It’s one thing to appear to have a huge social media following. But if you’re not actively engaged with your customers, it may all be for naught.

That’s the message from Naked Lime Marketing’s vice president of sales Chris Walsh, who spoke at the Automotive Social Media Summit 2015 in June.

“Using social media for business is not about making one sale; it’s about making repeat sales, based on long-term relationships,” Walsh said. “Those dealers who are leveraging social media today are putting themselves in the best position to nurture stronger prospect and customer relationships now and in the future.”

According to Walsh, dealers should use social media as a relationship-building tool. And what are relationships built on? Trust and authenticity.

“The consumer walking into a dealership today is much different than the one walking in five years ago,” Walsh said. “Today’s car buyers are more informed, and they place a higher value on authenticity and transparency. Social media helps dealers engage with consumers online to help share information and build the kinds of relationships that translate into better business results in the long run.”

Here are four ways social media can help dealers reach out to customers and build relationships, as listed by  Naked Lime:

• Brand visibility: Search engines judge what online content is trusted and authoritative and serve that content up to consumers. Walsh said dealers can use social media as part of their search engine optimization (SEO) strategy, increasing the likelihood of their dealership being found by consumers in organic search results, social media search results, and local search.
   
• Data-driven marketing: Using data collected on consumers' behaviors, dealerships can tailor their offline and online marketing and advertising to better reach the right consumers at the right time with the right message. Walsh cited the Facebook Insights tool and Custom Audiences as examples of how dealers are using social data to tailor their advertising strategy.
   
• Multi-screen viewers: With three in four TV watchers using another device simultaneously, dealers can use social media to actively engage consumers on their smartphones, laptops, or tablets. Walsh challenged dealers to think creatively about how they can encourage consumers to take social actions after they see a dealer's TV ad so dealers can build additional relationship capital.
   
• Reputation management: Walsh noted that, in times of uncertainty, people often look to the crowd for what to do. When it comes to dealerships, online reviews are a form of "social proof" consumers use to determine which dealership to visit for vehicle sales and service. Walsh stressed that dealers should pay attention to their online reputation and have a response plan for negative social media comments and reviews.

To read more insight from Naked Lime, check out its whitepapers here.