For any auto shop, active social media accounts play a key role in your marketing strategy; however, not all posts generate equal results. Whether they’re on Twitter, Facebook, or TikTok, effective social posts require carefully crafted messaging that entertains, informs, and engages your audience.
Here’s how to take your social posts up a notch.
1. A Purpose or Goal
With each of your social posts, you’ll want to first consider your goal. Are you hoping to entertain your audience, compelling them to follow your page? Are you hoping to inform them, further establishing your auto shop’s authority? Are you hoping to publicize a discount, encouraging them to book a service immediately?
Whatever your goal (or goals) is, you should know it before you create the post, as this goal will drive your copy and its accompanying media. When scheduling your content in advance, it’s often helpful to plan exactly how much of each type of content you’d like to post. For example, you might decide that, in a given month, you’ll post five informative pieces, five humorous pieces, and five pieces directly tied to promotions and deals.
Scheduling in this manner prevents you from posting the same type of content all the time and increases engagement.
2. Compelling Media
While plain text posts will always have their place in social media, videos and images (possibly accompanying a text post) are more likely to grab a viewer’s attention. Remember, on social media, even if a person follows your shop’s account, you’ll be competing with hundreds of other accounts — both from people and businesses — making it essential to use every tool at your disposal to stop people mid-scroll.
Visual content is often the best way to accomplish this. Instead of simply posting about a promotion, you might also add a photo of your shop or team. This can also be a great way to humanize your shop and inform clients about the people behind your business.
Additionally, while it certainly takes more time to create, video content is becoming the most effective way to grab a user’s attention. One study finds that video posts generate 1,200% more shares than both image and text posts combined.
3. Enticing Copy
In most cases, even when you post an image or video, you’ll want to accompany this media with text. Think of this portion as a way to complement the media and add extra detail.
For example, if you post an image of a dry dipstick, you might accompany this with some text about what your shop offers for oil change services. With this text, you’ll want to be short and to the point. Ideally, a person can quickly skim your text. Too much copy can overwhelm people, causing them to skip it altogether.
4. An Invitation to Take Action
In alignment with your purpose, each social post should include an invitation to take action, also known as a call to action (CTA). Often included in your copy, the CTA compels the reader to take a certain action, including:
- Booking an appointment
- Watching a new video
- Signing up for an email list
While there is certainly some value in posts that are purely informative or entertaining, with the vast majority of your posts, you’ll want to include some call to action, even if your CTA is simply asking readers to follow your page. This will help you grow your audience.
Boost Your Marketing Effectiveness
While larger companies often hire dedicated positions for marketing coordination, small businesses often rely on shop managers to take on the tasks related to outreach and social media efforts. In these cases, software can help lighten the load and allow your team to focus on clients.
BayIQ, a software platform designed specifically for auto shops, allows you to solicit online reviews from clients and automatically push them to social media channels. With BayIQ, you can also engage clients beyond social media, creating both email marketing campaigns and loyalty programs.
When it comes to marketing, social media is one piece of the puzzle. With BayIQ, you can create an approach that touches on every aspect of outreach. Get in touch today to learn more and see a demo!
