Facebook is changing for businesses … again

Facebook recently announced that it’s changing how it delivers posts from businesses. The goal of News Feed is to show you stories that are most relevant. Facebook likes to make improvements to News Feed in order to keep people on Facebook, not leaving in frustration.

According to Facebook, “To help make sure you don’t miss the friends and family posts you are likely to care about, we put those posts toward the top of your News Feed.”

This means that business pages will likely see a lower reach. I shared a post last month about how dealerships can’t just list inventory on their page, and now this rings true even more.

Facebook uses user feedback to determine what stories appear in your News Feed, so if your business page posts aren’t getting any likes, comments or shares, the less likely they are to appear in your customers’ News Feeds.

What can dealerships do?

Facebook Ad Campaigns

In order to get your dealership posts in front of the eyes of your customers, you may want to consider boosting your posts or running a Facebook Likes campaign.

Engaging Content

Like my post mentioned last month, you’ll need to post engaging and relevant content that your Facebook audience will enjoy. Ask your fans questions and run contests in order to build that engagement. Also, make sure you respond to every comment, so they don’t feel ignored. You wouldn’t ignore someone who physically came to your dealership, would you?

“See First” Option

Another option is to ask your fans to select the “See First” option. This will put your posts at the top of their News Feed. You can find the “See First” option by clicking the Like button on your business page. If you’re going to suggest this, you have to make sure your posts are engaging enough in order to not alienate your true fans.

Facebook for your dealership shouldn’t be considered as a direct sales tool. You should think of it as a communication tool. You can use it to communicate with your customers, provide customer service, inform them of specials and events and build relationships. If you do all those things, sales will be a product of that. In the customer’s research phase, there is no doubt they are looking at your Facebook page. The question is, what’s on it?

Jim Jabaay is the vice president of Sales and Marketing for LotVantage, a leader in digital marketing for automotive, powersports, marine and RV dealerships.  Jim has grown up in the automotive industry with the family dealership in the suburbs of Chicago. Jim started at Manheim in sales and continued to grow his career running sales teams throughout Texas for nine years.  Following Manheim, Jim spent two years at Dealertrack expanding his career in the software side of the business.  LotVantage utilizes data to help dealerships understand which inventory to post and when to post it for a local, national and social presence.  Jim’s number one goal is helping dealers succeed in an ever growing and changing dealership world.

Website: www.LotVantage.com