5 Content Marketing Tips To Include In Your Dealerships Social Strategy

Content is king. That’s not the first time you’ve heard that, nor will it be your last. I do have a question though, why aren’t more dealerships creating more content? One of the most effective and low cost ways to drive traffic is through the creation of relevant and engaging content. Content can be blog posts, videos, podcasts, status updates on Facebook, Tweets and much more. In this post I’m going to give you tips on what to include in your content marketing strategy that will help you to attract and influence more people to become your customers.

Keep in mind though, while reading this post, that it is but one part of your overall inbound marketing plan, a big part, but it is just one piece of the overall puzzle. Get this right and the rest will fall into place without much problem. So, are you ready?

Create A Content Creation Calendar

That’s right, plan! An editorial calendar will help you stick to your overall content marketing goal. By creating and sticking to an editorial calendar you will limit the time scratching your head wondering what to write about. Also, you should continually add to the calendar as you move along. I like to stay a month ahead, that way I’m never fighting for something to write about.

Another idea is to download the Evernote app to your iPhone or Android device so that whenever ideas strike, you can write a note to yourself to add it to the calendar. Of course you can use any app you like but I like the fact that Evernote syncs to both your desktop and the web, ensuring that no matter where you are you will have access to your notes.

Out of ideas? Read. Read as many in industry blogs and out of industry blogs as possible. Seek out the blogs of other non-competing dealerships for ideas. Also, remember that you can repurpose your content. What is a blog post this week can be a video a month or so later. Or even a slideshow, podcast, status update or even an image. In other words, one idea could be half a dozen

Optimize Your Content For Search

When writing your titles make sure that you do a little research to figure out what people are searching for in your local market. Then ensure that your key phrases are sprinkled throughout the body of your post or in the descriptions of your video or podcast.. Don’t overdo it, be natural and stick to your topic. As an example you could write a post about finding a repair shop and title it, “5 Things Your Need To Know Before Choosing A Repair Shop In Denver.”

Be sure to include the name of the city, it well help to keep your content local. Notice how the title draws you in with a promised list of 5 things you need to know. That brings me to my next tip.

Create Interesting Titles To Peak Interest

Think of your title as your headline, it’s what people will see that will encourage them to want to click on your content in order to consume it. I’ve always liked short lists, if you take a look at my blog you will see that I use the number 5 a lot, even in this article!

• 5 Steps To Connecting With The Movers And Shakers On LinkedIn
• 5 Reasons To Aim For Social Depth Over Social Breadth
• 5 Things You Need To Know BEFORE Designing Your Social Media Strategy

I use 5 because it’s not to long and it’s not too short and gets people to act. In fact Two of the above posts were syndicated on SocialMediaToday.com and have over 20,000 combined views! If the titles were poorly thought out, people wouldn’t have clicked on it, no matter how good the content was.

Have A Call To Action

Everything you create should have some sort of call to action. If it’s a picture that you post on Facebook, ask a question about it to get people to respond. If it’s a blog post ask people to leave a comment giving their opinion of something you said. If it’s a video tell people to give you a call to schedule their next vehicle check-up. Whatever it is, ask people to act even if it’s to check out another piece of content that you’ve created.

Create A Downloadable eBook

Create something of value to get people to download so that you can add them to your email list. A few ideas:

• The 10 Irrefutable Laws Of Car Shopping
• 5 Ways To Spot A Bad Car Deal
• 7 Tips To Ensure That You Get Top Dollar For Your Trade
• 10 Maintenance Tips That Will Keep You Out of The Repair Shop

The list can go on and on, the idea is to create compelling content that people want to read. From there you can create a lead nurturing campaign to turn those people into leads, but that’s for another post!

What are a few content ideas that you have? How do you engage your online audience? Let’s have a discussion below.