If your auto shop doesn’t have a robust social media marketing strategy, you’re missing out. As of January 2022, a total of 3.96 billion people used at least one social media platform. And most of these people don’t just use social media casually — today’s average social media user spends 95 minutes per day on these sites and apps.
But if you want to make the most out of your social media presence, it’s crucial to know precisely what you’re doing. As part of that, you’ll need to know what you shouldn’t do. Read on to learn about five of the most common mistakes repair shops make on social media.
1. Excessive Self-Promotion
When you’re managing a business’ social media page, your first instinct might be to put the products or services you offer in the spotlight. That’s logical enough, but today’s social media users are savvy enough to spot a hard sell a mile away. If you don’t post the right type of content — and especially if you overdo your self-promotional content — there’s a good chance that you’ll lose the crowd before you know it.
Of course, that doesn’t mean you can’t promote your business on social media — just that it’s wise to take a more subtle route. At the same time, it’s crucial to remember that these platforms are known as “social” media for a good reason. Take time to connect with your customers (and potential buyers) on a human level, too.
2. Posting Too Often (Or Not Enough)
One of the first things social media users learn is that nobody likes an oversharer, and this lesson doesn’t just apply to people. If you flood potential customers’ feeds with posts, don’t be surprised when they start to get fed up with your social media presence as a whole. Along with giving people a reason to unsubscribe from your pages, this strategy could actively tarnish your brand image among social media users.
At the same time, no one will engage with your content if you don’t give them content to engage with. There’s no “standard” posting schedule that’s perfect for all social media platforms, but these guidelines should help:
- On LinkedIn, try to post at least once a day.
- On Facebook, share content once or twice a day.
- On Twitter, you can post much more often — up to three to five times daily.
- On Instagram, keep your posts limited to two or three a week (but at least once weekly).
3. Being Unprofessional
Have you ever heard the saying, “all publicity is good publicity?” This is one of those pieces of wisdom that sounds about right — until you get a taste of what bad publicity really feels like. Suffice it to say, it’s in your best interest to avoid rocking the boat whenever possible.
Even the best social media managers are only human. Because of that, it might sometimes be tempting to get snippy in your replies to rude comments, discuss controversial topics, make fun of customers, or even expose people’s personal information (in situations like sharing a photo from your shop where a driver’s license plate is visible).
These decisions are never worth the potential consequences, so make a point of being on your best behavior during work hours.
4. Relying Too Heavily on Text Posts
Text posts are a vital part of any social media toolkit, particularly on platforms like Twitter. But they shouldn’t be the only form of content you share — not by a long shot. While there’s no discounting the value of a well-written text post, these posts should regularly be accompanied by image and video content.
Believe it or not, the shape of the images and videos you share also matters. These days, square videos aren’t cropped on Facebook and Instagram. That means they take up much more screen “real estate” than landscape images, potentially driving customer engagement in the process.
5. Not Tracking Results
Finally, even if you’re doing everything else right, not keeping a close eye on the analytical side of social media marketing could sink your entire marketing strategy in the long run. Looking at the numbers is the easiest, most effective way to know what parts of your approach to social media marketing are working as planned — and what aspects of your social presence could use some tweaking.
Taking your social media metrics seriously can even help you decide what platforms your company should continue to use. Despite what you might assume, most companies shouldn’t be active on every possible social media website or app. Instead, your best bet is to try some platforms out, review your engagement levels, and focus on the platforms that best connect you with your target audience.
Boost Your Marketing Efforts with BayIQ
Are you already overwhelmed by the pressures that come with running an independent auto shop? If so, adding “social media manager” to your list of job duties might sound unfeasible. Luckily, modern-day marketing software like BayIQ can make it easy to build the perfect social media marketing strategy for your company.
With BayIQ, you’ll be able to ask customers for reviews of your services automatically and send them to Facebook and Google right away. You’ll also enjoy enhanced email and text marketing, performance metric tracking, and many other marketing tools.
Take the first step by requesting your BayIQ demo today!