It seems like social media is this ever changing and evolving animal. Seventeen years ago when I began working with Jeff at Arie Nol Auto Center, marketing was simple. ‘Which sized Yellow Pages ad would you like?’ was the big decision for the year.
Now, there is a plethora of platforms and new ways to reach our customers. Customers are reached several ways based on certain criteria. Age does play a factor but I’ve had 75-year old customers who’ve said they follow us on Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook.
We dipped our toes into the water of Twitter a while ago to kind of see what it was all about. Being restricted to 140 or less characters is an adjustment but it’s easier to find something relevant without wasting a lot of time reading paragraphs of information. Leonardo da Vinci said “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”. You don’t find long rambling posts on Twitter like you may on Facebook.
One of the things I do like about Twitter is the fact that it’s very ‘in the moment’. Tips on what you should be doing to maintain your car right now based on the season are on many Twitter feeds. Following your vehicle’s manufacturer may show you a recall or a video of a new model coming out soon. Following community Twitter feeds such as the police or fire department can keep you updated on many local situations. More and more companies, municipalities and news agencies are using Twitter to impart information you may want in a very timely manner.
By following Twitter users that you specify, you choose the information you’d like to receive. Arie Nol Auto Center follows other auto repair shops, NAPA, Bosch, Kentwood police and fire and many other local businesses. We try to retweet relevant information that we feel our followers would find useful. Or funny. Because frankly, we like funny a lot. We also post our sign quotes each week so, if you don’t travel by us daily often or, haven’t Liked us on Facebook or follow us on Instagram, you can still see the quotes for the week.
Here’s our shameless plug. Follow us on Twitter. We have some good info, fun tweets and retweets, and if you’re interested in the automotive world or cars in general, you can find some other people to follow and auto news you might find useful.