I wanted to write up a quick post this morning about how the majority of car dealerships are missing a huge opportunity by not utilizing Twitter properly. Here's the current situation and how you can develop a competitive edge:
Current Situation:
You can only message to people who are following you. It also doesn't help that the people who are following your dealer profile are less inclined to buy than someone who is actively looking for a test drive, used car, or new vehicle.
How to Laser Target your @Reply's on Twitter
PS: I have no relationship with Twithawk and make nothing from recommending their service.
Current Situation:
- Auto dealer's internet marketing manager signs up for a Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and a bunch of other social media sites.
- They then try to attract friends and followers through inviting/following friends, family, past customers.
- Some of these people being followed then follow back the dealer's account on these various social media sites.
- The dealership periodically updates their social media platforms with promotions, sales, contests etc.
You can only message to people who are following you. It also doesn't help that the people who are following your dealer profile are less inclined to buy than someone who is actively looking for a test drive, used car, or new vehicle.
How to Laser Target your @Reply's on Twitter
- First have a look at this search query that I ran on Twitter chevy near:"Los Angeles" within:100mi - Twitter Search . I shows you the number of tweets in and around Chicago for the keyword "chevy". Depending on when you see this thread you will see different results but right now I can see a tweet from someone looking for a good deal on a Used Chevy. Could this be a lead for you if you sold used Chevy's? I think so
Here's a screenshot of the tweet I'm talking about: http://screencast.com/t/MzcwODQyM - Now, how can we reach people who are tweeting about the cars you carry in your inventory without staring at the twitter search screen all day? The answer is to get software to do it for you. Enter TwitHawk. Here's what Twithawk does "TwitHawk is a real time targeted marketing engine that will find people talking on twitter now by your chosen topic and location, allowing you to really hit your target mid conversation with ease."
- Sign up, load up your account with credits, punch in a few relevant keywords (your brand, generic inventory models (f150, civic, silverado etc).
- My suggestion would be to not auto message tweets that have these keywords but rather for Twithawk to send you messages with a list of tweets you qualify as having consumer intent.
- Make sure your auto-reply is sincere, genuine, and friendly. For a couple of dollars a month and little time being invested, you've now setup a lead gen channel that is more effective than email, ppc, seo, or anything else you do online.
PS: I have no relationship with Twithawk and make nothing from recommending their service.
