How Twitter Can Shape Automotive Marketing

The ongoing discussion about vehicles happening on Twitter significantly increases during big sales events.

Year-end car sales, month-long promotions, and car shows can double and even triple the number of tweets focused on specific car makes and models. Dealers can hop in on these conversations with a few hashtags.

Showcasing your dealership's event, tweeting great pictures of the models on the lot, and interacting with people excited about the sale are great starting points.

Tweets Indicate Intent to Buy

You can search for hashtags or specific terms on Twitter. When you use geolocation, these searches can target specific people in your area looking to buy a car. This is a great way to reach out to people who are in the market.

Auto News reported that people who tweet about car buying are very likely to actually make a vehicle purchase within three days. So, you can actually use Twitter to find potential customers, and to send them messages that will get them interested in your dealership.

If their tweets mention specific features, you can ask them questions about those features or about the cars they're considering. If they aren't specific, tweet them back and ask what they're looking for. Don't make it sound like a sales pitch, though.

Instead, asking questions and giving honest information is the better way to connect with these potential customers.

Twitter Connects Dealers and Buyers

Twitter is an interesting marketing tool. You aren't limited to targeting people tweeting about buying a car. You only have 140 characters, so you can't spend much time advertising with anything more than headlines.

What you can do, however, is interact with your customers.

Young buyers may not be willing to head to your contact page to fill out an e-mail form, but they just might tweet at you. Your dealership's blog is for posting great content; use your Twitter to interact with people about their cars and car questions.

Find out what people in your area are saying about the makes you sell, and don't be afraid to interact with what they're saying. If someone is having car trouble, point them to a resource on your blog (rather than suggesting a service appointment).

You're trying to create relationships that are more than just transactions. When using Twitter for marketing, remember not to make your interactions sound like sales pitches.

Twitter is a place for conversation, not for doggedly pushing the new models on your lot.

Don't let this valuable way to connect with your customers and market your dealership bypass your notice.