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After the creation of Facebook’s brand tagging feature, automotive marketing has a new tool at their disposal. Starting on May 11, Facebook users were able to tag more than just their friends in a picture – they could tag pages for brands, products and people. What does this mean for car dealer marketing?
Many dealerships already call for users and fans to submit pictures of their vehicle; brand tagging allows this without the call to action. After the purchase of a new car, the owner can take a picture, upload it, and instantly tag the dealership from which they bought it with a message about their new car. After giving their vehicle a wash, a user might be tempted to take a picture, show it off to friends on Facebook and then tag their dealership in it. Once tagged, this photo won’t just be shared with the dealership – it will be shared with all the other fans of the page and anybody who visits it.
GM has already embraced the feature, encouraging fans to upload photos and be the first to tag their brand in the image. Tagging a brand in a photo is a natural means of product placement. There is also a potential to reward brand loyalty and photo tagging, from a simple recognition on Facebook for uploading to giving a prize to the best picture.
When users tag a dealership in their photos, it won’t just provide name recognition: it will provide a direct link to the dealership’s page. Tagging a brand or dealership in a photo could greatly increase the traffic to the page as well as the fan base. If a friend of the user didn’t already know your dealership was on Facebook, they will now.
While this new feature could potentially result in spam photo submissions on a dealership’s page, these can be moderated by an administrator. The benefits of having users tag brands far outweigh the risks that spam poses. Facebook brand tagging holds the power of word of mouth meets the power of social media, and the results have great potential for car dealer marketing.
