The marketing world is changing, and it is happening fast. If your dealership is not embracing social media, you are missing the boat (or car).

Understanding social media is not an easy undertaking, so let’s break down some of the options you might be missing out on.

• The ability to target consumers who own the brand that you sell
• The ability to determine if your social media target is creditworthy
• The ability to know how long they have owned their vehicle
• The ability to target an income level

There are so many more behaviors and demographics to choose from when using Facebook/Instagram marketing, but this just gives you a tiny insight as to some of the options available to you.

Now, we can see that an like this one:

This ad is targeted within 10 miles of the dealership to people between 24-46 who are in the market to purchase a midsize car in the next 90 days who earn between $30,000 and $50,000 per year. This gives us a very targeted audience.

Now, this ad has a different audience:

We sent this ad to an audience within 25 miles of the dealership, ages between 40 and 59, with an income level between $100,00 – $150,000 who are in the market to purchase a luxury sedan in the next 90 days.

We could have also added more filters, but we feel confident that we reached our target market with this ad.

But, WAIT! There’s more!

To think there are dealerships that are not targeting their customers or their competitor’s customers through social media is incomprehensible to us.

it is more than just marketing. We know that the main word in social media is “Social.” Because of this, you must engage, tell a story, and be a company that shows your culture through your social channels.

If you are involved with charities or community events, let the public know it through social. If there is something going on in your community that you believe your customers would connect with, let them know.

But most importantly, when they reach out to communicate with you through social channels, listen to them and then respond to them. Maintain your company’s integrity and customer service by interacting with them.

Robin Wilson is the co-owner of SCP Agency.

She is a self-proclaimed social media guru and specializes in social marketing for auto dealerships. She has also been instrumental in teaching auto dealerships how to market through social media to their existing database and shows them how to make sure that they do not become victims of conquest marketing. She is a marketing coach to all and has become a leader in Facebook marketing strategies in the U.S.