TWITTER and Facebook are opportunities missed by the vast majority of UK car dealers reveals one expert.

GForces has found that less than 10 percent of the UK’s top 200 car dealers are represented on social networking sites.

Methods include having a Page on Facebook, communicating via Twitter, or simply posting thoughts and insights on a blog.

Commercial director Tim Smith said car dealers are thus missing out on a prime free PR opportunity.

‘Blogs, Facebook and Twitter can be a very useful addition to a dealer’s marketing arsenal – having a blog, for example, improves your business’s online visibility by using keywords related to your activity and products, and back-links to your website, to improve traffic.

Smith revealed some huge numbers. ‘In August, 14.5 million people in the UK visited at least one blog, representing 41 per cent of the total internet audience.

‘If just 0.01 per cent of these find their way to a blog maintained by your business, then you have an opportunity to market your stock to a wider, previously untapped audience.

‘Customers are already engaging with social media, and dealers would do well to think about how to tap into its true commercial potential.’

Smith even revealed some advice for car dealers starting out on social networking. How many are you following?

GForces’ Top Tips for social networking

•    Maintain it – Make sure you do so regularly and react when interacted with.

•    Offer something – People ‘friend’ companies because they’re looking for a reward.  Disappoint them and they won’t be back.

•    Give it impact – Be relevant. This will mean more links and more traffic.

•    Combined approach – Establish your presence in a variety of social media.

•    Ensure accuracy – Despite their informality, Tweets and blogs still need to be correct.

Car Dealer Magazine is on Twitter!

James: www.twitter.com/CarDealerEd
Rich: www.twitter.com/richardaucock
Dunc: www.twitter.com/CarDealerAds

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Tags: Blog, facebook, gforces, social networking, twitter

This entry was last updated on Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 at 2:52 pm and is filed under News.