Social Media for the Automotive Industry
Accelerate Your Social Media Strategy
“The Social Element is an arm of our team, they help us deliver best in class customer service around the clock.”
Global Luxury Automotive Brand
What Makes Automotive Social Media Different
Drive Engagement with Brand Affinity
For many consumers, their car isn’t just what gets them from point A to point B. Their car is an extension of their identity, telling the world who they are and what they value. And when consumers share so many aspects of their identity on social media, it only makes sense that content about their car is part of that. In fact, 49% of consumers have shared auto-related content on social media.
When a consumer posts about a car show or how they souped up their 30-year old car, it’s an opportunity for the brand to listen in and respond. Our advanced social listening practices help us identify exactly when and where these conversations are happening so we can jump in and engage. It’s part of the “surprise and delight” strategy that makes our automotive clients some of the most engaging on social media.
Steer Customers to Cart
According to a recent Facebook report, 78% of car buyers find social media useful when deciding on a new automobile purchase. Social media is where they discover, evaluate, and ask questions about cars that they’re thinking of buying.
This presents the perfect opportunity for auto brands to engage with customers where they’re shopping. Advanced social listening tools will allow your customer care team to jump into conversations in real-time, directing the shopper to the right arena for help.
The consumer journey doesn’t end after they’ve left the dealership. 86% of consumers reported that they want to engage with brands post-purchase. This can be maintenance reminders, promotional offers, and tips on vehicle usage and maintenance.
Navigate Through Crisis
When a consumer has an issue with their car, social media is often the first place they turn to. We work with our clients’ cross-departmental team to ensure they’re prepared for crisis on social.
We use crisis insight reporting to identify what people are talking about, when, for how long, and how they are reacting to certain responses versus others. This social listening data allows us to steer the conversation with real-time feedback.
Once the crisis tide has subsisted, we use sentiment analysis and social listening to give our clients a bigger picture of how updates and press releases are received. This real-time feedback allows auto brands to reframe their approach.
How We Drive Results
The auto industry is running towards automated solutions for their social media needs. That’s where we stand apart. We incorporate a human element into everything that we do, from onboarding to implementation.
We start with an exploratory discussion, determining our client’s needs, budget, and goals. We then assemble a dedicated team, taking into account the necessary time zones and languages for each touchpoint. We integrate our social listening and reporting tools with the brand’s current tools, and help get the client’s team integrated with our strategies.
Through this process, we’re able to help our automotive clients overtake their competition in fan engagement and customer service. See our recent insights and case studies on social media for the automotive industry.
Impactful Content for Local Audiences
Our client, a global automotive brand, needed content that resonated with its European customer base, and reliable, continuous management of their channels. Our creative team collaborated with the client to develop and deploy localised, engaging content, ensuring brand consistency across markets and maximum impact locally.
Our flexible approach allowed us to activate in all of the client’s territories simultaneously, creating a consistent and high-quality stream of content. We were also able to adapt our working model and structure to mesh with our client’s, ensuring efficient communication and management.
With this plan in place, in 2017 we were able to assist consumers over 100,000 times while also localising 8,613 pieces of content for this client.
Social Media and Customer Service
In its 2017 State of the Connected Consumer report, Salesforce found that personalised care was a priority for 69% of customers. Knowing this, one of our clients, a luxury automotive brand, implemented a customer service process organized around one single point of contact. That means that each customer speaks with one representative throughout their call, creating a personalised and user-centric customer service experience.
Speedy and personalised customer service can have a major influence on customers’ loyalty to a car brand. We created this white paper to explore the effects of human-centric customer service on customer engagement and satisfaction, and how brands can implement effective social media customer service to their marketing strategy.
Put ROI in the Front Seat
Our client, a multinational automotive manufacturer, was receiving lots of agency reports without being able to draw insightful recommendations from them. They needed reporting with deep, actionable insights on consumer preferences and behaviors that they could use to improve US sales.
After evaluating stakeholder needs, we determined that there was a company-wide need to show a better return on marketing dollars. We custom-built reports to show where to focus marketing efforts, for example shifting the budget towards a specific car model or helping the brand select influencer partners. As a result, they were able to directly attribute sales to their marketing investment.
