CONTENT IDEAS TO ENGAGE YOUR CUSTOMERS

By Angela West

GOOD CONTENT IS THE SECRET SAUCE THAT CAN TRANSFORM A DEALERSHIPbringing in new customers, establishing a business’ reputation, and driving new revenue streams. It’s also a powerful way to distinguish yourself from your competitors, grabbing the attention of potential customers before they do.

Just as quality content can boost your business, bad content can damage it. The last thing you want is to give your customers and leads a negative impression; so take the time to carefully craft your content, plan it out, make a schedule, and follow it. If you’re not sure where to start, read on for some best practice tips and ideas for content creation.

Content Do's and Don'ts

Prioritize online content, particularly social media

Meet your customers where they are, not just the first time they walk through your door. For the majority of Gen Z and Millennial car buyers, that’s online. 70% of Canadian car buyers found their new vehicle online last year, according to Google, and 9 out of 10 researched their car online before even setting foot in a dealership. Without a presence on social media channels like Facebook and Instagram you’re missing out on that huge audience and a lot of leads. TikTok is worth exploring as well if you want to attract younger and future buyers to your dealership.

Keep it varied

Everyone has a short attention span. Keep showing them the same sort of posts and they’ll quickly switch off. If you want your business to appear vibrant, engaged and relevant, you need to be switching up your content regularly. Use a mix of mediums and, for Instagram and Facebook, different formats such as reels, stories, or carousel posts.

Variety is important, but it’s worth bearing in mind that video is one of the most compelling mediums for automotive advertising - so make it central to your strategy. Research from Google shows that 66% of Canadian shoppers are heavily influenced by videos when deciding which vehicle to purchase and 68% of buyers say they were motivated to buy because of something they saw in a video. You can exploit this trend by posting more on platforms like YouTube which are the perfect place to share virtual test drives or autotech demonstrations.

Update regularly

The ABC of sales - Always Be Closingapplies here with a slight adjustment: Always Be Posting. You need to keep that content coming, and the bulk of it should be original rather than just freshened up recycled material.

Use high-quality materials

You can’t cut corners with your content if you want to look professional. Throwing up a blurry photo of the sales team might save you time, but it won’t win you customers. Take the time to source high-quality images, graphics, and videos as anything amateur will make your business look amateur. If you don’t have the capacity in-house, consider hiring a professional team like the kind real estate agents would use to do a video about once a month - that will boost engagement and interest on your social channels significantly, and is well worth the investment.

Think carefully about your tone/ message

Your content reflects on your business, so don’t just jump into posting. Spend some time thinking beforehand about your online personality and the tone you want to strike. It can sometimes be helpful to have a brainstorming session with staff to determine words that describe your brand, e.g. approachable, knowledgeable, relatable, and relevant. Capture everything in a content strategy that you can refer back to when crafting posts.

Have fun!

Yes, you should be professional but that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun. Don’t be afraid to keep your content lighthearted and add in some humor. People are more likely to trust brands that show some personality and they’ll remember your business if you manage to make them laugh. 90% of people will remember a funny advert and 75% would follow a brand if it’s funny on social media, according to a study from analysts Oracle.

Generating Creative Content - 8 Ideas

Building up a bank of content ideas gives your marketing team a head start when they’re feeling uninspired. Cycling through these categories will provide plenty of variety and give your customers a good feel for your business, its products, and its brand.

1. Customer stories

It’s always a good idea to share positive customer experiences when you can (and with their permission obviously). Not only does this reinforce the idea that you’re providing great products and services, it also helps build that all important trust with new audiences. People will relate to your happy customer who is sending the message that you’re a business that can be trusted to deliver.

2. Giveaways or offers

Social media is the best way to get your special offers in front of a massive audience. This is where you can hype your latest deals, competitions, and incentives with exciting content that drives home the sale.

3. Behind-the-scenes

Behind-the-scenes posts are always a crowd pleaser. They don’t just give your audience a glimpse into the inner workings of your dealership, they also make your staff more approachable, your business more relatable, and deepen the relationship with your customers.

Photos of furry office mascots, employee profiles, short videos showing the mechanics at work, images from the latest staff party are all content gold that will drive plenty of likes, shares, and clicks.

4. Seasonal content

Posting around holidays demonstrates that your business is relevant and responsive. You can be strategic about this too, targeting the specific holidays that are important to your demographic.

If you want to sell more family vehicles, for example, base a campaign around school break or Family Day. If you’re looking to target young couples, plan out content for Valentine’s Day. And, of course, don’t forget the big shopping seasons - Christmas is typically when people are more prepared to make large purchases while summer is roadtrip season.

5. “How to” tips

Buyers will feel more confident purchasing from a dealer who’s knowledgeable, friendly, and clearly knows what they’re talking about. You can model all those characteristics in one “how to” video or blog.

Tips are always good: on cleaning your car, how to check your tire pressure, fixing a crack in your windshield or the top ten things to look for when buying your first car. You can get really creative here, trying to reach as many customers as possible. But make sure you’re sharing actionable content that offers solid advice, not fluff. The idea is to build trust so that the buyer is ready to purchase, they’ll think of you and your helpful guidance.

6. FAQs

In a similar vein to “how to” content, FAQs can help you show off your expertise and share it with your audience. Focus on things your customers often ask to help move prospects along the buyer journey by answering some questions they have right off the bat.

7. Industry news

If you come across some industry news that’s relevant to consumers, share it! New vehicles on the market, auto tech innovations, the rise of electric vehicles, stats on car ownership in Canada, events in your local area - keep your audience informed to keep them relationship with your brand. There’s lots of ways to do this, from hosting virtual events to starting a group chat. Even just asking your audience a question or putting out a poll. Whatever you do, keep it relevant to your niche and focus on content that’s useful to your audience.

Building A Successful, Sustainable Content Strategy

Once you’ve mapped your content ideas and plan, you need to build it into a long-term strategy.

Start by drawing up a content calendar and identifying what content you can create ahead of time so you’re not scrambling for ideas at the last minute. Build out clear workflows so every member of your marketing team knows their responsibilities and keep detailed guidelines on your strategy, your brand, and your processes so that if you lose a team member, any new hires can quickly get up to speed.

You’ll also need to sessions should also leave time for brainstorming so the team can share ideas for future campaigns.

Regular reviews will help you switch up your strategy, tweaking it as necessary or abandoning anything that’s not resonating with your audience. But you can’t do this without data. It’s important to track the results of your content with analytics tools that show how it’s being used, viewed, and engaged with. These numbers can help you spot which platforms are giving you the best return on your investment.

Above all, be mindful that your content strategy is an organic document. It’s not, and shouldn’t be, set in stone. It should evolve as your business evolves so it’s always in line with your dealership’s goals and objectives. ■