WHAT IS YOUR #PADUCAH #USED #CAR #LOT #SOCIAL MEDIA STANDING????????????

THE used car business has changed 180 degrees over the past 25 years. The old way of doing business generally consisted of a small dealership that would deal directly with entire familes for their vehicle needs. In many cases #used car dealerships often times repeatly sold vehicles to three and four generations of the same family. It was often unheard of to shop around for a better deal as one dealership was "the family dealership that everyone went too" . The internet has changed the whole landscape of the new and used car business. Used and New Car Dealerships can no longer depend on long time repeat customers. A dealership's social media presence can either lead a dealership to profit or downfall in a short period of time. A dealer that considers retirement and wishes to sell his long established business might be very discouraged at the value of his long standing business if he has NO SOCIAL MEDIA connections. Consider, Dealer A and Dealer B Dealer A long standing dealership 90 per cent of sales repeat customers no website and uses social media very little. Dealer B New business very active in social media, up to date website gains 90 per cent of market share from internet. Lower profit margin but sells more units per month with less salemen. Social Media Checkoff list Dealer Website up-to-date 100 points Dealer Blog 75 points Ebay presence 50 points Craigslist prersence 85 points Linked in presence 50 points FaceBook presence 85 points Twitter presence 50 points Pinterest presence 50 points Instagram presence 50 points If your dealership score is less than 300 points it is recommended that you consider revisiting social media. I have heard arguments that only 25% of many dealerships sales comes from the internet. If you dealership is relaying on repeat business the future of your business model is questionable.

#CONSUMERS USE SOCIAL MEDIA MORE FOR VEHICLE PURCHASE

Latest News Social Networks Guide Dealership Selection Online dealership reviews on social media networks are now playing the most important role in the dealership selection process. The Spring 2013 Automotive Social Media and Reputation Trend Study released by Digital Air Strike included an in-depth analysis of how 650 U.S. dealers use social media and an online survey of 2,000 consumers who purchased a vehicle in the last 6 months. The majority of car buyers said they consider review sites as "helpful" in their decision as to where to purchase a vehicle. The study found that 24 percent of consumers consider online review sites to be the "most helpful" factor, exceeding all other factors including the 15 percent of car buyers who consider dealership websites "most helpful". The study also showed that review sites are becoming increasingly important in organic search. Eighty-one percent of car buyers who use review sites said they look at review scores in search results. The dealer component of the study revealed that, on average, five review sites show up in search results. Car buyers use the top five sites 13 percent more than just 6 months ago. The most popular review sites are Cars.com (61 percent, previously 55 percent), Edmunds.com (54 percent, previously 50 percent),), Google Plus Local (37 percent, previously 44 percent), Yelp (14 percent, no change), and Yahoo (11 percent, no change) - the same rank order as the October 2012 study. The study went on to reveal that there is a 43 percent probability that a consumer will search for a local dealer on Facebook using Facebook's new Graph Search. The study revealed 67 percent of car buyers search for local business using mobile devices with 41 percent having "checked-in" to a local business using their mobile device. Additional Facebook findings include: There is a 59 percent probability that a consumer will trust a review from a Facebook friend more than reviews on other sites. 27 percent of car buyers click on mobile ads on Facebook. There is a 45 percent probability that a consumer will view the dedicated feed for brands in the forthcoming Facebook News Feed. Clicks on automotive dealership Facebook ads more than doubled from October 2012 to April 2013 - from 16 percent up to 39 percent.