Independent prime lender MotoNovo Finance has questioned the emphasis place on social media by dealership marketing departments, most notably on Facebook.

The value of online public interaction is yet to be determined in the industry, with G3 Remarketing expressing success in its use of Twitter use and several social media experts speaking in favour of its use.

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MotoNovo’s head of sales and marketing Karl Werner acknowledged this, saying the view of the Cardiff-based lender might appear to be "swimming against the current". However, Werner pointed out even the most digitally connected Facebook page has only got a little over 2,000 followers, despite half of the UK’s population using the network.

A YouGov poll also showed Facebook usage in the UK dropped by 9% in May, year on year, primarily due to user irritation with advertising.

Linked out

In a company statement, MotoNovo suggested time and effort spent in social media was not always rewarded with customer engagement, adding Facebook was often used by consumers to vent anger at companies, rather than propelling sales.

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Werner echoed calls by iVendi, The Funding Corporation and Kia, by calling for improved and more open customer websites, saying: "To date the cost/value evidence with social media, notably Facebook, in generating activity and revenue for dealers is very limited."

Instead, Werner said the paradigm for those in the car finance industry might be "a well-populated, information rich and optimized website with tools such as finance calculators".

However, MotoNovo suggested professional networking social media site LinkedIn’s value is only starting to be realised, as companies find its B2B value.

All news from the Motor Finance website is open for debate on our LinkedIn group and replicated on our Twitter account.