Social Media Marketing Plan for Automotive Dealership - Assignment Example

Social Media Marketing Plan for Automotive Dealership Executive summary This marketing plan illustrates how the automobile dealership company will develop a comprehensive social media interaction platform by considering the key tenets of a marketing plan. The company will assess the business in terms of products and the market available through the social media platforms. Additionally, this marketing plan looks at the car dealership market in terms of the clients and the competitors, who determine the success of the company. In order for the company to achieve its social media objectives, it will establish a future strategy by formulating workable goals, mission, and vision statements. When it comes to finances, the automotive dealership company will review its prices constantly on social media and compute its projected sales after implementation of the plan. 1. The Business i. Business Overview: The Company is an automotive dealership company that is currently located in Los Angeles, California. The company is a partnership whereby I am one of the directors who aspire to take the company to the next level. We plan to launch the company’s website and blog so that the company can have more online presence. The business will deal with cars from various carmakers. In essence, the company will operate as an intermediary between car manufacturers and the customers so that customers can buy their preferred cars efficiently and effectively. Considering the nature of the automobile industry, it is critical to stay in touch with the customers. The close interaction via social media sites will enhance customer satisfaction through real-time feedback and support. The company has been operational for the past five years but its profit margins have not expanded to reflect its age. In this regard, the company will adopt an online marketing plan that will see the sales skyrocket within the next five years. Social media provides the best platform for such a proposal, considering the significant number of active social media users. ii. SWOT Analysis: Over the five years that the company has been in operation, it has gained strength in many areas and suffered some weaknesses. However, the strengths that the company boasts of outweigh its weaknesses. Fundamentally, the five years’ experience is a significant strength for the company because the company has adapted to market challenges and uncertainties. Another key strength is that the company has competent personal who have been in the automobile industry and marketing for a considerable amount of time. The company plans to use its experience in sales and marketing to market its products and services over various social media platforms. The location of the company is a weakness in the sense that most of the car manufacturers have few subsidiaries in Los Angeles as they do in other states. With the online marketing plan, the company will bridge the geographical barrier to reach more clients and carmakers. With every threat that the company faces, it encounters a number of opportunities that can boost its sales and lead to its expansion. One of the most significant threats that the automobile dealership company currently faces is the mushrooming of competitors, some of whom have more connections with the carmakers and customers. In spite of this threat, the company will have more marketing opportunities over the social media and perhaps become one of the leading automobile dealers in the United States. The company will initiate a robust customer support center that will handle all customer complaints, compliments, and enquiries. iii. Products/ Services: Since the company is engaged in car dealership, it usually distributes secondhand and brand new vehicles to customers throughout the United States. The difference between car dealership and other products/services offered by car manufactures is that the car dealership company offers its products and services at retail prices while the others at wholesale. Since the company has limited capital and capacity, it plans to sign contracts with the major automaker in the United States including Ford, Chrysler, Chevrolet, and Tesla. The company also plans to outsource automotive technicians via social media to service and repair customers’ cars. Concerning market position, car dealership is a highly competitive business with high returns, depending on marketing strategy. The unique selling position of the company is its flexibility that enables it to anticipate demand and act accordingly. The pricing strategy and customer value are also selling points for the company. 2. The Market i. Clients/Customers: a. Unique selling position: The online presence and credibility of the company has enabled it to make significant strides in terms of market positioning. The clients and the competitors are the main factors that the company has to deal with in order to conquer more market. The customers play an important role in the company because they are directly responsible for the revenue streams. In this regard, the company will have to assess its customers in terms of customer demographics, customer management, and the key customers to the company. b. Customer Demographics: The Company will largely target the American youth aged between 25 years and 35 years. Virtually all Americans in this age group are active users of social media. Besides, such a target group consists of young men in employment who can afford to buy cars from dealers. The company will also target customers of similar profiles in Europe and Australia. The target customers place high value on cars and other accessories because they have active lifestyles. Getting such clients through social media sites will bring in additional revenue to the company. Facebook alone has over one billion active users, which will provide a potential customer base for the automotive dealership company. Most of the social media users would like to get full information about the cars they see but most companies offer limited online support through their websites. The automotive dealership company will capitalize on this gap to ensure real-time interactions with potential customers through the social media. c. Key Customers: The key customers that the company will target on social media include the college students, young couples, and people who want to trade in their old cars for new ones or newer models. The company will involve such clients through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Google+ in order to deliver unmatched customer satisfaction. Such customers will be able to order their cars and make any other requests through their social media accounts. d. Customer Management: Although some customers may be anonymous on social media while other may tend to be rude, the company staff will practice good customer management. The customer service standards for social media customers will include patience, prompt response, politeness, and truthfulness. ii. Competitors a. Competitor Details: The Business will face established rivals in the market including AutoBidsOnline, Kelley Blue Book, Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations of India (FADA), and Carfax. To be true, the company rates poorly against its competitors because the competitors embraced social media long ago. However, the companies merely post their products on the internet with minimal interaction with customers. The company plans to counter this move through real-time interactions with clients. In addition, the company plans to incorporate an action plan that will improve its competitiveness in the market because the company commands a small market share currently. b. Market Research and Target: After extensive consultations with market research firms, the company discovered unexplored market in car dealing. New car dealers market in the United States totaled to $715 billion in the year 2013 alone. During the same year, revenues from used cars amounted to $89 billion. These statistics indicate a profitable future if the company executes its market plan effectively. Concerning the market target, the company plans to attain $1 million within the next one year after implementing the marketing plan. c. Environmental/Industry Analysis: Every year, more social media users have cars or plan to buy cars, especially the young people. Although automotive dealership has been in existent for a considerable amount of time, the industry continues to grow. The industry is seasonal although the economy of America is relatively stable when compared to the region. The car dealership market is huge because hybrid and electric vehicles are gaining traction. The emergence of electric vehicles by Tesla and other motor companies is indicative of growth potential in the market. This company will fit in by retailing all types of vehicles and spare parts. d. Marketing Strategy: In order to reach as many clients as possible, the company will engage its customers through multiple social networking sites namely Google+, Facebook, You Tube, Twitter, and LinkedIn. The primary social media marketing strategies that the company will adopt will include sharing video clips and photos of the products and services offered, offering 24/7 customer support, and synchronizing the company’s website with the social media accounts. The company’s IT and marketing crew will carry out such duties. iii. Advertising & Sales a. Advertising and promotional strategy: Since the marketing plan of the automobile dealership company will focus on social media, the planned promotional types will include social media campaigns, especially in popular sites. The company’s social media strategist will be responsible for the promotional strategy and presence in order to drive sales up by targeting social media users. Social media adverting is likely to cost the automotive dealership company $ 50,000. Over the next one year of robust social media advertising and campaign, the company’s expects to improve its sales margin by about 20% and its revenue stream by 15%. Facebook and Twitter provide effective interaction channels through which the company will advertise and sell its products. Other viable social networking sites that the company will employ in its promotional strategy will include Google+ and LinkedIn because most professionals prefer such sites. b. Social media strategy: The automotive dealership company anticipates achieving many things by communicating to customers over the social media. The primary purpose of the social media advertising is to create brand awareness and improve online sales. Most customers use such online tools as Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and YouTube, all of which the company will explore. To network and communicate effectively with these customers, the company will train its staff about social media advertising and sales as opposed to outsourcing competent staff from other organizations. The company will draw consistent inspiration from the fact that it will have been one of the pioneers as far as social media advertising in the automotive industry is concerned. The key strategy for writing the blog will be to include the keywords for the company as frequently as possible. In addition, the company will liaise with tech companies such as Google so that the name of the company can be synchronized in Google search engine. The growing number of social media users, especially from the young people, will be an inspiration for the company to implement its social media marketing plan. c. Sales strategy: Customers will access, view, and order automobile of their choices through their social media accounts and receive real-time responses regarding price, viability, and specifications. In addition, the company will enable liaise with money transfer companies to enable online payments of products / automobiles. d. Advertising challenges: The automobile dealership company will be prepared for negative online reviews and social media posts. Since the social media is a free zone where everyone can post anything anonymously, the company will focus its energy on positive attributes on social media. The best way of dealing with haters and malicious people in social media is to ignore and the company will train its social media advertising and communication staff on social media etiquette. 3. The Finances i. Price: The automotive dealership company has not set predetermined prices for the products because every car comes with a unique price tag depending on the model, year, mileage, and specifications. In this regard, all the advertisements will have unique prices that take into account all costs including start-up, personal, operational, working capital, cash flow. However, the target market will bear a price ranging between $10,000 and $100,000 in order to attain a 15% profit margin ii. Expected sales: Since the car dealership industry has seasonal influences, the company expects to achieve an annual turnover of $1,000,000 by appealing to social media users across the United States. 4. The Future i. Vision statement: To be the leading automobile dealership in the United States through incorporation of social media in the company’s operation programs ii. Mission statement: To drive sales and revenue through social media advertising and communication with customers, ensure customer satisfaction and promote online sales through Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, LinkedIn, and Google+. iii. Goals/objectives: a. Short-term goals To create brand awareness and online presence through social media To develop a good rapport with the customers through social media support b. Long-term goals To increase sales margin by up to 50% and revenue by 40% in the next five years, particularly through social media advertising To be the leading car dealership company in the United States with a synchronized social media functionality. To integrate 80% of the social media users into its marketing plan. Read More