“Twitter is getting a bad rap, because most corporate users do not understand the nature of the beast and tend to approach their communication on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter in exactly the same way,” he told Dealerfloor. “That is a mistake, since these platforms lure you into publishing the same content to the different platforms with the slide of a button.”

According to Dumisa, all social media platforms should be approached with tailor-made messages, designed with the specific audience of that platform in mind.

“On Facebook, people value privacy and are usually very loyal to the groups and brands they follow, whereas with Twitter it is easy to retweet and vent your frustration,” he explained. “Twitter is a platform where brands should be engaging their audience quite frequently, whereas with Facebook and Instagram, less engagement will do.”

Although Twitter requires constant monitoring, your established audience will reward you if you are honest, transparent and prepared to handle sometimes messy interactions. Dumisa described the auto industry as one where customer satisfaction is regarded as a premium outcome and that most dealers deal with this on a daily basis anyway.

“To be a good dealership, I believe that problem solving should always be a top priority. By actively engaging with your audience and handling things, good or bad, in an open, honest way, you will reap the rewards,” he said.

Dumisa emphasised that once you have regular engagement with your Twitter audience, they transform into your community that will defend the brand on your behalf on most controversies.

“Embrace social media, familiarise your customers with what you are doing, involve your community and ensure you have a coordinated strategy in place, and you will be surprised what a difference that can make in terms of customer satisfaction and increased sales,” he said.