Most dealerships are already familiar or at least aware of Internet social marketing in the form of Facebook, My Space, and Twitter; but very few know how to effectively use these tools to help nurture a successful following to increase business.

Today, in Part 1, I will be covering tips for dealerships to successfully use B2C (business to consumer) social marketing on Facebook and then next week I will follow up with best dealership practices for other social sites.

The most important thing to remember when creating a Facebook account is that they do not allow business branded profiles.  Facebook periodically removes those accounts, so make sure your dealership treads carefully if you have already done this.  The best way to go about getting started is to create a business fan page for your dealership and then have additional personal accounts to help drive traffic.

To start with, how are you getting customers to your Facebook page?  Just simply having a link on your website or mentioning it to customers is almost never enough. 

The first step to social network success is to create motivation for future and current customers to become your fan.  Do this is by creating a contest or offer special discounts only available to your Facebook fans.  A monthly $50 or $100 gift certificate drawing is a small price to pay to grow a loyal following of potential customers that check your Facebook wall and messages regularly.  Also, with over 95 million Facebook users in the US alone, chances are most of your customers already have an account, so be sure to not forget about friend inviting your recent customers.  Last week, Facebook even passed Google briefly as the most visited website on the internet. 

Make sure your dealership takes advantage of the huge amount of demographic data available on Facebook.  Reach out and join Facebook groups with users that have interests that align with RVing and post messages on the group wall.  If a group doesn't exist in your area that includes RVing, go ahead and create your own.  This can be a tedious task but can be rewarding when you connect with a group of interested customers.

Getting a customer to be your fan/friend however is only the beginning of a successful social marketing campaign.  To truly see results you need to regularly engage your newfound Facebook friends.

Remember, Facebook isn't just another ad space; it's a social network that can be used to grow a large number of future customers.  Be sure to check back next week, as I will be going over even more tips and tricks for maintaining a successful dealership Facebook account.