Digital Dealer - May 2018 - 45

just responding to that
one customer, but for
an audience of future
customers!
4. What's the most
important thing a social media manager
should be doing?
A solid answer would
be monitoring and/or
listening to the audience
within the brand's social
channels. Engaging
regularly with fans and
followers is evidence that
you're there - you care
- and you're interested
in having them as a
customer.
When you listen, you
learn how to help them
buy.
5. Have they ever
handled a social media crisis?
Ask them to define
what a social media
crisis means to them
and what steps they
would take to resolve a
situation.
If the company doesn't
have a "best practices"
protocol in place, it's
time to get one. This
would be included in
your Social Media Policy
and should emulate your
current conflict resolution
process.
6. How would they
allocate your budget
for social media
advertising?
Facebook is pay to
play now. Ask your
candidate to describe
a plan for how best to
allocate your budget and
how they would know it's
successful.
A typical budget con-

sideration is for Facebook
ads. Depending on your
company and your market, a minimum $1,000/
month is a good start.
Allocating a budget
for every investment is
crucial. These are the six
social media investments
you'll need to consider
as a prerequisite for
success:
 Financial
 Time
 Human Resources
 Attention
 Monitoring, publishing & reporting software
 Training
7. Do they have
a blog and do they
currently write
content for social
media channels?
Ask to see their blog in
action and make a note
to see if they're posting
regularly.
Ask to see links to
content they've written
on the web. Candidates
will often produce content
for places like LinkedIn
and Medium, rather than
having their own personal
blog.
It's crucial that your
candidate has a working
understanding of how
content drives everything in digital marketing - SEO, content, and
social media. A working
understanding of HTML
and WordPress websites
would be ideal too.
8. Ask them
what social media
strategies they plan to
use to generate leads.
As the business owner
or GM, you need to know

that social media is giving
you quantifiable results
for your money. There are
various and specific KPI's
(Key Performance Indicators) to consider and for
dealerships, social media
ROI means generating
leads.
Social media strategies that generate leads
require social advertising.
Each platform has its
strengths but, in most
cases, Facebook ads
offer the most valuable
and cost-effective opportunities.
9. Ask what their
first goals would be.
If your candidate starts
talking about vanity
metrics like growing 'X'
number of Facebook likes
or 'Y' number of Instagram followers, stop them
and ask:
 How will they build
an audience of in-market
customers?
 How do they plan to
engage with that specific
audience?
The candidate might try
to focus on vanity metrics
so keep in mind that a
small, switched-on and
engaged audience offers
a lot more value than
a bunch of disengaged
fans/followers from outside your market area.
10. Ask them to tell
you a story.
I've saved the coolest,
most enjoyable question
for last. If your candidate
has the ability to tell a
compelling story, that will
deliver a huge advantage
in all levels of social media marketing.

We all connect via
stories. Stories paint pictures in customers' minds
and evoke emotions that
foster trust and credibility.
Your candidate must be
able to illustrate, through
stories, why people buy
from you rather than your
competitor.

ONE FINAL
THOUGHT

This is not a position
that should be taken
lightly or seen as an
entry-level position. Your
social media manager
will speak the lifeblood of
your brand to an infinite
amount of current, new
and legacy customers.
Please take deliberate
steps to find the embodiment of your brand's
personality. Choose
someone who takes the
leadership role in building
your digital reputation.
Should you find
yourself having more
questions than answers,
please reach out to me,
I'm happy to answer
any questions you might
have.
KATHI KRUSE is an
automotive social media
marketing expert, blogger,
speaker, coach, author and
Founder of Kruse Control
Inc. Born in the heart of Los
Angeles to a family of "car
people," Kathi's passion for
the car business spans a
30-year career managing
successful dealerships in
Southern California. Kathi
is the author of "Automotive
Social Business - How to
Captivate Your Customers,
Sell More Cars & Be
Generally Remarkable on
Social Media." EMAIL: kk@
krusecontrolinc.com

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Dealer - May 2018
