Everywhere you turn, online marketing experts in every industry are letting you know the importance of Twitter, Facebook and social marketing. Being savvy car dealers, many of you have signed-up on these platforms to see what all the hoopla is about. Unfortunately, this also leaves proof why 99.9% of you guys are doing it wrong.

While compiling our list of car dealers on Twitter, we’ve came across a number of NUMEROUS examples showing why dealers are failing miserably on Twitter. If your dealership is currently on Twitter, see how many of the following examples apply to your Twitter account.

5. You Act but You Don’t Interact

Social media is called that for a reason – in order for it to work, your brand must be social.  Being socially acceptable on Twitter means engaging in conversations.  Furthermore by conversations, I mean BOTH speaking and listening. While the above may seem like common sense, the amount of accounts we found violating this basic rule pretty much made our heads explode.

Your plans for world domination in the social media world will not work if you are a wallflower. On the flip side, it will also not work if all you do is scream.

4. You Falsely Believe You Have Fans

You sign your dealership up for Twitter and before you know it you have a hundred or so followers. Heck, you have no idea where they are coming from but you are happy to get them.  Despite your lack of activity on there, this social networking thing must work because you have a small fan base by simply being on there right? WRONG.

Here’s the secret – your dealership is attracting followers because your Twitter name is popping up when people and bots are searching for car manufacturer names.  These automated scripts are looking for people with interest in cars to respond to their follow with a follow back so they can spam and shout their own agendas.  I’m sorry to say you don’t have any real fans.

3. You Hide Behind a Curtain

One of the fundamental elements of being social is human interaction yet many dealers do not reveal who the real people behind their websites or Twitter accounts are.

If the peoples’ desire is to interact with other humans, why do so many of you have Twitter accounts that hide the people behind the brand?  Am I supposed to believe I’m speaking to your building, your website, a logo or worse yet, your manufacturer’s mascot?

2. You Are Serving Old SPAM to an Empty Room

Ford, Honda, etc. have done a great job of putting real people behind their social initiatives and spending millions of dollars to promote their brands.  As a potential car buyer, many of us already know the various make and models that are available for purchase but what many of us don’t know is where to look locally to acquire the vehicle.

Many dealers have resorted to shouting out weekend specials (to nobody) and become echo chambers of their manufacturer’s tweets. Why is that? Just because you tweet about an award Scion or Ford wins, does it mean we’ll be rushing into your particular dealership to make that purchase? The answer is no.  If you’re not personalizing your tweets and speaking as an individual to other individuals, you are just adding noise to the room.

1. You Gave Up Before Understanding It

Most of the dealership accounts on Twitter suffer from lack of sincere interactions. However, it’s a lesson that most of you will never learn because you never gave Twitter a chance.  Most of the accounts we have seen have been started and neglected – some even as short as 2 DAYS!  Unless you are giving cars away for free, I don’t think there is a campaign out there that can help you move metal with a 2 day running time.

If what you have been doing on Twitter hasn’t worked, why not try something different instead of abandoning it? Do you even care that your potential customers are finding your failed attempts online?

What grade would you give your dealership’s current Twitter account?

If you guys want some help, let us know in the comments below. With enough demand we will do a follow up on how your dealership can actually use Twitter to bring people in the door and make money with it.

Social media is the next big thing on the internet but many dealers are dropping the ball on taking advantage of it. Social media is not just about brands such as Facebook, Twitter or Youtube but rather how these platforms are changing the way customers are communicating with businesses and each other. If you are still not convinced investing in social media is the right thing to do, check out the following video.

Is your dealership already taking advantage of social media? What are some of the things you are doing to connect with customers?

Here at EasyAutoSales we are always brainstorming ways to improve our services to help car dealers more effectively sell cars.  While we will never stop coming up with ideas on our own, whatever we come up with pales in comparison to YOUR collective feedback.  Because of this undeniable truth we have created a Car Dealer Online Marketing survey using Survey Monkey.  It will take you 5 minutes or less to cruise through, and will really help us learn how we can help you sell cars better online.  Once we get enough responses we will compile the data and post our findings on this blog.

Please click the following link to take our Car Dealer Online Marketing Survey http://bit.ly/sidY5

We really appreciate your time!

2010 Ford F-150 SVT "Raptor" Simulator

Here’s another set of pictures from Sunday at the show, in addition to some travel pictures. I’ll be commenting on them later today, but in the mean time, here’s some tasty bits to keep you enticed:

EasyAutoSales @ NADA 2009, New Orleans (Sunday)

Above is a picture of the greatest simulator I’ve ever played. As good as stuff like Ferrari 360 Challenge and some of the newer games with hydraulic actuators are, nothing can compare to this simulator. When I flipped the truck it spun me around and twisted me at like 45 degree angles. These never quite give the feel of how much grip your car has on a road, but in every other sense, it was amazing. The sound of the V8 was spectacular. The pedal feel was nice. Seat and stearing wheel were accurate. HUGE props to Ford on this one. This place was almost busier than Aspen Marketing with the Playboy Bunnies!

I think I’ve fallen in love all over again…

I have one of these sitting in my garage awaiting a new engine, so I know I shouldn’t be looking at another one, but I can’t help it. It’s like sitting in a hospital with your loved one next to you while checking Match.com for her replacement. But here I sit; looking at this beautiful silver 1991 318is.

The racy little 4 cylinder engine makes a spectacular induction sound of a much larger engine. None of that screaming that comes from a Honda VTEC motor. This engine is refined, almost as much as the chassis. Poised as a Ms. America on four wheels. At 2500lbs, the car is a lightweight too and with 136HP under your right foot, you’re not exactly going to win any races. But with the right tires and suspension you can flat foot yourself around turns like a pro, with composure, and look like a drift hero.

So, despite the fact that the old, clunky black car that sits in my garage, broken with over 212k miles on the clock, I yearn once again to take it out and race it around the block. There’s nothing like the feeling of really thrashing a car to get it to move at any significant speeds. So, though I’ll have to pass on this one and wait until I can swap my new engine to the ICU-laden love that sits in my garage, however, it’s beautiful enough for someone else to come along and pickup this great looking car. Perfect paint. Super engine. It’s such a sweet deal that it really is hard to pass up, however whoever does pickup this silver-haired beauty will be in for a treat! Good luck to that lucky person!