Twitter

[umesh 336]

Twitter ! To me its an amazing 'place' or 'tool' met so many genuine people on here, life long friends , lots of other contacts not just in the motor trade, done business with so many new people  both way we giving others business and visa versa.!

May be I've seen the light , but wondering WHY Not many motor dealers have joined ? is it lack of understanding ? thinking its a total waste of time ? or simply can't be bothered ?

 

just think how many of these dealers are missing out but not only that but we could do with their input into various topics as well to get a broader perspective.

 

[James Baggott 227]

Totally agree Umesh. There are not enough Twitter users in the motor trade. Twitter has had the single biggest influence on our business - we pick up stories all day, every day from it. And we make contacts with new people. Just look at the beta testing of this forum - I only asked those I knew via Twitter. 

 

I think many dealers probably see it as a waste of time - but when they realise it's anything but that they'll dive in. We try, as a magazine, to shout about it as much as possible. I just think these things take time.

[David M 1]

You guys are so right.  The problem is that dealerships still persist with the thought that its "for kids" - despite the best efforts of manufacturers AND dealer marketing departments telling them otherwise.

 

Really annoys me. 

[mikehind 0]

I've noticed that, making a bit of a generalisation here, the more 'tradey' colleagues here are less active on Twitter too. My personal view is that the motor trade is still essentially a very conservative (with a small c) world and not very quick at adopting new thinking. We all know a number of obvious exceptions, but in general I suspect it's down to that.

[SteveR 0]

Social media is rapidly overtaking things like email, so those that don't engage with it are going to be at a disadvantage. It isn't a panacea for everything, but those teenagers glued to their mobile devices are tomorrow's customers so you ignore them at your peril.

Incidentally is there a way on here for our twitter handles to be displayed rather than relying on looking at a persons profile?

@amitwirly

[SteveR 0]

Ah! Ignore last question, the handle is clearly shown now :-)

[James Baggott 227]

When we launch this forum we've got an explosive piece of research that you guys will all find VERY interesting. It's been produced on this very topic and has some fascinating results. But you'll have to wait until we come out of Beta for that one... 

[carmangear 1]

Dealers need to focus on customers, go on any train or bus all over the world and all the travelers are using mobile devices, first thing drivers do in a traffic jam, or queue is check their device twitter facebook etc. You may tempt any, or many or engage any or all with funny, clever, or response provoking anecdotes sales teams need dealership encouragement to get on the mobile and engage! 

[James Baggott 227]

Maybe it's about giving staff the power and trusting them to tweet on the behalf of dealers.

I know many dealers worry about their reputation online and it's hard to let those fears go, but is saying slightly the wrong thing on Twitter worse than not being on Twitter at all?

[Philip Raby 7]

There's an element of snobbery about social media from some people. "Oh, I don't have time for all that," is a common comment I hear. Of course, it doesn't take that long and can be managed on the fly from an iPhone, so that's a poor argument.

 

I have some 2600 Facebook likes and slightly fewer Twitter followers, and find both invaluable. They drive traffic to my website, help build brand awareness, are a fun way to interact with people and I've even sold cars via them. So don't overlook Facebook! :-)

[Paul Stewart 8]

There's an element of snobbery about social media from some people. "Oh, I don't have time for all that," is a common comment I hear. Of course, it doesn't take that long and can be managed on the fly from an iPhone, so that's a poor argument.

 

I have some 2600 Facebook likes and slightly fewer Twitter followers, and find both invaluable. They drive traffic to my website, help build brand awareness, are a fun way to interact with people and I've even sold cars via them. So don't overlook Facebook! :-)

Without twitter i would probably of never found sites such as yours, and i'm sure i read a buyers guide from said site visit that was invaluable to a first time Porsche customer. 

 

Love social media as it does work. 

[James Baggott 227]

2600 likes on Facebook is a superb achievement Phil! I often wonder what is worth investing more time in - which out of Facebook and Twitter delivers the most followers to our site as a result of links. So you know which works out better for you?

 

For us it's without doubt Twitter - we engage with people a lot more on there than Facebook. And I prefer the way Twitter works - and that's it's completely open to all.

[Philip Raby 7]

Good question, James. I monitor traffic to my website and I've noticed that I'm now getting slightly more via Twitter than Facebook, even though I have a few more Facebook followers. Does that mean Twitter is more effective? Possibly, although it could simply be that Facebook allows followers to see links without having to click on them. For me, it works to have both. 

 

PS. I've just Liked your Facebook page. :-)

[James Baggott 227]

Thanks for liking the page! That's interesting because while I think links on Facebook are more 'in your face' than on Twitter, people surfing FB are mostly looking for updates on friends, not news. Twitter on the other hand is all about news - it's a news service for most - hence the click through rate is better for us. Interesting that it's the same for you too.

[StephenJury 8]

Some research I made into this topic earlier in the year http://media.motors.co.uk/dealers-urged-to-embrace-social-media-or-lose-sales/.

Things have improved by the looks of it

[James Baggott 227]

Now that's interesting -

'Of 40 dealerships approached by the Motors.co.uk team on Twitter, just 12 responded to requests for information on their latest deals and only half of those managed to do so within an hour.'

Only 12 responding?! What's the point in having twitter as a channel of communication if you're not going to use it? Don't set up an account unless you're prepared to monitor it.

What if those requests had been genuine? That's a lot of potentially lost sales...

[autoecosse 3]

I am relatively new to the motor industry but have been an avid twitter user for a few years now. I'd love to implement twitter into my daily tasks, but my biggest problem is expanding our audience. I've read so many great stories about successfu sales etc on Twitter and I'd like to work towards this for my dealership. 

[StephenJury 8]

Clare, offer a couple of local retweet competitions to win something in the local area. Nothing too expensive, just a round of golf, meal at a restaurant etc. This will grow your audience, but more importantly local audience. 

[James Baggott 227]

From my experience Twitter is all about interaction - chat to others in there. Don't always broadcast but talk too. It's called social media for a reason.

Gaining followers takes time and effort. But it shouldn't be about integrating it into your business but finding a way to make it part of what you do naturally. Good tweets aren't forced...

Good luck!

[jimreidvehicle 255]

We use both Twitter and Facebook and although Twitter has brought us sales they tend to be from same industry or other business type people with the few exceptions! Facebook on the other hand is the place where (if used correctly) you can benefit from almost direct sales from FB!

You need to have some form of strategy but most of all you need to persist, because persistence pays off! Trust me I know

Jim

I am relatively new to the motor industry but have been an avid twitter user for a few years now. I'd love to implement twitter into my daily tasks, but my biggest problem is expanding our audience. I've read so many great stories about successfu sales etc on Twitter and I'd like to work towards this for my dealership.

[autoecosse 3]

We use both Twitter and Facebook and although Twitter has brought us sales they tend to be from same industry or other business type people with the few exceptions! Facebook on the other hand is the place where (if used correctly) you can benefit from almost direct sales from FB!

You need to have some form of strategy but most of all you need to persist, because persistence pays off! Trust me I know

Jim

 

 

Thanks for your input Jim!

[Pinewood 1]

Certainly agree that too many consider social media as just for kids. A report out yesterday, from McAfee, found that 80% of 50-75 year olds regularly use social media (pinewoodte.ch/1agbRzp). Critically looking at the age range, it's clear that a 50 year old would use social media differently to a 75 year old, but it certainly raises awareness that social media is simply a way of communicating. The 30 year old somethings in the 1990s who started to regularly use email and a mobile phone are now the 50 year old somethings using Facebook and Twitter. And in fact, some could argue that they are more likely to use them as research tools, and part of their search process, than 16-24 years old posting photos and chatting with friends.

[Philip Raby 7]

I was out on a magazine photoshoot with a classic 911 and took some iPhone photos which I uploaded to Facebook and Twitter. I've since had three enquiries on that car, direct from Facebook, plus someone looking for another Porsche. That's before I have marketed the car in traditional ways.

 

Social media works!

[Guest]

They key to Twitter (as with all social media) is to have a strategy.

I brought this up in another discussion, saying that a strategy is NOT tweeting as much as you can.

We all need to think about what we are tweeting, when we are tweeting etc. Is the content really engaging with our followers?

 

I think it is right to say that many dealers haven't embraced Twitter yet (it's the same in other industries)....but when you "get it" I think it is invaluable. 

[StephenJury 8]

Lovely update by twitter today to include images in your feed. Get posting images!