It has been a long road to get to where we are today. Social media was such a hot topic in the automotive industry a couple of years ago but faded quickly once it became apparent that many of the strategies being pushed by gurus and vendors simply weren’t working. The bulk play of getting more and more likes was self-defeating and attempting to prove a true ROI was nearly impossible. In 2014, things are looking up. Following the rise of higher-quality social media strategies applied to car dealer social profiles, the corner was turned. We started seeing daylight. Dealers were interacting, getting involved, and being proactive. Granted, that still accounts for a very small percentage of dealers, but those who are doing it well are carrying the load and boosting numbers to help the automotive industry appear stronger in the overall Sprout Social Index. As an automotive social media firm, we hope that we contributed at least a small part to this improvement. The infographic below highlights a couple of things. First, you’ll see that the automotive industry ranks just above average at 7 our of 16 for response time, but ranks close to the top at 3rd our of 15 for response rate. When people talk to us, we talk back, and that’s a very good thing. The other thing it highlights is the importance of the responses themselves. Having an active team watching and replying to customers and potential customers is extremely important. If they take the time to talk to you, you should take the time to reply to them. It’s that simple. 
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