Choosing a marketing agency for an automotive dealership
What to ask a marketing agency before hiring them for a car dealership, and why understanding OEM brand guidelines matters as much as local marketing skill.
4 min read
Manufacturers run extensive national campaigns for the vehicle itself, which makes a local dealership's own social media more valuable when it focuses on what only the dealership can offer: local trust, service quality and a real relationship with the community.
What performs for a local dealership
- Real customer delivery moments, with permission, showing genuine local relationships.
- Service and workshop content demonstrating care and expertise.
- Local community involvement and staff highlights.
Staying within brand guidelines
Check your OEM's social media brand guidelines before posting — logo usage, approved messaging and pricing disclosure rules often apply to dealership social accounts just as they do to formal advertising.
The manufacturer already sells the car nationally — a dealership's social media should sell the reason to buy from this specific dealer.
A realistic cadence
Two to three posts a week focused on local relationship content is sustainable for most dealerships and performs better than trying to compete with the OEM's own national product content.
The takeaway
Focus dealership social media on local relationship content — staff, service, community — rather than product content the OEM's own national campaigns already cover extensively.
Written by Fibvo — Bengaluru and Erode, India — working with clients in other time zones. Questions, or think we have it wrong? Tell us.
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