How to successfully leverage Instagram with the help of employees.

While many brands and businesses are trying to figure out how to successfully leverage every single social media platform available in order to increase sales and awareness, Instagram remains untapped by many dealerships.

There is no such thing as a one-size fits-all social media strategy and often, cross platform promotion is not the best approach. Nevertheless, creating a simple Instagram presence involving a dealership’s employees, can result in a surprising ROI.

Let’s start from the beginning. As a dealership, the first step to take is to get employees actively involved.  Help them become familiar with how the social media tool works, and the creative ways they can help the business increase awareness starting with their own communities.

The following infographic illustrates how to get started with Instagram and some fun, creative ways to encourage employees to become active on the platform.

If some employees have not joined Instagram yet it is usually because they don’t have the time or they don’t know how to use it. Try to show them how easy and fun it is, rather than bore them with uninteresting reasons! Encourage any employees who are already Instagram savy to help get things started and, of course, get employees to follow the company page.

Talk about moments they can share such as a group lunch, a funny anecdote during work, a great deal they want to share because they see the value in it, an “Employee of the Month” celebration, or any other moment they feel connects the dealership to potential customers. Remember to mention the company using the “@” symbol so the social media manager can enter the conversation on behalf of the company’s IG account.

One of the first things to do is to start following other similar pages and profiles. But there is a limit, the focus should be on following whoever follows you first. You may follow other pages that relate to the industry as a way to connect, but always expect to be followed back.

Instagram is all about moments. For example, when you go on a trip with your family, instead of collapsing images of the trip and the family all in one picture, you can focus on the moment when Uncle Rob fell off the fishing boat, or post the photo of the sunny morning while having breakfast. It’s the captioning of simple moments that makes for the most engaging posts.

Instagram is meant to be a fun social tool, and keeping the conversation going is part of the fun. Make sure your employees remember that “social” means interaction is vital, so try to keep your followers active by responding to comments and tagging other people on their posts.

Teaching the importance of  social media  to  dealership employees adds value to the workforce, increases the positive atmosphere in the workplace, and allows the company to connect to the community though their employees, because in the end, they are part of that community which your business is trying to capture.