UCD Magazine • August 2020 • Social Media

At some point (maybe today), you'll likely recognize the valuable opportunities available with social media for your store(s).

One of the first steps you'll need to consider is hiring a social media manager.

During the hiring process, you'll need to figure out who measures up and who doesn't. Many GMs and owners don't spend a lot of time on social networks, so it can be quite a challenge to determine the best candidate.

When you're ready to hire (or promote) your social media manager, pose these questions to your candidates. Their answers will inform your decision and help you pick the right person.

What social media channels are best for our business? Have them explain why, as well. They should have done research on your organization and your customers before assessing the potential across today's social media channels.

The channels best suited for your business are the ones where your target customers spend their time. For dealerships, Facebook is number one.

What are the two most important social media metrics a dealership should monitor? The answers are engagement and leads.

For engagement, whatever the channel, there should be measurable conversation around your company brand. Content drives social marketing success, so if your content stinks, you won't see people engaging.

For leads, does your candidate have a track record with Facebook ads? Ask them to outline a strategy for Facebook ads and how leads will be handled.

Are you accomplished in a social marketing environment and in a social customer service environment? Ask your candidate to define the difference between the two.

A social marketing environment is pre-sale. Most social media conversations don't revolve around sales and call for a conversational approach.

Your candidate should be able to determine where customers are in the purchase journey and guide them to their destination.

Social customer service environment is post-sale. It requires empathy, patience and the ability to resolve conflict. Your candidate must be able to recognize situations that might call for an escalation to management.

Remember, they're not just responding to that one customer, but to an audience of future customers.

What's the most important thing a social media manager should be doing? A solid answer would be: monitoring and/or listening to the audience within the brand's social channels.

Engaging regularly with fans and followers is evidence that you're there – you care – and you're interested in having them as a customer.

Have you ever had to handle a social media crisis? Ask them to define what a social media crisis means to them and what steps they would take to resolve a situation.

If the company doesn't have a best practices protocol in place, it's time to get one. That would be included in your social media policy – and it should emulate your current conflict resolution process.

How would you allocate the budget for social media advertising? Ask your candidate to describe a plan for how best to allocate your budget and how they would know it's successful.

A typical budget consideration is for Facebook ads. Depending on your store and your market, a minimum of $1,000 per month is a good start.

Do you have a blog and do you currently write content for social media channels? It's crucial that your candidates have a working understanding of how content drives everything in digital marketing – SEO, content and social media.

Ask to see their blog in action and make a note to see if they're posting regularly.

Candidates will often produce content for sites like LinkedIn and Medium, rather than having their own personal blog.

What social media strategies do you plan to use to generate leads? As the boss, you need to know that social media is giving you quantifiable results for your money.

There are various and specific key performance indicators to consider. For dealerships, social media ROI means generating leads.

What would your first goals be? If candidates start talking about vanity metrics like growing X number of Facebook likes or Y number of Instagram followers, stop them and ask how they’ll build an audience of in-market customers and how they plan to engage with that specific audience.

A candidate might try to focus on vanity metrics, so keep in mind that a small, switched-on and engaged audience offers a lot more value than a bunch of disengaged fans/followers from outside your market area.

If your candidate has the ability to tell a compelling story, that will deliver a huge advantage. Stories paint pictures in customers' minds and evoke emotions that foster trust and credibility.

Kathi Kruse is an automotive social media marketing expert, blogger, consultant, author, speaker and founder of Kruse Control Inc., which coaches, trains and delivers webinars focused on integrating social media and online reputation management into dealership operations. She can be reached at kathi@krusecontrolinc.com.