to write custom comments for inventory and shoot walk around videos?
- Jan 7, 2010
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- Chip
A big ditto there for us. Our CTR was also really low, which I guess is par for the course given the nature of social media. Pretty sure we could have an ad read "Free Gold" and we'd still have an 0.001 CTR on FB.
I can provide some stats for traffic coming from facebook onto DealerRater, however, once the user looks at a vehicle or requests more info about it from a dealer, we lose tracking capabilities.
We launched our Facebook Classifieds App in August, 2009 and since then we've put about 225 of our clients on it. Just under 3% of our Classifieds traffic is sourcing from the Facebook App. And of that ~3%, 14% fill out the "Contact Me" form on a specific ad page (as opposed to our generic lead form). This lead goes directly(free(ish(part of the Certification program))) to the dealer where we lose tracking capabilities.
Our site average for pageviews/visit is 3.5; people from facebook are at 4.33 pageviews/visit. They also have half the bounce rate of our site average. They have the second lowest bounce rate of our top 20 sources. 11% of facebook users use the "Tell a Friend" link on our site.
HTH,
Chip-
- May 1, 2006
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- Alex
Facebook is a great tool for vendors and dealers to keep in touch. Our customers don't need to be a part of these relationships.
Facebook needs to be viewed as customer retention not as a lead "source". btw become a fan! LaFontaine Buick Pontiac GMC Cadillac | Facebook
- Oct 21, 2009
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- Gretchen
- Apr 6, 2009
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- Mitch
Jerry I really like you're thinking on Facebook and your math is compelling but I have to tell you we have FB blocked at our dealership and it's a profitable decision. It takes a special salesman to grab what you've said with "two hands on the horns" and make it happen. I've wanted to throw up on myself out of anger, frustration and realization that we need way stronger leadership after seeing people playing Farmville or other complete BS, it makes it a profitable decision to block FB.
Until someone walks up to me and lays out a likeness to what you've said, with an action plan to back it up it will stay that way. In the unlikely event someone legit wants to/does that I will install a new wireless router or come up with a work around for them and buy them a new laptop because there gonna be my new star!
Until someone walks up to me and lays out a likeness to what you've said, with an action plan to back it up it will stay that way. In the unlikely event someone legit wants to/does that I will install a new wireless router or come up with a work around for them and buy them a new laptop because there gonna be my new star!
Hey Alex,
Yes, its possible to sell cars with Facebook. The answer to the question they asked you is yes they all MUST be on Facebook for these reasons:
Customer Support : A lot of people start to search on Facebook before Google if your dealer is not there another one could get the lead. If a customer want to interact with you he want to do it in public since he have the ''community protection'' companies cannot risk saying bullsh*t with social media today.
Brand Management: People are talking about you or your local brand. You must be there to keep track of this with the community.
Awareness: A lot of your competitors are on Facebook and this year will be one of the biggest year in the history of Facebook with dealer subscription. You must take the wave now.
A lot of dealers post hot deals, incentives and price cuts with very low results on Facebook. Its not a website for selling... use marketplace is you want to sell directly on Facebook. Otherwise its not the place to do that.
Use Facebook for only 1 reason : Build Trust!
Build your facebook profile in order to get the community trust. Nothing fancy or fantastic, people just want a trustworthy dealership friend. They will contact you if they are looking for a car. Trustworthy dealers seems to be more rare and valuable than a diamond of 1 pound.
How can you build that?
First, you gotta stop thinking about making money and start thinking about making good relationships.
Second, you must make your ''tribe'' feel good emotions by following you. Make them laugh with funny pictures or videos, make them feel proud about being american, make them feel smarter with hints and tips to save money with their car, make them feel good with contests for a local cause, make them feel trust with real testimonies from local buyers.
Third, be constant with your post. Be at least on Facebook 1 time per day (5 minutes is enough). Make a daily presence at least with a like or a status update.
Yes, its possible to sell cars with Facebook. The answer to the question they asked you is yes they all MUST be on Facebook for these reasons:
Customer Support : A lot of people start to search on Facebook before Google if your dealer is not there another one could get the lead. If a customer want to interact with you he want to do it in public since he have the ''community protection'' companies cannot risk saying bullsh*t with social media today.
Brand Management: People are talking about you or your local brand. You must be there to keep track of this with the community.
Awareness: A lot of your competitors are on Facebook and this year will be one of the biggest year in the history of Facebook with dealer subscription. You must take the wave now.
A lot of dealers post hot deals, incentives and price cuts with very low results on Facebook. Its not a website for selling... use marketplace is you want to sell directly on Facebook. Otherwise its not the place to do that.
Use Facebook for only 1 reason : Build Trust!
Build your facebook profile in order to get the community trust. Nothing fancy or fantastic, people just want a trustworthy dealership friend. They will contact you if they are looking for a car. Trustworthy dealers seems to be more rare and valuable than a diamond of 1 pound.
How can you build that?
First, you gotta stop thinking about making money and start thinking about making good relationships.
Second, you must make your ''tribe'' feel good emotions by following you. Make them laugh with funny pictures or videos, make them feel proud about being american, make them feel smarter with hints and tips to save money with their car, make them feel good with contests for a local cause, make them feel trust with real testimonies from local buyers.
Third, be constant with your post. Be at least on Facebook 1 time per day (5 minutes is enough). Make a daily presence at least with a like or a status update.
- Apr 28, 2009
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- Jerry
That's funny! The facebook logo is larger than the cars. I do believe there is such a thing as overkill.
Other than that, I really do like the look of that website. Dealer.com has some nice clean and eye appealing sites.
- Apr 28, 2009
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- Jerry
It's too bad that a few bad apples ruin what could be a positive experience for a salesperson who might actually use facebook as a tool instead of means for wasting idle time. When I am in dealerships I'll often see salespeople playing mindless computer games while on the showroom floor. At the end of the day when that salesperson doesn't sell a car, he/she only has one person to blame and that's themselves. Managers who let their salespeople get away with are just as guilty.
Does this mean we should also take away their computers? Like the computer, facebook can be an asset when used properly. I don't believe any dealership has fully tapped the potential of facebook, in my opinion we're still in the early phases. Dealerships that use it properly and build a nice fan base are going to find a more inexpensive means to market to customers within their market. Imagine two years from now and your dealership has over 100,000 fans and you're posting specials or incentives for all those potential customers to view. Now imagine you're the dealer who blocked facebook and you're watching your competitor become the dominate dealer in town. It's now too late, you've missed the boat. Is that a chance you're willing to take?
You never know what the future holds for facebook, but I am betting it's only going to become more dominate and that's why I am suggesting to all my clients that they jump on the facebook bandwagon now instead of later. You don't want to be that dealer two years from now asking "what the hell is a facebook fan page?" It's not worth the risk. Your salespeople play a key role in making that happen, so if a couple of wing nuts want to waste their time playing farmville, I say let them. If it's not that, they'll find some other way to waste their time and yours. The sooner you can identify that, the sooner you can get rid of them. I want them working for my competitor. I'll even offer to write a letter of recommendation, and if they need a ride, I'll pay for their taxi ride.
I bet one day we'll see a facebook work filter where facebook allows an employer the ability to block certain facebook features deemed useless. Until that day happens, managers need to be monitoring the online habits of their salespeople. It's not just facebook that is improperly used.
Time for bed, it's getting late.
