The platform: Facebook
How to use it: Most people only care about their car when they have to, Gross says, so you need to post content on Facebook that all drivers can relate to. That could be related to traffic, safety or weather. But don’t be afraid to show personality: Use a conversational tone, show personality, highlight employees or things going on at the shop. In addition, vary the types of posts: Links, images, videos, just plain text.
“Facebook’s algorithm changes all the time, so to reach clients, that’s one way to work around making sure you’re varying the content you’re posting,” says Gross.
And as with other platforms, engage in conversation. Respond to user comments, comment on other businesses’ Facebook pages and analyze the days or times when your highest volume of interactions occur.
Posting frequency: Post roughly four times a week. There are many tools (such as Hootsuite) that allow you to schedule posts ahead of time, and you can even do so directly through Facebook. If it’s easier, take an hour at the beginning of the week, set the posts up and then monitor comments throughout the week. However, if something like a national crisis occurs, make sure to take down any posts that could come across as offensive or too lighthearted.
MSO tip: Look into Facebook ads. Gross says that through Facebook Ad Manager, shops with multiple locations can geo-target posts to reach specific areas.
“If you have two locations that are kind of close and the third one if further away, you can post just to that area’s span,” she says. “You can also run ads the same by. You can boost a post on your page, but if it’s only a special or an event at the one location, set your ad to only geo-target to that specific area.”
Gross also recommends looking into remarketing (where Facebook will target users who visited your site but did not fill out an appointment form) and custom audiences (which involved importing your email list to Facebook and matching those emails to Facebook users).