There are two things most dealers can agree upon. One, social media engagement is an effective tool for communicating with customers and prospects, whether it’s to promote a product or service, or to keep people abreast of what your company is doing. Two, crafting a message that engages and entertains the reader, contrary to popular opinion, is not as easy as it seems.
Sure, it’s easy to tie messaging to various holidays, seasons and other points in the calendar year (a Dads-N-Grads special). But coming up with content that is specifically unique and doesn’t blend in with the crowd is particularly daunting. Somehow, Nashville, TN-based Novatech is making it look ridiculously easy, and the dealership didn’t have to hire Geico’s advertising agency to make it a reality.
Darren Metz, Novatech CEO
“Copiers and printers are boring,” admitted Darren Metz, CEO of Novatech. “When you’re engaging with people in social media, they expect advertising as entertainment. We like to use self-deprecating humor. But half the battle is vying to make the video appear in their feed.”
The dealer has produced a series of smartly-written videos that are short, entertaining and keeps Novatech in the front of customers’ minds. The “Really Fast Service (Usually)” series illustrates the dealer’s desire to go above and beyond the call of duty to deliver on that promise, but it comes at a cost to produce a humorous twist. Check out its professional-quality clips on drone delivery and fast-moving techs.
“In the videos, our techs try to provide service, but unfortunately, a series of events gets in the way,” Metz added. “These videos came from the minds of our brilliant marketing team and were produced in-house. We want viewers to know that when they see a Novatech ad, they’re going to get a kick out of it.”
Brad Cates, Prosource
Social media plays a pivotal role for Prosource of Cincinnati, as the dealer leverages LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook to drive engagement on a daily basis. LinkedIn has been the strongest producer for engagements and website sessions, according to President and CEO Brad Cates, and 13 percent of its website traffic in 2017 was driven from social media platforms. The company is on track to grow website sessions from social media by 3 percent for 2018.
In 2017, Prosource launched a prospect-driving tool, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, to a select group of sales representatives. “Our sales team is focused on sharing value-based, educational content to their networks to drive thought leadership and to position themselves and the company as a trusted technology advisor,” Cates noted. “Our sales team has really embraced LinkedIn Sales Navigator and social selling, which has resulted in smarter prospecting and increased pipeline growth.”
T.J. DeBello,
Stargel Office Solutions
Houston-based Stargel Office Solutions began investing in social media during 2018 to help drive its sales efforts. T.J. DeBello, vice president of sales and marketing, believes the LinkedIn platform has been most beneficial in reaching the intended audience with the proper message about Stargel’s value proposition.
“I think the results are still mixed, but we have set up metrics to continue to monitor measurables,” DeBello observed. “Our new marketing director reports measurables on a bi-monthly basis and has set goals for areas such as the number of in-bound leads.”
Rick Bastinelli,
Centric Business Systems
Centric Business Systems of Owings Mills, MD, has redoubled its efforts with digital and social media marketing strategies. President Rick Bastinelli notes the company has launched social media campaigns with Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook to inform clients and prospects about new solutions, events at Centric and industry news.
“In addition to providing valuable content for distribution to our existing followers, it also provides our employees with opportunities to share the information with their network, vastly expanding our reach,” Bastinelli said. “From a B2B standpoint, we have found that LinkedIn and Facebook tend to provide the greatest reach. Our click-through rate has increased substantially on both platforms.”
Bob Maxwell,
KOMAX Business Systems
At KOMAX Business Systems of South Charleston, WV, Facebook is a popular option for posting the dealer’s activities in terms of community and charity events or promoting product and service offerings. President and Owner Bob Maxwell says the company has generated positive results and feedback from its weekly posts. Upon completion of its Butler Street training, KOMAX’s sales team began using LinkedIn to expand its social reach and generate more engagement opportunities.
