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Cobalt Newsroom - Dealer News
To Tweet or Not to Tweet?
September 1, 2009
Twitter, like all things social media, is the rage right now. Everyone is on Twitter, but does that mean your dealership should be? What is the right way to use Twitter to connect with customers? We outline some basic Twitter info below and link to some great articles that give dealers the right advice on this powerful communications craze.
What is Twitter? Twitter is one of the most popular social networking applications on the Internet. Twitter is an online service that enables you to broadcast short (140 characters or less) messages to your friends, family, colleagues or "followers."
J.D. Power published a great article, "Why Would I Follow a Dealer on Twitter?," earlier this summer. According to the article Twitter offers dealers a fast, free way to notify customers about upcoming specials and events at the dealership.
Remaining active is key, but being relevant and helpful is even more important, according to advice posted by Larry Bruce on the Kain Automotive Exchange earlier this month, "What place does Twitter have in your dealership." Larry offered solid advice about the positive and negative effects your tweets can have on your following, suggesting that the best use of Twitter is to use it as a way to announce the occasional, really good specials that will get people into your store. Do not spam out all your inventory listings or daily dealership happenings. This could backfire and you could lose followers that get tired of receiving irrelevant information.
Another great suggestion: Use Twitter to share car maintenance tips, how to get the best mileage, how to keep your car running its best in the winter months, and so forth. Get your best service and parts folks to create very short vehicle car tips and send those out on occasion to provide value to your customers.
The bottom line: The more value you provide your Twitter followers, the more likely they are to continue to follow your tweets - and get your message.
