We hear it time and time again, that digital marketing and social media are two of the most important ways to catch the eyes of your customer and interact. But the car industry is still notoriously behind in these aspe cts, for the most part. So where are we missing the mark? Here's 5 important things about business social media that you may not know, but that will help boost your company and take you to the big leagues.

1. Interaction is everything. Social media is about just that, being social! Just posting a few times a day or week isn't enough. You need to interact with commenters, be willing to answer questions, and be a real presence on social media. It's the perfect way to let your customers know that you aren't some faceless company, but that you are real people doing real work.

2. Consistency, consistency, consistency. Being regular and consistent with the number of posts, the tone of your voice, and the daily posting schedule is so important! Making sure that you aren't overwhelming your audience, but also ensuring that they get to see posts from you regularly, is a fine balance, but one that you can achieve. Test what time of day your posts get the best interactions, find out which tone of voice gets the best responses, and then be consistent with your findings! 

3. Schedule posts. Make sure that overnight and weekends aren't a dead spot for your social media. Schedule out posts to go out after you leave the office in the evening, over the weekends, and over holidays! You don't have to have people working at their computer on Saturday, but you can ensure that your social media is working for you even when nobody is in the office!

4. Promote your posts. Don't just post on social media, make sure you are utilizing your social media by promoting your posts. For just a few dollars, you can get a lot more eyes on your ads and posts. These small promotions can expand your audience and help you gain new followers. You can target local people, certain age categories and other demographic information! 

5. Create great content. All of your social media efforts will be in vain if you aren't creating valuable content. Make sure you have creative, interesting, visual and easy-to-read content. Filling your content with lots of numbers, too much jargon, or not using images won't help you on social media. Find creative ways to make people laugh or think, and don't be afraid to be different than your competition! Most people don't know the price of a specific vehicle, so if you're using numbers talk about discounts or rebates, rather than the exact price. 

Following these social media tips will help you utilize this valuable tool, and reach a whole new audience that you didn't know you could have! 

Listen in as Rob Hubbell from Edmunds.com tells us what's ahead for automotive, what dealers should be doing to prepare, and how Presidents Club is helping the auto industry progress.

Check out what Renaldo Liu, from SpeedShift Media, has to say about what's ahead for automotive, what dealers should be doing to prepare, and how Presidents Club is helping the auto industry progress.

Hear Wesley Miller of LotLinx discuss what he thinks is ahead for automotive, what dealers should be doing to prepare, and how Presidents Club is helping the auto industry progress.

Did you miss the 2017 Presidents Club? Don't worry, we've got you covered! Here's a quick recap of the event, you can stay tuned for information on the workshops, keynote speakers, and more!

Check out more of our coverage:

News Recap

MVI Winners

Mobile First Marketing

Five Things Learned

Presidents Club was a CRAZY busy day and a half, but we all learned so much in the short amount of time we were there!

From Jared's beginning keynote speech, to an afternoon full of workshops and learning, to a fantastic closing address by David Mead, the entire thing was a great opportunity for learning and growth.

So I've compiled some of my key takeaways from the event, and my conversations with dealers and vendors alike about the industry.

• Innovation Is Happening Now. If you're not willing to adapt with the market, to learn and grow today, you're already behind. Jared and many of the workshop presenters talked all about innovations coming to the auto industry, as well as the innovations that are already upon us. There's a huge value in being willing to progress!
• Change Doesn't Have To Be Intimidating. Many of the workshop presenters spoke about small things that you can start doing right now to get your dealership on the path towards upward progression. From re-evaluating your used vehicle strategy, to timing your process, to asking your vendors if they can analyze SEO and digital marketing more in-depth, there are a dozen things that you can start doing to make positive changes.
• Millennials Aren't The Only Ones. We talked a lot about how to market and get millennials involved in the dealership, but we also talked about the reality being that EVERYONE has the technology and resources to research and understand the process. This means that we have to change up our customer experience to be able to connect with everyone.
• Get Back To Basics. While Presidents Club talked all about the innovations coming in the future, there was also a huge emphasis on the importance of using these innovations to help us get back to the most basic and important elements. Customer service, the sales process, transparency, and more were all discussed as basic principles that we can work to improve on.
• Culture Is Key. David Mead spoke extensively about culture and making sure employees are taken care of first. Dealerships can be rough places to work, but there is such a value in helping people love coming to work, in them feeling safe and confident in their abilities and the people they work with. If we learn to take care of our employees, they in turn will take care of the customers! 

A crazy 48 hours in New York with great food, and great company, really opened my eyes about what the auto industry is becoming. It introduced me to so many people who are leading the charge for the automotive future. And I frankly, couldn't be more excited with where we are headed! 

2017 MVI WINNER

Congratulations to Ian Cruickshank from Speed Shift Media who is the 2017 MVI Winner! Read about his project below:

“How Well Does Dealership VDP Engagement Correlate to Car Sales?” Speed Shift Media, Ian Cruickshank.
It’s suggested now that lead forms are dead and VDP engagement should the main metric to measure. But without the form submission, how can we be certain that someone is interested in our inventory? Find out how well VDP engagement correlates to vehicle car sales at Presidents Club.

An additional huge congratulations to our two other finalists:

“Prioritize Your Prospects: Uncover Clues to Predict Who Will Buy Next” AutoLoop, Doug Van Sach.

Each year, the average customer test drives fewer vehicles. Given the fewer opportunities and limited time available to sales people, the key question for them is: which prospects do I contact first? Based on survey results from dealership customers, AutoLoop will take you through a better understanding of who is likely to buy, and when. Find out more at Presidents Club.

“Using Artificial Intelligence to Prioritize Customer Engagement” T2 Modus, Jim Roach.
If only one salesman came to work today, what is the first opportunity he should act upon that is most likely to sell a car today? Find out the method to the madness from T2 and find out how aligning the right customer with the right salesperson maximizes the result.

Identifying the Most Valuable Insight

The Most Valuable Insight Competition is designed to reveal and showcase never-before-released data and research unique in the automotive industry. The Competition was created in the spirit of progress and industry thought leadership.

Taking the conversations to the highest level, auto industry professionals share their research findings and insights live on stage with the highest-level dealership executives to foster inspiration, progression, and celebration of a better automotive retail industry.

The Most Valuable Insight Competition encourages automotive professionals to provide an innovative insight supported by research and dealer experience that dealer executives can apply to their operations and achieve competitive advantage.

Check out the most popular blogs on DrivingSales during March of 2017.

Meet Derrick Woolfson, a BDC Manager at Younger Auto Group, and learn about his dealership story. 

The DrivingSales My Dealership Story series gives people in dealerships around the country the chance to meet others in the industry, learn their story, and see how they are impacting automotive.

Presidents Club Workshops Announced

We are excited to announce the workshops for Presidents Club this year! We've planned a power-packed agenda featuring some of the industry's top thought leaders, check out who you can interact with at the event.Just an FYI - If you haven't registered, we only have 2 weeks left - and limited seats - view tickets today!

Workshop: Hiring and Motivating the Perfect Team

 Workshop: Millennials and Car Buying 

Workshop: Overcoming New Dealer Model Threats

 Workshop: Fixed Ops Retooled for Competition 

Workshop: Marketing in a Mobile First World

Workshop: Used Vehicle Strategy 

View tickets today