If used correctly, automotive forum marketing is one of the most useful ways of increasing sales through promotion. This strategy of promoting sales entails having a representative of the company engaging customers on various platforms online. It is a risky strategy, which requires an individual with specific skills to engage the members of these forums while projecting the goals and good image of the company. If you find someone that can accomplish this, they can do the company a great deal of good with their skills on auto forums. Here are a few things to keep in mind for the best results.
Be Professional
In any forum you select for this form of promotion, you first need to understand the type of forum it is. This entails learning what the users talk about, how they respond to promotions and the general attitude in the group. After that, you should keep things professional by having a simple signature for the brand you represent, maintaining a professional (but friendly) tone, showing expertise on your topic and generally giving the forum members confidence in the capabilities of your brand is the way to go. Avoid being annoying by overly promoting your brand.
Reach Out
Once you get into a forum, position yourself as an expert who knows exactly what it is they are doing. Get involved in conversations at a level whereby you assure everyone of your abilities in solving their problems while promoting the brand. When a specific user has an issue in need of solving, address it for everyone to benefit from your solution. What you should be aiming for is a rapport with the members of the forum such that, each time an issue comes up in your area of expertise, they seek for your opinion. Again, avoid overdoing it.
Choose Your Forums Well
Given that it is not a full-time job having a person engaging in online forums, you should focus on engaging the members of a few big forums where your opinion will count. Automotive parts will always be sought after and it is thus your chance to put out word that you not only have the right parts, but also know you’re well respected for customer service. Engaging people in too many forums will only tend to cheapen the brand and be a waste of time and other resources. Keep it simple and focused at all times.
Offer a Helping Hand
When all you offer to forums is posting links and advertising your brand, there are chances that you will be banned by the administration for misuse of the forum. Rather than do that, aim to let people know about your brand in subtle ways. Focusing on offering help and advice by only giving out your web link when someone needs it in order to view parts that you genuinely think can benefit them. The aim is to keep things simple and professional while representing your brand at all times. With forums, it is not about pushing sales but rather creating brand awareness.
If you go into auto forum marketing expecting sales to tick upwards rapidly, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. This is one of the slowest forms of marketing and you should thus treat it with a lot of caution. Keep in mind that you are going onto these forums to lend help as an ambassador for your brand. People go onto auto forums when they have problems and it is thus your duty to offer that help. This way, they will know your brand, trust your expertise and likely make a purchase from your dealership.
