Building Your Personal Brand By Marketing On Social Media
The automotive dealer you work for is using social media as a lead generator and so should you to promote yourself as a professional car salesmen. Social media is a powerful tool when used correctly to connect with people in the local market, establishing yourself as a trusted sales person and for advertising vehicles available for sale at the dealership you work at.
Social media can help an individual car salesmen close more sales. It may take a while to build up your online reputation and your following however the time spent promoting yourself and your dealership will eventually pay off and lead to increased referrals.
Don’t Use Your Personal Social Media Page For Promotion
One of the biggest mistakes car salesmen make is using their personal social media page to connect with customers. Why is this is a problem? Your personal and your professional lives should be kept separate. The average consumer doesn’t want to see what you do outside of your work hours. They don’t want to see pictures of your kids or pets, they most certainly do not want to see the barrage of hilarious meme’s you blast out during the day out of pure boredom and they definitely don’t want to read about your personal or political opinion.
When it comes to promoting yourself on social media, you always want to remain professional, on topic and present the best version of yourself. If they like you, they will absolutely follow you.
How To Create A Business Page On Facebook, Instagram or Twitter
Setting up a professional business page is easy. Rather than explaining here how to set up a Facebook, Instagram or Twitter page for you to use, we’ll let each of the social media giants tell you how to do it. Follow the links below to learn how to create a page or an account.
- How To Set Up A Facebook Business Page
- How To Set Up An Instagram Business Account
- How To Set Up A Twitter Business Profile
The Best Social Media Marketing Tips For Car Salesmen
Building a professional brand is a great way to generate lead opportunities. All of the social media tips we provide for car salespeople put you on the right track to connect with local clients. Each marketing tip helps build recognition for self promotion that helps keep you connected with your followers.
Car salesmen who are successful at selling cars know its hard work to initially establish themselves but the end payoff is worth it. At first it may seem like a lot of work, but after a few weeks of doing it, you’ll realize it really is not that difficult and only takes a small amount of time to do.
Create a Video To Introduce Yourself
Video helps to sell so sell yourself by creating an introduction video of yourself. Before you start recording, make sure to look your best. Take a quick look at yourself and make sure you are camera ready. You don’t want to introduce yourself wearing a wrinkled shirt nor looking like you haven’t brushed your hair in days.
Now that you look great, write a small script to follow if you are not comfortable just speaking off the cuff. You want to speak clearly and have a good flow. Start out by saying your name and where you work, follow it with a little about yourself and your background and finish by telling people how they can get in touch with you.
Keep the video short, no more than 1 minute in length to ensure people actually watch it. If you can do it in 30 seconds, even better. Online users have a short attention span so if you are rambling on for several minutes, you’ll end up losing viewers before you can tell them how to contact you.
Connect With Colleagues, Customers and Industry Professionals
Grow your followers by sending invites to your friends, colleagues and other professionals you know within the industry first. You want some followers on your page before you start reaching out to customers, they’ll want to see others are already following you.
Don’t be afraid to ask people to follow you. The worst thing that can happen is they say no thank you. If so, ask the next person and then the person after that. Eventually you’ll get a few.
You can also ask your followers to recommend you to their friends and family. Politely ask them to invite people they know to also follow your professional page so when the time comes for them to purchase a new vehicle, they will know who you are and can reach out to you.
Join Local and Related Social Media Groups
Facebook offers a ton of local and automotive groups you can join. These are great for connecting with people who live locally, love a specific car brand or vehicle model or share the same interests as you do. You’ll gain access to a new consumer base who may not follow your page but will connect and chat with you on a more personal level.
Just make sure to follow the rules the group admins set. Some will allow advertising and other will not, if that is the case, offer advice and your expertise without selling and you’ll create a good rapport among the members.
Post On Your Professional Social Media Page Daily
Don’t for one second say you do not have time to post daily and to interact with your followers because we all know car salesmen have a lot of downtime in the showroom while you are waiting for customers. Use this time to post on your professional social media accounts.
The bulk of your posts should be to entertain and educate your followers. No one wants to see a sales pitch in every single post.
Here are a “no sell” social media post few ideas:
- Take a picture and share it. It can be of the dealership showroom, the car lot, your co-workers, the service area or of yourself. Caption it with some positive news and tag any people who are in the photo or the dealership.
- Share an interesting or relatable story from a trusted source. There are tons of great automotive social media accounts and websites where you can find news stories about the brand you sell or just general automotive information your followers will enjoy reading.
- Post appropriate memes, people like them. Refrain from personal options or anything that may offend someone, you can post those on your personal page. Instead find something funny or inspirational to share. These tend to get a lot of likes and shares if you choose wisely.
With every post, make sure to include hashtags. They help people find you.
How To Sell Cars Using Your Social Media Account
Limit the amount of posts on your professional page when it comes to selling cars. While it may sound strange, unfortunately its a tactic that can cause people to unfollow you.
We recommend posting vehicles for sale when the deal is too good to pass up or its a hot model that everyone wants. Take a few photos from different angles and include a personal note why this is the best car on the lot this week, including the price is up to you.
If you want to sell cars through Facebook, use the Facebook Marketplace. This is where users go to find items and vehicles for sale. You may need to ask the dealership for permission first, but once you’re given the green-light, have at it. Post daily if you want. It should get your phone ringing as well increase private messages coming in from Facebook so make sure you are check your inbox and reply in a timely manner.
Interact With Your Followers
One of the best ways to increase your brand is to interact with your followers. By taking the time to comment, like and share other’s posts they will more than likely do the same for you in return.
- Comment on follower posts. Be active by commenting on posts shared by auto manufacturers, your own dealership or even your followers. Even just liking a few posts a day will keep you present in their minds.
- Say congrats! Send birthday wishes to your followers or well wishes on special occasions such as weddings and anniversaries.
- Find and follow influencers. Comment on posts shared by people within your industry who have a lot of followers.
Be Responsive To Messages, Feedback and Questions
Social media allows people the instant satisfaction of contacting someone whether its through a comment, a review or a private message sent to an inbox. When this happens, make sure to respond within a few hours. You never know, it could be the sales lead you were waiting for.
Ask Your Customers To Follow You and Post Testimonials
You just closed a deal and you have a happy customer in front of you who is elated that you were able to get them what they wanted and for the price they were willing to pay. This is the best person to ask to follow you on social media and also to post a review about their experience working with you.
There’s a good chance you have their cell phone number, send them a text message thanking them for working with you. Make sure to include a link to your professional social media page so they can follow you and ask them at the same time to review you on the page.
Share Pictures or Video of Your Customers and Their New Vehicle
Your customer is about to take delivery of their brand new vehicle and this is a milestone moment for them. Ask them if you can take a picture of them, or better yet, video of them getting in the car, that you can post to your professional social media page. Its key to get permission from them before you share it on your account. If they say yes, thank them and make sure to tag them in the post so they can share it with their friends and family on their personal social media page.
Don’t Lose Your Customers, They Can Always Find Out
How many times have you come across an old customer you worked with at your previous dealership who tells you they came looking for you and didn’t find you when they were ready to buy another vehicle? By getting your customers to follow your personal business page, you’ll never lose contact with them if and when you leave one dealership to go work for another.
Loyal customers who enjoyed buying a vehicle from you will come back to you over and over again. They will also refer their friends and family to come and see you, so make sure to get them to follow your page.
While your cell phone number may change over time, your social media URLs will not. They will always be the same.