Social media is essential for every business these days, including car dealerships, and some dealerships make the mistake of underestimating the amount of work that goes into an effective social media campaign. They put up a Facebook page, set up a Twitter account, and call it good.

The problem is, social media might look easy (though it is far from easy), and gauging the translation of Facebook Likes to sales is tough.

A recent article by Jacqueline Zenn on Mashable.com laid out the top nine measurements of social media health. Think of it as someone going to the doctor’s office and having the doctor take your height, weight, temperature, and blood pressure.

The nine vital signs for your car dealership’s social media health include:

1. Share of Voice
   Definition: How many times the dealership is mentioned vs. how much their competition is mentioned through social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
2. Brand Volume
   Definition: How many times the dealership is mentioned over a day, a week, a month, etc. through social media outlets
3. Engagement
   Definition: How many times consumers engage with your dealership. Example – Posting a positive review on Google Local, tweeting a question about your services, etc.
4. Interaction Per Post
   Definition: How many likes, comments, retweets, etc. are received for a Facebook update, a Twitter post, a blog post, etc.
5. Sentiment Analysis
   Definition: The ratio of positive mentions and engagements with your dealership to the negative mentions and engagements with your dealership. Overall, whether people tend to have a positive or negative impression of your dealership based on online engagement.
6. Social CTR (Click-Through Rate)
   Definition: How many times people see your ads, blogs, posts, etc. and how many times they will click on that ad, blog, post, etc.
7. Key Influencer Mentions
   Definition: Key influencers are social media users who have a loyal following, and if your dealership is mentioned by a key influencer in auto news, car buying, etc., it establishes credibility for the dealership.
8. Platform Reach
   Definition: Social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google Local, etc.) that your dealership has set up accounts and frequently engages (following other users, giving feedback, etc.)
9. Mobile Mentions
   Definition: The number of times that people engage with your dealership via their mobile devices. Ways to encourage mobile social media engagement are setting up deals with Four Square or offering other discounts for smart phone users.

When all of these vital signs are strong, the social media campaign will translate into new customers and sales. Now, here is where dealerships will run into problems running their own social media campaign. Do they know how to measure the click-through rate? Do they know what kinds of posts work for Facebook vs. Twitter? Do they have time to keep up with all of their social media outlets and extend their platform reach?

This is exactly why Special Finance Group is the perfect partner for your car dealership. Our SEO/IRM team will take care of all of your social media marketing needs and turn those likes and followers into sales for you. To learn more about Special Finance Group’s Complete Special Finance Solution, click here, and make sure to like Special Finance Group on Facebook and follow Special Finance Group on Twitter.

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