Yesterday, there was news about a new social loan calculator on Facebook that is being used as a lead generator for auto lenders. The company that created the calculator cited a study that said that fewer than 15% of lenders use their Facebook pages as a means to generate loan applications.
Wondering if that was accurate, I went out and did some research. I took the 10 largest auto lenders and checked around Facebook to see how active they are on the social networking site, and how they are using the site to their advantage. Here’s what I found:
Likes: 62,998
More about Ally Bank than about its auto unit. The bank is very engaged on Facebook, having posted nine times in the past seven days, but none of those posts had anything to do with auto lending.
Likes: 1.2 million
The page for Toyota Financial Services has copied the content from Toyota Financial Services’s Wikipedia entry. Toyota’s general page has more than 1.2 million likes, and is very actively posting and interacting with other Facebook users, but doesn’t include any mention or reference to its financing arm or loan products.
3. Chase Auto Finance
Likes: N/A
A search on Facebook revealed no specific page for Chase Auto Finance or even Chase Bank. That said, Chase maintains a number of pages on Facebook, for its Sapphire Credit Card, its Ink small business credit card, and its philanthropic efforts. The Chase Community Giving page spouts 3.8 million Likes, but doesn’t include any information related to its auto finance products. The Chase Auto Finance page is blank, but has 26 Likes.
Likes: 1.7 million
Similar to Toyota, Ford Motor Credit‘s page on Facebook is a copy of its Wikipedia entry. The parent company, Ford Motor Co., has more than 1.7 million likes, but doesn’t include any reference to financing the purchase of a Ford vehicle.
5. Wells Fargo Dealer Services
Likes: 462,000
There are four different Wells Fargo Dealer Services pages on Facebook, but none appears to be official. The parent company has 462,000 likes on Facebook. The parent company’s page is very active, soliciting feedback, interacting with customers, and promoting its public service endeavors.
Likes: 700,000
If you do an internet search for “Bank of America auto finance” and “Facebook,” you’re taken to a page that claims to be Bank of America, but is all about cash advance or payday loans. There’s no Bank of America logo, and the general look and feel of the page makes it appear as though it has no official ties with the bank. BofA’s corporate page on Facebook has nearly 700,000 likes and includes such tidbits as a poll that reveals that more Bank of America consumers feel that better deals are available on Cyber Monday than on Black Friday, while also promoting the bank’s products and philanthropic efforts.
Likes: 2.5 million
What appears to be a page dedicated to American Honda Motor, the captive financing arm, has more than 300 likes, but is being mainly used as a tool for upset consumers to vent their problems and frustrations. Along with its corporate page, Honda also maintains pages on Facebook for its various models.
Likes: 860,000
While short on information or promotion, the page does provide links for consumers to learn more about some of BMW’s loan products. BMW’s corporate page on Facebook has 860,000 likes and is actively maintained. It includes information about BMW’s vehicles, but also interacts with consumers in cool ways. For example, the carmaker held a contest where customers submitted photos via Instagram for the chance to win a behind-the-scenes pass to the Los Angeles Auto Show.
9. Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp.
Likes: 1.1 million
Similar to other carmakers, Nissan lacks a specific Facebook page for its captive financing unit and doesn’t mention financing options on its corporate page. Instead, the company uses Facebook to interact and engage with its customers on a more basic level, by asking them to answer questions like, “I like my Nissan more than …” Nissan’s corporate Facebook page has more than 1.1 million likes.
10. Capital One Auto Finance
Likes: 2.8 million
Like most other finance companies included in this list, there are several pages that purport or claim to be maintained by Capital One Auto Finance, but none appears official. Capital One’s corporate page has 2.8 million likes, by far the most among any of the Top 10 lenders. It doesn’t have any reference or mention of its auto finance operation.
In conclusion, it appears as though the 15% cited in yesterday’s survey may be on the high side. Only one of the Top 10 lenders ― BMW ― included any specific mention about an auto loan product or opportunity.
