“Social media marketing” is a hot new buzzword in the Internet marketing industry, which generally refers to using popular social websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Digg (as well as niche interest forums and blogs) to market your business. It’s “hot” because it works—from the smallest Internet forum to the front page of Digg, the marketing opportunity for your dealership can be substantial. But it’s not all tweets and flowers. Here are seven common social media marketing mistakes that dealers need to avoid:

1. Advertising by shouting.

For many dealers this type of advertising is second nature. Auto dealers have been using TV, radio, and print to shout about their “best price guarantee” and the fact that “all credit applications are accepted” for decades. While these messages often work in traditional media, they won’t generate much response in a social media setting.

2. Reactive participation only.

Often times, auto dealership personnel are conditioned to be risk-averse—they would rather do nothing at all than say the wrong thing and risk the wrath of their GM or dealer principal. This creates a condition where the dealership is always reacting to the social network rather than contributing to it. This type of interaction is a lot like standing in a corner at a party—it’s harmless, but it won’t make you friends.

3. Rushing the process.

Understandably, the car business is a ‘right now, today’ business. Social media, however, is not an instant results marketing tool. It takes months of hard work to establish a reputation and build your social network and even longer to generate a solid ROI for your efforts. A dealer’s commitment to social media should reflect this reality.

4. Failing to contribute.

If you want to establish a good relationship with someone, you have to give them something before asking for something in return. Social media requires you to contribute to the community in a meaningful or useful way on a regular basis before you attempt to get something in return. Contributions don’t have to be big; sharing interesting or useful links works, as does offering free help and advice (with no expectation of reward or recognition of course).

5. Talking without listening.

In order to be successful in social media, 95% of your time should be spent listening to the community. For every contribution made, marketing personnel should be reading 19 other contributions first.

6. Hiding your purpose when challenged.

Any business that markets with social media has to acknowledge that they have a business interest in participating. At some point, someone in the community is going to challenge your dealership’s participation as a blatant attempt to make money. Rather than run from this accusation, embrace it. You will gain credibility for honesty and most people recognize that dealership marketing and social media involvement are not mutually exclusive.

7. Acting disingenuous.

This is a social media killer that dealerships are often guilty of. No dealership should try and market using social media without understanding that faking an interest in a community just to generate sales won’t work.

By avoiding these pitfalls and embracing the lessons above, auto dealers can leverage free social media communities to generate sales opportunities. Still, it’s important to recognize that not all dealers can or should participate in social networks. Before embracing social media marketing, all businesses are cautioned to consider these pitfalls carefully.

Jason Lancaster is an auto industry veteran and Internet marketing expert. As founder of Spork Marketing, he now helps dealers nationwide to increase visibility and sales. For information on Spork Internet marketing, visit www.sporkmarketing.com.

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