What does it mean to be offbeat with your automotive social media? It means doing something different than what you’ve done before.
Think about what captures your attention when you’re scrolling through your feeds.
Normally the items you spend time looking at are either posts shared by your friends and family or those that grab your attention. Whether that attention is given because of something interesting, cute, disgusting, strange, or maddening, your attention has been piqued and that’s where it starts.
Let Your Photos Tell the Story
Your social media accounts are probably filled with pictures of the cars you sell, you are running a car dealership after all, but are they the right photos. Once you get past the necessary stock photos, are you adding compelling images to the mix? Keep your stock, walk around photos on your website and let your social platforms help you with more compelling imagery.
Think About the Background
Fill your automotive social media posts with images that you capture from around town. The background of the photo can be as important as the car itself. Think about local landmarks that everyone will know such as historic locations, favorite restaurants, popular hangouts, and roads that everyone knows. Make these areas part of the pictures that you’ll showcase on your accounts. Your audience will recognize where the photos are taken and that will capture their attention.
Lighting Matters
Can you make your photos more dramatic? Think about a storyline that can be told in a picture. Could you capture a couple walking together under an umbrella toward one of your vehicles during a rainstorm? Can you create images of one of your vehicles with the sunset behind it while people are playing nearby? How dramatic are the street lights in your area and can they work for some amazing photos?
Forget the Words
When you’re trying to allow your photos to tell the story with your offbeat automotive social media it’s important to keep your words to a minimum. Add a short message and a link to a story or information about the vehicle that you’re sharing and let your audience take the next step. If you’re sharing one of the local landmarks in your photos, you could create a blog around that landmark and link to it.
Answer Questions for Your Customers with Videos
Many dealers now offer virtual test drives where they talk about the horsepower, efficiency, price, and general features of a vehicle, but very few actually show how a vehicle can answer questions and fill the needs that customers have. This is your opportunity to do something different and answer the questions that are burning in the back of the minds of your shoppers.
Gather a Collection of Questions
Where do the most frequently asked questions come from? How do you know what your audience needs in a vehicle? One way to gather the questions that will be answered in your videos is through polls that can be shared through your social media accounts. Encourage your audience to ask questions or answer your poll questions and offer a simple prize for their participation.
Vehicles Come With Answers
Many of the vehicles we see in the market today are already made to answer certain questions and needs. Turning these questions into answers is your own offbeat automotive social media connection with your audience. Even though the automaker gave you the answers to the test, what your audience is looking for is the action that shows the vehicle actually does what is advertised. This is where your videos come in.
Get the Cameras Rolling
How much baby stuff fit in the trunk of the car? How many pieces of luggage can you take on your vacation? Will that piece of furniture fit in the back of the SUV? Can you carry a weekend project home in a minivan? These are some of the questions that you’ll want to showcase in videos. You can also take your video test drive and show how some of the safety features respond, how they alert you, and even how they take over when you’re crossing the lines.
Offbeat Means Thinking More Deeply
The offbeat automotive social media you want to offer your audience doesn’t just offer a different take on some of the accepted aspects of automotive marketing, it offers a deeper dive. Think about how you can take your typical marketing and social media posting to another level and grab the attention of your audience. Once you have their attention, keep them engaged and let them interact with your content and your company.
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