Book cover via Amazon Quoted from the Best-Selling Book Groundswell:

"Right now, your customers are writing about your products on blogs and recutting your commercials on YouTube. They’re defining you on Wikipedia and ganging up on you in social networking sites like Facebook. These are all elements of a social phenomenon — the groundswell — that has created a permanent, long-lasting shift in the way the world works. Most companies see it as a threat.

You can see it as an opportunity.

In Groundswell, two of Forrester Research's top analysts show you how to turn the force of customers connecting to your own advantage.

Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff show how leading companies are gaining insights, generating revenues, saving money, and energizing their own customers. Whether you’re in marketing, research, support, sales, development, or even running the whole enterprise, there’s targeted advice here for you, backed up with real-world ROI to prove it works.

Groundswell is based on hard consumer data and experience with dozens of companies, large and small, from Procter & Gamble toErnst & Young Young to a tiny but wildly successful winery in South Africa. Hoping to learn how to take advantage of communities, blogs, wikis, Facebook, or YouTube? We've got lots of examples with proof they work.

You can't ignore this trend. Read Groundswell and learn how to ride the wave. There’s no going back."

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Image via Wikipedia

Social Networks Get Down to Business

significance

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Image via CrunchBase, source unknown There is a movement happening that all Auto Industry people need to be aware of and ultimately embrace. In the beginning it was our kids who used MySpace.com to keep in touch and share their world with each other. Then Facebook.com came along and it had an older college audience that extended beyond that world to the population at large.

Now there are many sites in this arena such as Linkedin.com and Orkut.com, Xing.com etc., etc.

So what does it all mean ?

As the traditional ways of marketing are drying up and the costs skyrocketing, what can you do to drive business and even more importantly sustain it ?

You can get involved directly or watch from the sidelines until it is too late !

Companies such as Dell and Visa understand this and not only have an account on these sites but they use this new medium to provide feedback on existing products, support and help their customers and build lasting relationships that ensure their business will be around in the future.

Many companies like Dell have a dedicated staff who monitor and provide answers to questions about products they sell and service and tips on how to find additional information.

Wouldn't you rather do business with someone you know and trust because of actual experiences you have had.

This is where it's at !!!

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Some very interesting reading. - Allan

By Steve Finlay

Car dealers spend a bundle on conventional advertising, yet balk at small allocations for Internet marketing efforts.

That baffles Todd Stainbrook, even though he says he understands the dealer “mindset” after spending much of his Ford Motor Co. career in the field.

“Same-brand auto dealers at regional marketing meetings will approve millions of dollars on co-operative TV ads,” he says. “But then, when there’s a proposal to spend $25,000 on digital advertising, you’ve never heard so many skeptical questions.”

His job as digital integration manager for Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands is to nudge dealers into the brave new world of digital marketing and make it a foundation of their ad plans.

“We’ve made a lot of progress but we have a lot to do,” he says at ENG’s annual automotive customer relationship management conference here. “There’s a lot of room for improvement.”

Stainbrook adds: “The days are changing from dealers saying, ‘I must have a TV (ad) plan, I must be in newspapers, I must do direct mailing, and, oh yeah, what about digital?’”

Still, he adds, many dealers have a last in, first out mentality when it comes to such marketing that ranges from online banner ads to search-engine marketing.

Digital marketing has become a $28 billion part of the ad industry. But at 11.5%, it accounts for the lowest portion of automotive advertising, Stainbrook says.

Still, many dealers – some faster than others – are “getting it,” he says. “I’ve seen a whole new perspective. Dealers today are much more receptive. You can’t escape that huge online presence. In a few years, there will not be a digital discussion anymore.”

Because Ford reaches 70% of its buyers online, “we want to make sure we are relevant to them,” he says.

Relevance is essential when dealing with the younger generation of Internet-savvy car buyers, he says. “Their expectations are high, they are focused on themselves and they are shocked if they get something that’s not relevant.”

As Internet marketing evolves, “we’re beyond, ‘Why digital?’’ he says. “Today, there is no arguing with it. Now, it is a question of what to do next.”

Also evolving are opinions on the best way for dealerships to interact with Internet customers. Responding quickly to their emails once was – and largely is – considered a must.

“But it’s not all about speed,” Stainbrook says. “The mantra used to be: ‘I’ve got to respond to their emails within five minutes.’ That helps. But consumers are looking for information. If all you are interested in is speed, you are missing out on opportunities.

“If consumers, who’ve done their homework, email you with questions, and you quickly reply, ‘When can you come into the dealership? I’m here until 9,’ that speedy response isn’t going to impress them.”

He cites what dealerships should do online to enhance the chances of a sale. Some of those “key drivers” are:

• Show real interest.
• Give pricing. That remains an issue with some dealerships, but Stainbrook says 72% of Internet users who readily get prices online end up buying.
• Confirm vehicle availability. When that’s done, 75% of customers buy vehicles.
• Make multiple contacts, including long-term follow ups. “The reality is that people are in the market a long time, so you need a robust CRM (customer relationship management) application that will follow up for a long time,” Stainbrook says.

Additional articles at :

http://allanbirdseyeview.blogspot.com/