This writing focuses on social media posts and does not address social media advertising which is a whole topic in itself. The key point of social media postings is to keep them ‘social’. If all the postings are geared toward promotions and special offers – there will be no focus on relationship building. Also, social media postings must be kept up. Nothing can be more detrimental than a Facebook page with the most recent post being 6 months old. That being said social media can be very effective at customer relationship building. Following are areas where social media postings can be effective:
- Vehicle Ownership Advice – These types of posts are easily written and provide value to the customer. Content such as seasonal vehicle preparation or preparing for a trip can be very effective at building relationships. It’s important to create these postings without any advertising or promotion. The posting is the advertising.
- Promotions and Special Offers – Care should be taken not to overdo this. If your followers receive a notification when you post something it can be a benefit. But if it happens too often you could lose followers. Likewise posting the same special over and over can have a negative effect. The promotion should be carefully crafted and carefully promoted.
- Community Involvement – Any posts that communicate the shop’s involvement with the community will provide positive impact. If the shop sponsors a sports team or participates in any type of community event such as a foot race or walk for a charitable cause these should be posted on social media. Positive relationships with the community have a positive impact on customer relationships.
