Every time I meet with new clients or speak or do a workshop, someone inevitably asks me, “What the heck do I post on Facebook to attract more customers?” The answer is a simple one but not so easy to find.
Engagement is still king on Facebook. It drives everything.
Solid, original, high-quality content achieves organic reach and engagement. People like, comment and share, which builds more authority with Facebook’s algorithms.
Paying close attention to what’s working and what’s not is key. You must learn how best to promote your content to improve on what’s happening organically.
But what do you do when you hit a brick wall for ideas? These 5 ways will help you figure out what to post on Facebook to engage customers and reach your goals.
1. It all begins with your WHY.
If you’ve done the work to determine your true why – why you’re participating in this race, and why your customers choose you over your competitor – the search for what to post on Facebook gets so much easier.
“People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it. The goal is not to do business with people who need what you have. The goal is to do business with people who believe what you believe.” -Simon Sinek
Without inspiration, motivation and passion to craft meaningful content, your Facebook page falls flat.
2. Determine What Your Target Customers Want to Know
Building relationships with buyers is how business gets done (with or without Facebook, right?). Knowing your customer’s interests and challenges helps you create content that matters to them.
Whether you realize it or not, there’s a story is happening in the mind of your customer. They are the hero of their story and when you actively participate in that narrative in a meaningful way (which Facebook is ideal for), you position your business within your customer’s story…and have a great shot at the sale!
3. Identify and Develop Your Resources
Part of your plan for what to post on Facebook is sitting down and assessing just what it is that you have available. Failing to identify and develop your resources makes it even harder to know what to post on Facebook.
Answer these questions:
- Who will produce our content?
- Who’s in charge of our content?
- Who will maintain our content? (Content is a business asset!)
- Examine and describe what forms of content are most comfortable right now (written, images, audio, video).
- What types of content do you want to focus on in the next 12 months?
- What do we need to do to get there?
4. Encourage Employee Participation
Most businesses agree they need to A) produce more content and, B) connect on a deeper, personalized level with today’s hyper-connected buyers. Shifting your internal processes to engage employees in content creation helps with both of these challenges.
When you showcase employees as thought leaders in your industry, the company receives more recognition online. Employees reap the benefit of their voices being broadcasted, paving the way for more referrals, leads and sales.
The company looks smarter because its employees look smarter.
5. Don’t Make It Too Complicated
If you’ve been managing a Facebook page for a business, chances are you’re one or more of these:
- You’re a current or potential customer
- You possess similar attributes to the customers you’re trying to attract
- You have empathy for customer’s struggles and feel a connection
This means you are uniquely positioned to understand your customer (because they’re just like you) and you have an idea of what would be valuable to post on Facebook.
Try this: identify 4-5 Facebook pages that you like and what it is about them that you admire. Write down your answers.
Review your list and discover that you’ve just experienced what it’s like to know what to post on Facebook. Those pages you identified are successful for the reasons that attracted you. They are the same or similar to the reasons customers like your page.
Brainstorm with others within and without your organization to come up with a simple game plan for creating content that elicits the same interest, excitement, and belonging you feel when you visit those pages on your list.
We all get busy and it’s nice to have one place to refer to our game plan. A content calendar helps you think through what to post on Facebook and gives you the room you need to plan your strategy.
Figuring out what to post on Facebook is a creative process.
Not everyone is cut out for it but those that are usually realize it’s fun once you get things in place. Don’t be afraid to test different types of content with your fans. This will build your self-confidence and motivate you to keep going.
The answer to “what to post on Facebook” is simple but it is hard to find. Do the work, test your ideas and make good use of a content calendar. You’ll soon stop struggling, find the answers and become a Facebook superstar.
This column was published first on www.krusecontrolinc.com.
Doing something new is always uncomfortable. It elicits a whole range of emotions from fear and anxiety to being excited and enthusiastic. Starting a blog for your business is no walk in the park, so acknowledge yourself for creating something very valuable. Content marketing (of which blogging is a cornerstone) is the BEST way to improve your visibility in search, increase valuable organic traffic to your site and grow your business. Ok, you started a blog, now what?
Many business owners think that all you have to do is write a blog post and publish it. To the contrary, you’ve only just begun. Think of it like a car. Having a car is great but if you don’t put gas in it, you won’t be going too far.
Your blog is a very effective way to build a web presence and engage your target customers. Think of yourself as the gas station attendant. Keep your car running smoothly with regular fill-ups.
Your blog is the car. Content promotion is the gasoline.
Now, I don’t mean promotion in the “blast it to the masses” sense. I’m talking about establishing a solid strategy for getting your great content out in the world so that it reaches those who want to hear from you because they buy what you sell.
Distribution and promotion allows your blog content to work for you.
You started a blog, now what? Focus on the proven strategies that get your content seen. Follow these next steps for maximum results:
1. Optimize for Search (SEO)
In-depth understanding of your customers’ needs goes a long way toward attracting them. Knowing what they search for while considering a purchase helps you learn what keywords and phrases they choose.
Keyword research is crucial in optimizing your content for search engines. Ideally you want your chosen keyword or phrase included in the title and first paragraph of your post.
If your blog is built on WordPress, there’s a really cool tool that takes the guesswork out of optimizing your posts. It’s called WordPress SEO by Yoast. This plug-in takes you step-by-step through the optimization process. Over 25 million users have downloaded it and I use it every single time I write a blog post.
2. Email Your Posts to Your Customer Database
- Create an RSS feed campaign through your Email software. Every time you hit publish, your post is automatically set up to send to your list.
- Create a Newsletter that includes a few of your posts each month or bi-monthly.
I need to take a moment and mention how important it is to grow your email list. You’ve most likely got an ongoing list of your current customers (people who have purchased from you). But your blog content can do a great job of attracting new prospects to add to your list.
3. Post on Social Media Channels
By now, you should have created a presence on social media. Posting your content on social media gets it seen by your fans/followers.
Facebook is where most people start because that’s where most customers spend their time. But also consider Twitter, Linkedin, and any Facebook or LinkedIn Groups you’re a member of.
It’s perfectly ok to post your content more than once. In fact, it’s best to set up a schedule to post your content at specific intervals over the following 2-3 weeks after you publish.
4. Promote Your Content via Facebook Ads
Here’s where your blog’s gasoline turns into rocket fuel. Promoting your great content with Facebook ads gets more people to click the link back to your website. In Google’s world (where we all live), this is called Social Signals. Those clicks tell Google that your content is helpful and relevant because people are engaging with it on social media.
Start with $5-10 per day. Make sure to promote those posts that are already getting organic engagement – they are the most valuable content your customers are interested in.
5. Join Triberr
Triberr is a social networking tool that allows you to supercharge your blog’s reach and visibility. It’s a great blog amplification tool and I’ve been a member of Triberr since its inception.
Your blog feeds into Triberr and is displayed in the feeds of your “tribes.” With one simple action, your tribemate can share your post to Twitter (and manually to Facebook, LinkedIn and other social channels). There are a lot of cool things on Triberr so check it out.
Just this weekend, Dino (the founder of Triberr and all-round awesome dude) sold Triberr to 99robots. I’m excited to see where this takes us. I see more focus on improvements in user experience and influencer marketing.
6. Re-purpose Your Posts
- Video. Can you take the subject of your post and re-tool it for video? Perhaps include an employee or customer to illustrate your point.
- Audio. Read your blog post into a mic and include it on your post.
- Podcast. You might have been thinking about starting a podcast. Leverage the points you’ve made in your post by telling stories of customers and employees. Invite employees, customers, vendors and community thought leaders to join you.
- Slideshare. Slideshare is the 112th most-visited site on the web. Create slides from your blog post’s bullet points.
- Convert a few posts into a Free Ebook. Want a fast way to grow your email list? Offer your subscribers a free Ebook. Publish your Ebook on Amazon to establish authority and increase visibility.
You Started a Blog, Now What?
Promote your content and grow your business. In order to attract, engage and sell to today’s modern, hyper-connected buyers, every business must become a publisher of information. That information needs to be seen and heard. Develop a solid content promotion strategy for your business so that those who need your information know where to find it.
Here’s a key question every dealer should consider as they look for ways to improve their performance in used vehicles: Are we wholesaling too many cars and, if so, how can we retail more of these units?
The question follows recent discussions with dealers who have set ambitious goals to improve their used vehicle sales and profitability in 2016. To their credit, many of these dealers plan to focus on making vehicle acquisition, merchandising and pricing more efficient and market-focused.
But I found it curious that only a few of these dealers had established firm goals for reducing, if not eliminating, the number of retail vehicles they took to auction every month. As one dealer put it, “Yes, we would have liked to retail those cars, but we’re making money at auction so they’re not really a big concern.”
The statement is troubling, particularly as the wholesale market is poised to become even more volatile. Analysts predict rising supplies of used vehicles in the auction lanes. Likewise, it’s possible that retail demand for used vehicles, which has been strong and highly beneficial for dealers in recent years, will wane. Both of these conditions will make it more difficult for dealers to see a positive return if/when they take cars to auction.
Now, to be clear, I’m referring to auction cars that dealers choose to recondition and run as retail units—not the vehicles they designated, often at the time of a trade-in, as a wholesale unit.
I’m a firm believer that if a dealer decides to recondition and retail a vehicle, it should be sold to a retail customer. If the car ends up at auction, something went wrong. Either the initial decision was bad, or managers failed to do everything they could during the vehicle’s retail lifecycle to put a customer in the car. It’s these failures of management that I encourage dealers to address as they strive to sell every car they decide to retail.
There are four key components to effectively execute a retail-first strategy and minimize the number of retail cars that wind up at auction:
- The initial assessment. The best dealers use technology and tools to make the initial retail/wholesale determination. As they appraise an auction or trade-in vehicle, they know right away how much front-end profit the vehicle may generate, given the costs to acquire and recondition the car. They also get a clear view of how difficult it may be to find a retail buyer, given the vehicle’s color, condition, equipment and mileage compared to similar units available in the market. The analysis is dispassionate, and it provides important clues to guide subsequent merchandising and pricing decisions.
- Pricing. I often find that dealers who wholesale more retail units than they should miss the mark as they set and adjust their asking prices. Sometimes they’ve paid too much to acquire a vehicle, and want the customer to pay off the mistake. In other cases, the initial asking prices don’t reflect the vehicle’s appeal compared to competing units. Ultimately, used vehicle pricing decisions should always be tied to each vehicle’s specific market potential—not someone’s judgment of what the vehicle should bring as a retail unit.
- Retail timeline. Today’s used vehicle market is far less forgiving than it’s ever been. At many dealerships, used vehicles that age past 30 days have largely lost their profit potential, thanks to a greater number of available cars in the market and more intense pricing competition. Dealers who successfully execute a retail-first strategy recognize these realities. They strive to retail every vehicle in 45 days or less. They monitor their average inventory age, and aim to retail at least 50 percent of their inventory in less than 30 days. By design, this tight timeline forces the proactive evaluation/re-evaluation of every unit’s merchandising and pricing position to drive a timely retail sale.
- Accountability. As noted above, I view the need to wholesale a retail unit as a failure of management. The Internet has made it possible for dealers to sell any vehicle, on any given day, provided it’s properly priced and merchandised for the market. Retail-first dealers understand that they may not always get it right on every car. But if/when they take a retail unit to auction, there’s at least a conversation, if not a penalty. The goal is to determine how/why they couldn’t sell the car and to turn the mistake into a positive lesson.
Dealers who adopt a retail-first strategy in used vehicles often see benefits that extend beyond increased sales volumes, including increases in F&I sales, more trade-in opportunities and fewer hassles handling wholesale units that didn’t sell at auction.
The next question becomes, what are you doing to make a retail-first strategy a priority at your dealership?
Dale Pollak is the founder of vAuto. These entries and Pollak’s entire blog can be found at www.dalepollak.com.
It’s fitting that the new year brings with it changes and new beginnings. In the car business, it’s also our toughest time.
January is a slow retail sales month; we face a lack of available wholesale product; plus, the weather in Canada makes the daily tasks of managing our inventory and premises costly and difficult. In truth, car dealerships are not bright and shiny places to be in the new year; January can feel like a dealer’s bad dream on deja vu style repeat.
But if we look a bit deeper, past the mountains of snow and rows of aging inventory, there are some differences this year. New year, new challenges, right?
Yet, too, there are new opportunities. Changes in technology bring faster, easier ways of managing our information and communication. Changes in the economy make used cars more desirable, and bring new interest in Canadian used vehicles as export products.
Newer product with longer lifespan and more computer-based parts bring excitement and ongoing education to the fixed operations side of the business. Truly, this is not the same old car game!
I’m looking ahead with cautious optimism: Avoiding pitfalls will be impossible, but learning and growing from them is inevitable. This year, I am opening up the door to my business and sharing some of the top challenges faced in my own dealership with Auto Remarketing Canada readers.
Frank articles on relevant topics with real life situations where my dealership needs special attention or innovation. I’ve always been very open with my industry peers about my experiences and opinions, and this column is a nod to my goal of leaving this industry a better place than I found it. By sharing stories that others can learn from (either learning a new solution, or what not to do!), I hope to foster a more trusting dealer community, better equipped to operate good, profitable businesses which benefit the shareholders, the employees and the customers in a delicate tension.
It won’t always be pretty I already know a few topics I have to write on, and they are the gritty kind of things that we close the doors to our office to talk about. But that’s why I want to talk about them. It doesn’t hurt me or my business, and it could help you in yours.
Until next time, if you have any ideas or want to share something you are experiencing in minding your business, reach out. We’re probably connected on LinkedIn, or you can tweet me @autoinsidercat.
From my business to yours, Happy New Year, and all the best.
Cathie Clark is the dealer principal at Auction Direct and principal at Automotive Insider Consulting.
When there is harmony between all departments in the dealership, the results can (and will!) Be very impressive.
When meeting with dealers, I often get asked how it is possible for one particular top dealer to do the kind of numbers and the kind of growth they are doing. The top dealer those people are referring to retailed over 1,200 used vehicles in 2015.
That number is pretty remarkable on its own, but when you come to learn that dealer only retailed 400 used vehicles in 2013, the 1,200 number becomes even more impressive. Also, this top dealer retailed more used vehicles in 2015 than new vehicles, and its used retail numbers do not include wholesale units.
Everyone likes to wonder, “How did they do it?” People sometimes assume that the dealership must have previously been underperforming in order to be able to have that kind of turn around.
In my opinion, they were not underperforming. When you compare its new-to-used ratio with that of other dealers, the ratio was above average. You could, of course, make an argument that the entire new-car franchise dealer body in Canada is under performing in used retail sales, but we can save that discussion for a later date.
So, what’s the secret to success? How do the top dealers do it? I’ll tell you.
These dealers buy a lot of used vehicles and then turn around and sell them very quickly. Resist the urge to scoff at this “secret,” and instead take a moment to realize how encouraging that secret is for you. If you are looking ahead to 2016 and beyond — and are trying to find ways to improve on new, used or service profit — then look no further!
There is no trick or silver bullet: It’s just buying and selling, something that we all do every day. You do need to learn how to do the buying and selling in the most efficient manner possible – and all top dealers are aware of the amount of work and effort which goes into properly executing a successful used-car department.
As Thomas Edison once said, “Opportunity is sometimes missed because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
There is no simple way to properly sell a lot of used vehicles. It’s hard work, but don’t let excuses for why it’s not possible for your particular store to double or triple its used-car retail volume infiltrate the conversation.
The only viable excuse is you don’t want to work that hard; and if that’s the case, it’s fine — but own it.
I can assure you that the excuses like your brand, your market, your location, your customers and your staff don’t cut it. If you are set to do the same thing in 2016 that you did in 2015, then you can’t logically expect better results. However, if you are ready to change, here are some good starting points to start you on your journey to becoming a top dealer:
Know where you are
Imagine calling an airline or train station and asking them to get you on a flight or train that will take you to Vancouver. The first question the agent will ask is which city you will be leaving from. Could you picture what the reaction would be if your response was “I’m not sure where I’m leaving from; I just want to get to Vancouver; please make it happen.” We all want to sell more cars and make more money, but in the beginning we need to accurately measure all forms of data to understand where we actually are.
Know where you are going
Let’s go back to our travel situation. This one is easy, right? We want to get to Vancouver. Well, most dealers will just say that they want to get the equivalent of “West” (or North or South depending on where you are when reading this). Where we are going needs to be a specific target or goal and must be based on understanding where you are and what opportunity you believe is possible.
Plan the journey
Great, you’re in Toronto and are going to Vancouver. How? Are you going by plane, train, bus, boat (yes, it’s possible), car or foot? In this journey, there will be many options, but at the core of these options will be people, processes and tools. Make sure you have (or you get) the people with the right set of skills to take you there. You don’t want a train conductor flying you to Vancouver by plane.
Monitor and measure continuously
Use the instruments and tools that will keep you on track, and adjust your path as necessary. There will always be roadblocks and walls to get around. Don’t give up — find a solution and keep going.
Start all over again
Once you land at your goal, you will already understand where you are and, by continuously measuring, you will already know what opportunities exist (there will always be opportunity). Your skills and ability will have improved, and you will be that much closer to becoming a top dealer.
Although everything I’ve mentioned in this article is simple to understand, the end goal isn’t easy to pull off. It requires dedication, discipline and commitment, both financially and from a time perspective. It also requires the establishment of a full-on used-car department with exclusive staff, training, targets and management.
This requires change and a new direction, as most franchise dealerships that I am aware of dedicate almost all of their time and resources to the new and service departments and minimal time and resources, if any, to the used-car department.
Why should you stop treating the used-car department like the red-headed stepchild? Because I believe that the used-car department is the fuel that drives the entire dealership and that it should be the most profitable department in the dealership.
With all of this change and hard work will come great profits — not only for today, but for many years to come; and not only for the used-car department, but for the entire dealership. An efficiently operating used-car department cannot take advantage of the new or service departments and actually can only increase the bottom lines of those departments.
However, both the new and service departments can, and often do, take advantage of the used-car department, to the detriment of the overall dealership. Why? Well, let’s just say that it’s the way we have always done business.
When there is harmony between all departments in the dealership, the results can (and will!) Be very impressive. The top dealers have witnessed this — have you?
Remember, it all starts with you!
Richard Macdonald is the founder of RPM Solutions. Richard provides consulting, training and coaching services to new-car franchise stores to help them maximize their used-car department profits. For more information, contact Richard at 416-894-1475 or richard@rpmsolutions.ca, or visit www.rpmsolutions.ca.
Do you ever get that face? You know, that scared face you get when you think about Facebook advertising? Let’s face it, Facebook ads can daunting to even the most experienced marketers. Facebook does a great job of constantly improving the Ads Manager platform but the downside is that things keep changing.
A really nice way to stay ahead of the game is to have a solid strategy in place so that as things “improve” with Facebook ads, the only learning curve you’re saddled with is simply rolling with the changes.
As a social media strategist, it’s my job to help people nail down their marketing strategies and that includes Facebook ads. Setting specific, measurable goals for what you want to achieve for your business go a long way to realizing results.
In order to launch the AWESOME power of Facebook ads, you need to know and practice the 6 main steps in your game plan.
Facebook ads turn visitors into customers.
Facebook marketing done right can be very lucrative. Increasing brand awareness and developing a like-minded community around your business is only the first payoff. Even bigger payoffs come when you’re able to turn those community members into customers. It takes hard word and it’s not done without a defined Facebook ads strategy.
So wipe that scared look off your face and take these 6 steps to launch the power of Facebook ads to promote your useful, relevant content to people who actually WANT to hear from you. Then, you’re much more likely to generate leads and sales!
Step #1: Create and publish solid, original, high-quality content
Use your website as a content hub and provide helpful information aimed at would-be buyers.
In order for this to work, you must start with a base of solid, original, high-quality content. How do you produce solid, original, high-quality content? Create a top-notch content strategy that allows you to design content that’s brand specific and attracts your target customers.
Step #2: Selectively promote top-performing content on Facebook
Once your solid, original, high-quality content is posted on Facebook, pay close attention to which posts are getting the highest engagement.
Create Facebook ads to promote those popular posts and watch your engagement climb…often 3-4 times more than organic engagement.
What happens during this process is people click on your link and are taken to your site … setting you up for the next step.
Step #3: Build a remarketing audience by tagging site visitors
You’ll need to place a snippet of code (also called a “pixel”) on your website that essentially allows tracking of these visitors who clicked on your link through Facebook.
Once you’ve installed the pixel, you’ll then go into Facebook Ads Manager and create a Custom Audience with your Website Traffic.
Step #4: Apply behavioral and demographic filters on your audience
Remarketing to people who’ve already visited your website enables you to get back in front of them with relevant, targeted offers based on what you know of their demographic traits and behaviors.
Depending on your specific needs, campaign parameters and revenue goals, you’ll want to create relevant audience segments to refine your targeting.
Step #5: Target your Custom Audience with Facebook ads promoting offers
Using remarketing ads, you’ll get your offers in front of a more relevant audience than you could possibly reach using organic Facebook posts alone: people who have already expressed an interest on some level in your business.
Step #6: Convert qualified leads into sales
Website visitors who have already expressed interest in your business are much more inclined to either want to know more or are ready to pull the purchase trigger. Leverage your Custom Audience by creating Facebook ads that click to a landing page with a call-to-action and a lead form.
NOTE: Please make sure your internal operation is ready to field these leads. I’ve seen many Facebook ad campaigns fizzle because the leads were sent to people who didn’t follow up.
“Content Remarketing” greatly amplifies content marketing and Facebook marketing.
Leveraging Facebook ads successfully to promote content and generate leads calls for these 6 steps. You’ll need to refine your process for assessing and reassessing paid and organic engagement to keep costs in line with results.
For help with launching this or any other Facebook marketing strategies to grow your business, reach out to me–> here.
I’ve noticed a troubling trend in used vehicle inventories for dealers across the country in recent weeks.
The problem: The average market days' supply for many dealers’ used vehicle inventories is creeping toward or past 100 days. Typically, this critical metric, which indicates how quickly a dealer’s used vehicles are likely to sell in a local market, hovers near 80 days.
This shift hasn’t happened overnight. It’s the result of a steady increase in used vehicle supplies, driven in large part by the return of fleet and off-lease vehicles into the market.
But many dealers don’t appear to be aware of, or directly addressing, the harmful effects that ever-rising supplies can create for their used vehicle performance and profitability. It’s like there’s a cancer in used vehicle inventories, and dealers aren’t heading the warning signs.
Even more troubling, this upward trend in the average Market Days Supply is occurring as industry analysts and observers acknowledge what many students of the market have been saying for some time—front-end margins for used aren’t what they used to be, and they’re getting worse. An Auto Remarketing article this week notes that public dealer groups like Asbury saw their front-end margins decline from 8.5 percent to 8 percent in 2015.
It’s fair to ask why dealers aren’t aggressively adjusting to these more challenging market conditions. The answer, I believe, owes to the old axiom that “volume cures many ills in the car business.” Indeed, dealers have collectively sold more used vehicles in the past few years, commanding a larger share of retail market. Analysts also predict relatively stable sales volumes for the year ahead.
But I worry that dealers will wake up to the unwelcome reality of over-age units and a less-than-satisfactory return on investment for the vehicles they do retail. The time has come, I believe, for dealers to apply an even greater focus to turning their used vehicle inventories quickly to mitigate these retail risks.
Here are three recommendations I’ve been making to help dealers tune up their inventory turn rates:
Minimize acquisition mistakes: The Auto Remarketing article includes an astute comment from Manheim chief economist Tom Webb: Dealers “can’t afford to make buying mistakes. You’re not going to get those big gross deals, because there’s not only been a narrowing (of margin), but the bell curve distribution of those grosses, if you would, has actually narrowed quite a bit.” It’s imperative that dealers appraise auction or trade-in vehicles with a clear, objective view of every unit’s market potential—and avoid the emotion/speculation that leads to bad purchase decisions.
Match pricing to market conditions: Dealers who spotted the rise in their average market days supply are setting more aggressive initial asking prices and revisiting each vehicle’s price position more frequently. “We’re far more focused, frequent and precise in our pricing than we used to be,” says a Northeast dealer. “The market doesn’t seem to care that we think a car should deliver a better front-end gross.”
Reduce your average inventory age: As I’ve long advocated, today’s market conditions require dealers to retail at least 50 percent of their used vehicles in less than 30 days. To achieve this operational standard, dealers must make the proper purchase and pricing decisions noted above. In addition, dealers need to inspire collective recognition—in sales, service and parts—that reducing each vehicle’s days to sale is a necessary imperative to maximize used vehicle performance and profitability.
I think Asbury CEO Craig Monaghan, who’s quoted in the Auto Remarketing article, aptly summarizes what changing used vehicle market conditions mean for dealers: “The game for us is to get the car, get it reconditioned, get it back on the front line and move it quickly.”
Dale Pollak is the founder of vAuto. These entries and Pollak’s entire blog can be found at www.dalepollak.com.
Let’s face it, content is at the heart of every successful sale. Whether it’s blog posts and Web content to attract customers through search, social media content and social advertising, or even the savvy email response to a customer looking for answers, without great content you’re dead in the water.
But so many companies have a difficult time making this connection between publishing solid, useful, dependable or even entertaining content and closing sales. I’ve come up with my content strategy tips to help bridge that gap.
First, I need to map out the customer journey and the phases they go through on the path to the sale. You can think of this as a modern-day sales funnel. Each prospect starts in the “See” stage, and if you’ve done everything right, they end up in the “Care” stage.
There are many obstacles along the path for both your customers and for your operations. Only strong leadership and planning turns your efforts into strong results.
For those still struggling with content (ie: what the heck do I post?), it’s best to start by thinking about these four stages of your customer’s journey and how your content needs to relate.
Content strategy tips for each phase of the buying cycle.
Content Strategy Tips: “See” Customer
- Branded. Make sure you’ve completed a brand discovery so that you know exactly what your brand’s value proposition is and how that differentiates you from your competitors.
- Unique. Don’t share random, boring stuff that anyone else can share. Nobody remembers who gave them quality content unless it’s remarkable.
- Sharable. The best way to boost organic engagement is to publish stuff that people want to share.
Content Strategy Tips: “Think” Customer
- Helpful. People who are thinking they might need to purchase have lots of questions. Sometimes, they don’t even know what questions to ask. That’s where you come in.
- Expertise. Who doesn’t want to buy from a likable expert? Leverage your biggest content asset: your employees. Showcase employees as thought leaders and the company receives more recognition online. The company looks smarter because its employees look smarter.
- FAQ’s. Always start from “The Big 5”
- Cost/Price Questions
- Problems/issues/concerns
- Comparisons (Your product #1 vs. product #2; your product vs. competitor’s product)
- “Best” choices (depending on needs, concerns, desires)
- Reviews/opinions (what other customers are saying)
Content Strategy Tips: “Do” Customer
- Indexable. Focus on the right balance of keywords, phrases and topics that your target customers search for.
- Urgent Offers. Factor urgency and scarcity into your content to get your customers to take action now.
- Lead Generation. Drive prospects to your landing page with savvy Facebook ads. Include a compelling call-to-action and lead form on your landing page to capture more leads and sales.
Content Strategy Tips: “Care” Customer
- Advocacy. People who’ve had a positive experience with your company are likely to recommend it to others. Include a specific content strategy to capture their stories through images and video.
- Reviews. It’s crucial to incorporate a process to capture your happy, loyal customers’ feedback. Leverage software tools to build a review funnel.
- Social Proof. Once we’ve had a positive experience during the buying process, we find ways organically to spread the good word. Devise a content strategy to illustrate how other buyers find you credible and trustworthy.
Content is at the heart of every sale.
Attract and engage today’s modern, hyper-connected buyers by integrating these proven content strategy tips within your own marketing plan.
As always, I’m here to help guide you to get everything you need from content marketing to grow your business.
If there’s one thing that’s constant on Facebook, it’s change.
Every week there’s a new feature or new advertising element, some new trick to learn, or a new way to be more visible. Many companies continue to make several common Facebook marketing mistakes that are hindering their success.
Facebook marketing is on the rise among businesses and there are a lot of pitfalls to watch out for. Here’s a list of the 7 most common Facebook marketing mistakes you should avoid.
1. Taking Off Without a Runway
Facebook success is in the details. Before you take to the airwaves, you need a plan.
If you’re taking a trip and you don’t know how to get to your destination, you check your Maps app or GPS. Why? Because it saves time, money and a whole lot of needless suffering.
Plan your trip and begin with the end in mind. If you want more leads and sales, you have to create a formula to grow your business with Facebook. You need to:
- Know why people choose you over your competitor
- Understand your target customers
- Provide content for all stages of the buying cycle
- Increase likes, reach and engagement
- Turn fans into customers
2. Making It All About You
It’s not WIIFM, it’s WIIFT (What’s in it for THEM).
Facebook marketing is successful when you’ve provided entertaining, useful, sharable content. Think about the Facebook pages you follow and why you follow them. It’s not so you can see sales promotions.
Violating Facebook’s Terms is also a good thing to avoid. I can’t tell you how many pages I see that are broadcasting sales messages through the newsfeed. Save those messages for Facebook ads and you’ll avoid the pain of having your fans think you’re spammy and running for nearest exit.
3. Failing to Engage
One of the best ways to build a lively, loyal community on Facebook is by engaging regularly with your fans.
Facebook is not a one-way communication tool. Create a solid engagement strategy that includes designating someone (or a team) to engage with the people who comment on your posts.
Respond to all page messages—both positive and negative. Every negative comment is an opportunity to turn a critic into a fan. Facebook is grading pages now on their response time but even it they weren’t, you need to look like you care.
4. No Investment
Any form of marketing requires an investment. Today, it’s not only a monetary investment that’s crucial, it’s also manpower.
If your team doesn’t have the expertise, you need to invest in training.
Businesses that continue to think that Facebook is “free” are deluding themselves and letting their competitors take all the customers.
5. Ignoring Your Customers
A few months ago, Marketingland did a study and found that 87% of Facebook customer messages are ignored.
Abandoning your customers on Facebook tells them either you’re not paying attention or that you don’t care. Not a good way to be if you’re trying to increase leads and sales.
6. No Conversion Strategy
Part of your investment in Facebook is for Facebook ads. Simply put, you will not succeed (ie: generate leads and sales) without Facebook ads.
Converting fans into customers takes a solid formula. Yes, you must leverage your content and promote it. You also have to take the next step of attracting would-be buyers to your product landing pages. This isn’t done without a well-designed conversion strategy.
7. Failing to Track, Measure and Analyze Your Results
Too often, companies jump onto Facebook without a plan or a clear idea of what success really means for them. Look for success markers on your Facebook marketing journey.
Just like the Maps app on your phone shows the best route to take toward your destination, Facebook KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators) guide you to what success looks like for your Facebook marketing. KPI’s give you a solid foundation from which to measure results.
Facebook marketing is powerful.
However, this awesome power only works to your advantage when you’re firing on all cylinders. Avoid these 7 common Facebook marketing mistakes to increase traffic, leads and sales. Grow your business with Facebook and keep your sales pipeline full of raving fans.
This column first appeared on Kruse Control Inc.
You might think that with rising supplies of wholesale vehicles, dealers would have an easier time as they seek out auction cars to fill gaps in their used vehicle inventories.
But the reality is much different.
Across the country, dealers, used vehicle managers and their buyers still struggle to acquire the cars that will appeal most to buyers in their markets, and purchase them at prices that will yield respectable retail front-end margins.
To be sure, competition accounts for part of the struggle. Even with more available cars, there are more dealers vying for them.
But I would submit that the difficulties dealers face also owes to four factors that encompass the ways dealers prepare for auctions, their auction expectations, and the inherent inefficiencies of sourcing vehicles from remote locations.
Factor 1: Knowing exactly what to buy. Despite technology and tools that can effectively and efficiently tell dealers the exact vehicles they should acquire before they go to an auction, many dealers and their buyers just show up. They do little, if any, advance homework. Instead, they rely on instinct and judgement to size up cars they believe they need on the day of a sale. The approach is far less efficient and productive than dealers who, thanks to technology, know the precise cars to pursue, even if they fail to win their first car of choice. Likewise, it’s not uncommon for dealers who rely mostly on instinct to find their auction units contribute significantly to inventory age issues.
Factor 2: Finding the right inventory. It’s one thing to know the exact used vehicles you need for your dealership; it’s another task altogether to locate these vehicles at auctions across the country. While some dealers have adopted new technologies to efficiently identify the auctions where the cars they need reside, many still rely only on auctions closer to home. This preference may help minimize transportation costs, but in today’s wholesale market, it also limits selection and concentrates competition for the same vehicles. The end result: Dealers restrict their opportunities to acquire the right inventory when they stay local.
Factor 3: Buying at the right price. A Southwest Chrysler dealer recently shared that while he’d love to pay less to acquire near-new vehicles for his certified pre-owned (CPO) program, he’s come to understand that it’s impossible if he wants to maintain his retail sales velocity. “I’ve found the ‘right’ price at auction translates to a roughly $1,000 front-end gross,” he says. “To me, they’re ‘spinner’ cars that we buy and then spin them through the shop and sell fast. Then, we repeat the cycle.” The key take-away: The dealer’s determined the “right” price for himself with every car. He uses technology and tools to calculate each unit’s profit potential (accounting for the costs of acquisition, transportation, reconditioning, a pack, etc.) and the maximum he might pay, before he places his first bid. When dealers complain they can’t acquire auction vehicles for the “right” money, I typically find they haven’t conducted a dispassionate calculation of the “right” price for themselves, or their expectations for a front-end profit don’t match the realities of today’s market.
Factor 4: Reducing the time required. Dealers who proactively address each of the preceding factors will, by design, become more efficient as they source used vehicles from auctions. But the level of efficiency and speed dealers achieve will depend primarily how well they use the technology and tools that facilitate faster acquisitions of auction cars. I would also add that auctions, as well as solutions providers, could do more to make the wholesale marketplace a more efficient place for dealers to do business.
It’d be pretty cool, I think, if dealers could count on a system that, almost automatically, began the work of re-supplying their inventories when a retail used unit heads home with a customer, if not sooner.
Until that day, however, there’s much dealers can do themselves to become more effective and efficient acquiring the cars they need at auction.
Dale Pollak is the founder of vAuto. These entries and Pollak’s entire blog can be found at www.dalepollak.com.
