Automotive News Canada - December 2023 - S23

BEST PRACTICES 2023
23
Many dealerships are
not doing social
media well. ... It's not
easy. It's a lot of work
to do it correctly. "
Brooke Jensen
Vice-president of marketing,
Dealers United
social media well " and failing to reach
the potential audience, she said.
" It's not easy. It's a lot of work to do it
correctly. "
LET'S EXPERIMENT
The Steele store's relationship with
Dealers United began about five years
ago. Chris Beaton, then the dealership's
sales manager, heard of the company
and pitched the idea of working with it.
Beaton has since been promoted to general
manager of
Halifax ChryslerDodge,
also owned
by Dartmouthbased
Steele Auto
Group, which has
51 dealerships in
Atlantic Canada
and eight in Texas.
Senior group
management was
willing to let the
dealership experiment,
Jamieson
said. The team at
Steele ChevroletBuick-GMCCadillac
confers
The success of the Steele Chevrolet-Buick-GMC-Cadillac experiment led
marketing company Dealers United to use the results to promote its services.
SUPPLIED PHOTO
ership's inventory ads with calls to
action, such as submitting a form on
Facebook to schedule a test drive.
The Steele Chevrolet team does
" match-back " reports to determine how
many buyers were sourced from one of
the social media contacts. It is hard to
be certain where each lead is generated,
Jamieson said, but it appears Dealers
United's social media posts have a
" shockingly high conversion rate. "
SALES SUCCESS
Sales, also boosted by easing supply
chains, are increasing. The dealership
is on track to sell 2,500 new and
used vehicles this year, said Jamieson,
compared with 2,000 in 2022, before the
Dealers United test case.
Jensen: Every
social platform
appeals to users
in different ways.
SUPPLIED PHOTO
regularly with Dealers United, brainstorming
ideas for social media campaigns.
" They
do a good job with content creation, "
Jamieson said.
Facebook posts feature new products,
price discounts and dealership news,
such as one recent video in which a sales
associate talks about delivering the first
2023 Chevrolet Colorado pickup to a customer.
The
posts' topics run the gamut. Brand
awareness ads show shoppers what sets
the dealership apart from the competition.
Ready-to-buy
ads promote available
inventory, create excitement for the latest
model lines and explain incentives.
Conversion/lead ads pair the dealJamieson:
Facebook is just a tool, and dealerships are responsible for using
that tool to sell vehicles. SUPPLIED PHOTO
Steele executives have taken notice
and plan to introduce Dealers United's
tools at its other stores, Jamieson said.
The insights from the campaigns
" allow you to be a lot more granular, "
Jamieson said.
To ensure successful use of the
tool, he said, the dealership constantly
refreshes the information and customer
data it sends to Dealers United. Sales
staff meet with the company's representatives
weekly to review ads and
discuss what is working and what isn't.
As traditional media advertising
declines, " dealers are receptive to
the next thing, " said Dealers United's
Dennehy.
" We need to make sure the platform
is built for the dealership. " - ANC
Automotive News Canada - December 2023

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