By Kathi Kruse
Featured Contributor

Social media usage is increasing at a frenetic pace. It's gone far beyond the actions of sharing photos and updating activities. It's now a vital component to the customer experience and is a significant medium to drive leads and sales.

According to Pew Internet Research, 67 percent of all Internet users participate on Social Media. This is up from 59 percent a year ago.

It's difficult for dealers and their fixed ops departments to adapt and evolve to social marketing, especially when you factor in the changes that seem to happen on a daily basis. It's hard to figure out who to trust, where to spend budget, what training you may need and how to know if you're moving in the right direction. Information is power. The following are my views on the trends I see happening in fixed ops social media. I've included four hot tips to help you capture those leads and sales right now (before somebody else does!).

1. Customer-Centric Marketing. If you sell something, you make a customer today. If you help someone, you make a customer for life.

It's not about you. It's about them. This trend is not new, it's just evolved in ways we haven't seen before. In Jay Baer's book Youtility, he writes, "Smart marketing is about help not hype.

"Today's consumers are staring at an invitation avalanche, with every company asking for likes, follows, clicks and attention. This is on top of all the legacy advertising that envelops us like a straitjacket. There are only two ways for companies to break through in an environment that is unprecedented in its competitiveness and cacophony. You can be ‘amazing’ or you can be useful."

Not everyone can be amazing all the time. However, everyone can be useful. When you focus your marketing on informing rather than promoting, you’ll drive fixed ops sales, but in a very non-traditional way. It's a completely different, out-of-the-box approach and as with all operational change, it can be difficult. 

Consider the ways you can help people who are looking for trustworthy car repair. Your blog is ideal for this because it’s useful, it communicates your brand and it feeds search engines fresh, quality content. Try these tactics:

  • “How To” videos starring your lead master tech (or someone who likes to share their expertise).
  • Tap into the power of your loyal repeat customers. Create blog posts centered on your “Raving Fans.” How did they get to be Raving Fans? Interview them (using a few well-thought-out questions).
  • Employee spotlight. People trust employees more than they do your management. Interview your advisers, technicians, warranty admins and support staff. Do this on video or in writing. Syndicate it using all your social media channels.

2. Radical Transparency Igniting Customer Experience. Social media is now an integral component to providing a positive customer experience. The consumer is gathering information to make their car repair decision and 96 percent do that online. CMSWire puts this in great context showing how Social plays a roll in the consumer's car repair buying process. It's called ESP:

  • First, they use these tools or channels to explore their options and find out what their friends are buying and recommending.
  • Then, they share their experiences and information to get validation and feedback.
  • Lastly, they go beyond sharing and promote by encouraging others to make similar purchases.

Having a customer-centric culture has never been more important. Everything you say and do — including how you treat your employees — is being broadcasted throughout the Internet. Make sure your culture is ready for prime time! 

When happy customers tell stories about their experience with you using social media, it establishes connections to future prospects. By communicating how you do business, it initiates the customer experience long before they stop in the drive.

3. Facebook Advertising Comes Into Its Own. When you first launch your Facebook page or when you've had a page for a while without much action, you need something to spark interest and build a larger audience. Awesome content drives engagement, but you need eyeballs on that content to make your page work. Whenever I'm talking to potential clients, I always include a promotion strategy that involves Facebook ads.

With the newest changes to the ads platform, it's never been more valuable to boost your visibility and reach with Facebook advertising.

  • Facebook ads target your ideal customer and save you from spending on those who will never buy from you.
  • Facebook ads are inexpensive compared to other advertising platforms.
  • Facebook ads uncover new brand advocates (prospects).
  • Facebook ads drive leads and sales.

The newest additions to the Facebook ads platform are:

  • Custom Audience: Download your service and/or parts customer database and serve ads that drive leads to your website landing page.
  • Website Retargeting: Capture leads from those that have visited your service or parts pages by tracking them and serving ads on Facebook.
  • Partner Categories: Use lists from data-mining companies to advertise to those most likely to buy from you in the future.

4. Content is Still King. A recent study from Outbrain showed that 90 percent of all digital marketing professionals believe content marketing will become even more important in the next 12 months. Develop and execute a clear content strategy that will encompass the "help not hype" credo. 

If the idea of content scares you because you don’t know what to post, consider obtaining advice from a fixed-ops-specific content strategist. You must identify who your service and parts departments are as a local, trustworthy shop and why people buy from you.

The top three types of content that are working best for Fixed Ops marketers now and for the foreseeable future are:

  • Social media posts and updates (83 percent)
  • Email newsletters (78 percent)
  • News or feature articles, such as blog posts (67 percent)

Keep in mind that this is all a process. It’s not easy and you need to consider each step you take. Certainly taking action is a best practice but make sure your steps are in the right direction.

I’m happy to hear your thoughts on these four hot trends. Like you, I strive to be useful in all that I do.