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Social Media Is Just Like Sales: It’s What They Say And Think That Matters, Not You

It's been said that in business, it's not what you know but rather who you know. In social media it's not much different! It's not what you say, it's what everyone else thinks about what you say (and who repeats it that has a significant following). In today's auto industry social landscape, we're ruled by "buy here", "special of the day", "unbelievably cheap oil change", "home of the bla-dee-blah-blah-lease!" and more ranting and ravings about "me me me" than I'd care to acknowledge.

It seems that the opportunity for a bunch of folks to so-called "save" their dealership from "paid advertising" and more importantly "relevant advertising" by getting "free advertising" has horribly skewed the mindset of otherwise savvy people. I can see it now…just imagine with me….(fake clouds of dry ice are filling the stage in your mind)…

"Hey boss, you're not going to believe this! Me, your amazing but otherwise unknown Internet salesperson, just came up with the way to save $20,000 a month or more from your advertising budget! Guess who ran smack dab into Twitter and Facebook!? ME!! If you can manage, I'll take over our social stuff and you can get someone else to close all of the leads that I'll generate FOR FREE!! Ok, ok, ok, get this: I'll put all of our inventory on Facebook, post all of our specials on Twitter, upload videos to YouTube for vee-ess-ee-ohh or something like that, put photos of happy customers on Plaxo and get EVERYONE to do write ups on Yelp, Google and all the industry reputation sites! And guess what else?! I'll respond to every comment, squelch every heater and unwind and steal our competition's customers…all online!! Whatdayathink boss???!!"

Simply put, social media is not for advertisements. Ads do have their place in social media and some sites, but that's not the driver. Create conversations, share unique and exclusive information (being first still 'sells'), point to great videos, old commercials, one-of-a-kind events, validate both satisfied and unsatisfied customers, promote events that you donate or are somehow involved with and THEN take time to put up a special (and make it really special)…I hope this is getting through…

If all you post is "buy here, buy here, buy here", nobody will listen, care or interact. Imagine going to a number of parties over the summer, getting to know the regulars, and one person is promoting their business and trying to get you to buy incessantly. You'd avoid them, almost at any cost for sure.

Now think to yourself: "why would I want to be that person online"?

Kick the "sell, sell, sell" binge and start some great conversations that turn to great relationships that turn into a larger book of business than you'd otherwise have. Go be great in social media and leave the selling to the tweeps that don't get it.

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

Week At IM@CS: Chats With The Industry

We typically address vendors here for best practices and today will be a little different. When trying to tackle social media, especially as a support for specific marketing online, it is important to be equipped. Some of the most frequent questions heard relate to getting started and how to be effective.

1. Where?
    Twitter, Facebook, Plaxo, LinkedIn, CarFolks, Google, Yelp, DealerRater, MyDealerReport for starters

2. Why?
    People go there, trust them, read them, listen to them more than they do with you, period.

3. How?
    Register, watch others, prepare and create a plan. Don't just set up a Facebook page and leave it. Support it with content, staff and purpose. There are now tools to measure your impact, for example on Twitter:
http://www.webanalyticsdemystified.com/twitter
http://twitter.grader.com/

4. When?
    Now, or as soon as you decide that your brand awareness and people connecting with you are important.

5. Remember
    Nothing, not even the best process, is a silver bullet. If you're planning on inviting more people to come to you, give them a reason. Not a price, not a car, not a showroom, not espresso. Give them a reason that the rest of the 'things' absolutely support.

Nothing can build or kill your business like reputation. What are you doing to ensure that the good outweighs the bad, no matter how accurate? Almost every resource listed above is free, but worth money. You've been spending $3,000-$50,000 per month to get one, two, three customers at a time (at a ridiculously low ROI). Why not spend $0-$3,000 a month using those tools to make sure every customer has a reason to use you, can find you, can read what others say about you and stay connected with you, something they never did with your $20,000 ad that used to run every Saturday.

Stay in front, it's more important than ever today. Stay relevant, your future depends on it. Stay tuned, that way your customers can.

Best practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

Admitted Adverholic? Here’s a Two-Step Recovery Program

If you've been a dealer for more than two years, face it: you're an adverholic. Anyone who has made it through the auto 'heydays' has spent 30, 70…even 100 thousand plus PER MONTH to get their name out to an unmeasured amount of eyeballs. Those days are gone (and soon many of the recipients of those ad dollars, if not already) but the pain and yearning may still be there.

When you stop advertising for the sake of advertising and start a conscience level of engagement with 'your public', paying attention to things outside of the dealership and spending more time getting to know who buys from you and why, things get a bit clearer. Understanding the components of today's market related to your brand existing comes in a two-step recovery program:

1. Stop doing what doesn't work
2. Start doing what does work

The biggest game change in media over the last 100 years: social media/consumer opt-in engagement. It's truly interesting when you sit down with a dealer or general manager and hear about what they want changed: more of their own website leads, to drop (costly) third party leads, to retain more clients, to spend less (sometimes blindly) and ultimately stay flat or grow in today's economy.

So, how can and where do you start? Short of choosing to disappear completely from people's conscientiousness, you have to be smarter about what you say, where you say it, how you say it and when you say it. Then you absolutely have to be spot on when a person consumes your media and wants to interact with you.

There are no better tools that I've ever seen than in social media, and dealers are starting to get it. Facebook, Twitter, Plaxo, LinkedIn and more, let alone your website (done right, that is). You don't need to worry about your overhead or CPM if you have 735 fans of your dealership on Facebook. It's free. And get this: you can drive the most contextual messages to them and they'll get it automatically. Imagine this scenario:

Joe Blow likes your dealership, even has visited when the new models arrive and he ends up buddies with one of your sales staff from chit-chat. He sees a promotion in the reception area about your Facebook page and becomes a fan. He gets updates regularly about your dealership, special cars arriving, service specials and more. You also broadcast exclusive specials via Twitter so he follows you there. When he's in market, clicks the option on your Facebook page to get inventory sent directly to his cell phone. The unit he wants comes in, he IM's the salesperson that he'll be in the next day at 5:30 to buy the car.

No lead, no timer, no missed emails or communication. No cost. No competition. No guessing what drove him in (ie was it your $10,000 cable spot, $15,000 direct mail campaign or the $20,000 newspaper ad). This customer was always yours, which is the way most dealers I know like it.

Repeat after me: "I'm a recovering adverholic and I don't need to advertise just to advertise anymore. I will be relevant, timely and honest (ouch!). My website is a living, breathing entity, not a billboard. I'll go digital so my camera is not the only one in my office that is. And I'll meet my customers in the same place that I go for my sports scores, to book travel, to post pictures of my kids and do all my banking: ONLINE!"

Boom, you're healed. Go sell cars…

Best practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

Branding 101?…Not Until You Understand And Have A Brand

What is a brand? If reputation is a brand, a visit to a dealer ranks below one to the dentist. If awareness is a brand, most portals slaughter dealers in search where roughly 90% of automotive shopping takes place. If trust is a brand…well let's not go there. What is your brand and how do you build a brand today?

Recently my most engaged response to someone describing a brand was after spending some time on Dave Armano's blog http://darmano.typepad.com/ (click on the video on the right side about personal branding). You see, 'brand' has nothing do to with your inventory, your facility or your finely made espresso. Brand has everything do to with the experience your provide, your customers' beliefs in you, your handshake, your smiling staff and your ability to invite people back like they're coming some place special.

At the end of the day, your brand is all you have. Yes folks, 'what have you done for me lately' is in lockstep with 'will I ever return here'. While there are some great companies out there that will take your money and promote you online, offline, inline and out of line…what in the heck will they promote?

Sitting down with dealer principals and general managers, their responses to identifying their own brands are as canned as the marketing emails that every dealer in the same DMA sends out (yes, I've mentioned that lately and will again until dealers stop doing it). Everyone knows that a Lexus dealer will treat you like a guest in their own home, it's part of the covenant. Frankly Scarlet, we want to give a damn about something else.

With dealers (and other businesses) unfortunately in a position to provide much less to their communities as of late, the real brand and equity test is soon to come. If you do one thing this year well, build a brand. While there is no guarantee of eminent success, chances are your positive results will follow. Nobody asks for facial tissue, they ask for Kleenex. Nobody makes a photocopy, they make a Xerox. Unless you're from the Midwest, you ask for a Coke (but asking for a 'pop' just has a certain ring to it!) and not a soda.

Do everything you can to become a brand and more. There are those of you that do, don't get this message wrong. It's just that for most of the car dealers out there, your brand ends where the driveway meets the street. There is more you can and must do.

Start with your entire staff. Get them together. Ask what they believe your brand is. If the meeting lacks consensus, you have your work cut out for you. If you have one, get your customers to help. Want to get really 'techno-dealer'? Set up Facebook, Twitter and other networks that will work for you. Get reciprocal links from local businesses that are your clients and partners. Get influential people in your local area into your store, take care of them and they'll blog or contribute to forums about your business!

OK, enough for today. But Just Do It…and do it now…(you recognize that brand, don't you?)

Best practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results