We live in a society that puts the dollar above the customer. That is, corners are cut and customer service is subservient to getting "paid." Don't get me wrong, I like getting paid as much as the next person but too many times we question the return before we implement any kind of customer service process that influences both repeat business and word-of-mouth.

Albert Einstein said it best when he said, "Everything that can be counted doesn't necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted."

I recently wrote a post called, Forget About ROI, Start Think About ROE. In that post I put forth the idea of thinking in terms of Return On Experience, in other words, the return you receive on the experience you give your customers. I had somebody tweet me saying that I was naive and misguided if I thought ROI wasn't important. He missed the point. I'm not saying that ROI isn't important, because it is. What I am saying is that being able to track an ROI isn't important on some of the things that we know we should be doing. That takes me back to what Einstein said, "...everything that counts cannon necessarily be counted."

While there are ways to track a repeat customer and word-of-mouth, it's not always straight forward. I don't think anybody would argue that customer service goes a long way to determining if a particular customer is going to become a loyal customer or not. We've all been subject to poor customer service and thought to ourselves, "I'm never coming back here again!" The opposite is also true.

Again, you may not be able to figure out what the cost to income ratio is of good customer service, we know it's there. So, when it comes to relationships, they matter and ROI doesn't.

Building A Positive Relationship With Your Customers

Depending on what type of business you're in, the depth of your customer relationships will vary. I'm not putting forth the idea that you should become buddy-buddy with all of your customers to the point that you're hanging out with them on the weekends. What I'm saying is that you should build the type of professional relationship that showcases you as the authority, the go to restaurant, or the honest mechanic. What does that mean? It means that you should give great customer service, that you should enchant your customers to the point that, at least in their minds, that you are the best thing since the Internet.

From there, once they are enchanted, follow-up to cement yourself as the business of choice. Let me give you a hypothetical scenario using a barber shop.

I go in to get my hair cut, walk up to the counter and am told there will be a 45 or so minute wait. The gentleman behind the counter offers me a coupon saying, "If you'd like to, the coffee shop next door has some of the best coffee in town, here is a coupon for a free cup. I can give you a buzz on your cell when your barber is ready."

I take the coupon, and in 30 minutes I get a call from my barber letting me know that I'm up next. Once I get back to the barber shop my barber welcomes me by name, and asks me if I want the same "regular" haircut, tapered in the back, as I got last time. I mention that I would and then he asks me if the shampoo he recommended had cleared up my dry scalp.

I tell him that it had and then he strikes up a pleasant conversation about me. He shows a genuine interest in what I do, even mentions that he knows somebody that might be in the market for my services and asks for a business card. I give it to him, but instead of sticking it in his pocket he picks up the phone and two minutes later tells me that his friend will be expecting my call.

After he ensures that everything is just how I like it he tells me how much he appreciates my business and how much he enjoys it when I come in. 20 minutes after leaving I get an email from him, with the phone number of his friend along with a few tips on how to combat dry scalp.

How would that make you feel? He didn't spend any money, but he did go above what I'd expect from the person cutting my hair. Even the conversation was about me (everybody's favorite conversation is about themselves), and not about the weather (what most barbers talks about).

What is the ROI on that? Can it even be tracked? Do you even need to track it? I don't think so, because once again, relationships matter and ROI doesn't.

So, don't let the fact that it can't be counted stop you from implementing a customer enchantment methodology into your everyday business practice. Just know that the return will be huge, even if you can't prove it. Remember, people talk. Give them something positive to talk about and they will talk about you, influencing others to become your customer. That's how you create a lifelong customer that creates other lifelong customers.

How are you enchanting yours?

I'll be speaking at the Automotive Super Conference on June 27th and 28th with 8 amazing speakers. Looking forward to seeing you there!

We live in a society that puts the dollar above the customer. That is, corners are cut and customer service is subservient to getting "paid." Don't get me wrong, I like getting paid as much as the next person but too many times we question the return before we implement any kind of customer service process that influences both repeat business and word-of-mouth.

Albert Einstein said it best when he said, "Everything that can be counted doesn't necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted."

I recently wrote a post called, Forget About ROI, Start Think About ROE. In that post I put forth the idea of thinking in terms of Return On Experience, in other words, the return you receive on the experience you give your customers. I had somebody tweet me saying that I was naive and misguided if I thought ROI wasn't important. He missed the point. I'm not saying that ROI isn't important, because it is. What I am saying is that being able to track an ROI isn't important on some of the things that we know we should be doing. That takes me back to what Einstein said, "...everything that counts cannon necessarily be counted."

While there are ways to track a repeat customer and word-of-mouth, it's not always straight forward. I don't think anybody would argue that customer service goes a long way to determining if a particular customer is going to become a loyal customer or not. We've all been subject to poor customer service and thought to ourselves, "I'm never coming back here again!" The opposite is also true.

Again, you may not be able to figure out what the cost to income ratio is of good customer service, we know it's there. So, when it comes to relationships, they matter and ROI doesn't.

Building A Positive Relationship With Your Customers

Depending on what type of business you're in, the depth of your customer relationships will vary. I'm not putting forth the idea that you should become buddy-buddy with all of your customers to the point that you're hanging out with them on the weekends. What I'm saying is that you should build the type of professional relationship that showcases you as the authority, the go to restaurant, or the honest mechanic. What does that mean? It means that you should give great customer service, that you should enchant your customers to the point that, at least in their minds, that you are the best thing since the Internet.

From there, once they are enchanted, follow-up to cement yourself as the business of choice. Let me give you a hypothetical scenario using a barber shop.

I go in to get my hair cut, walk up to the counter and am told there will be a 45 or so minute wait. The gentleman behind the counter offers me a coupon saying, "If you'd like to, the coffee shop next door has some of the best coffee in town, here is a coupon for a free cup. I can give you a buzz on your cell when your barber is ready."

I take the coupon, and in 30 minutes I get a call from my barber letting me know that I'm up next. Once I get back to the barber shop my barber welcomes me by name, and asks me if I want the same "regular" haircut, tapered in the back, as I got last time. I mention that I would and then he asks me if the shampoo he recommended had cleared up my dry scalp.

I tell him that it had and then he strikes up a pleasant conversation about me. He shows a genuine interest in what I do, even mentions that he knows somebody that might be in the market for my services and asks for a business card. I give it to him, but instead of sticking it in his pocket he picks up the phone and two minutes later tells me that his friend will be expecting my call.

After he ensures that everything is just how I like it he tells me how much he appreciates my business and how much he enjoys it when I come in. 20 minutes after leaving I get an email from him, with the phone number of his friend along with a few tips on how to combat dry scalp.

How would that make you feel? He didn't spend any money, but he did go above what I'd expect from the person cutting my hair. Even the conversation was about me (everybody's favorite conversation is about themselves), and not about the weather (what most barbers talks about).

What is the ROI on that? Can it even be tracked? Do you even need to track it? I don't think so, because once again, relationships matter and ROI doesn't.

So, don't let the fact that it can't be counted stop you from implementing a customer enchantment methodology into your everyday business practice. Just know that the return will be huge, even if you can't prove it. Remember, people talk. Give them something positive to talk about and they will talk about you, influencing others to become your customer. That's how you create a lifelong customer that creates other lifelong customers.

How are you enchanting yours?

I'll be speaking at the Automotive Super Conference on June 27th and 28th with 8 amazing speakers. Looking forward to seeing you there!

A lot of people will tell you that there is no way to track the ROI of social media, I'm here to tell you that they're wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong! But why are they wrong? I have a few ideas on that, the biggest of which is that they don't know what they're doing. Another reason could be that they think it's too hard and instead of admitted that, say it's impossible. Other reasons, I'll keep to myself, but I think you get the point!

If you take a look at the traditional formula for ROI you will see that it's rather simple:

ROI = [(return – investment) / investment ] *100

So, for instance, let's say that your investment was the $1,000 you spent on a radio buy, but it netted you a return of $3,000. All you would have to do is plug into the formula, like so:

ROI=[($3,000 -$1,000)/ $1,000]*100
ROI= 200%

Using the same formula we can covert it for use with social media, it would look something like:

SM ROI=[(sm return - sm investment)/ sm investment]*100

First, let's take a look at your social media investment. The investment can include everything from the cost of giveaways and social management tools to employee compensation and any IT related expenses. Yes, your social media investment should be pretty straight forward, it's in the social media return that some work needs to be done.

Before you can ever hope to calculate an ROI you must first decide what your social media return will be. Your return will fall into one of three categories, as the book, The Now Revolution, points out:

• Awareness
• Sales
• Loyalty

Keep in mind that you can, and should, track metrics for all three, it will give you a much better idea of what your actual return might be. So, pick a different return goal for each ROI category listed above.

Once you have the goal (your return) decided upon, now it's time to assign a metric to it. How will you track your return? What do you have, or are going to put in place to alert you when your goal is reached? For instance, if your goal is to drive more traffic to your website then it's just a matter of looking at your website analytics for social network referrers.

Using the example of website traffic, now it's time to decide what each of those are worth to you. That is, how much is each visit worth? To figure that out, take a look at the total number of sales income you had the previous 6 months from your social traffic (you can try fewer months but 6 will give you a more accurate number) and divide it by the total number of unique social media traffic. That number will help you to establish how much each visit to your website is. I would urge you though, that if you are using website visits as a goal, then you should reevaluate the worth of social visits about every 3 months or so because as you start to use social media the right way, you will notice that leads from your social networks will close higher and higher, thus increasing the worth of a social visit.

$175,000 (Total Sales) / 1,500 (Traffic) = $117 Each unique visit

Now that you have a worth associated with your return, it's just a matter of plugging it back into the social media ROI formula to figure out what your rate of return is.

Social Media ROI Example

First, let's chose a return goal from each category:

• Awareness - For this example our awareness goal will be to increase the number of mentions that are being said about us online, using a reputation management package such as SocialMention.com (free) or BrandsEye.com & UberVu.com(not).
  
  We've decided, through research, that a favorable social mention is worth around $50. While we understand that a blog post (and the creators reach) is worth more than a Tweet, we are only figuring averages here and a little on the low side.
   
• Sales- Our sales goal is pretty straight forward and if you are a car dealerships it's when you sell a car, part or service. In fact, we know the exact return here so there is no need to figure out what each will be worth.
  
  Even the metrics we need to track it are already in place, what business doesn't know when they make a sale?How do we know when a sale is a social media sales? Simple, we ask, 100% of the time. No exception. If it's from a lead on the website, we make sure that each lead is sourced correctly so that we can pinpoint which leads sold and where they came from.
   
• Loyalty - Our loyalty goal will be to increase the number of people that return to buy from us again and again. We do this by tracking a lifetime value impact and can attribute this to social media because we strive to connect all of our customer with our social initiative, that way we can build positive relationships with them that go beyond the sale. To figure out a return, we will take the average lifetime value before we started using social media and subtract if from the post social media figure. We can figure it even further by breaking it down per month, which will help us to figure out our ROI below. (While I'm not using it in this example, the Net Promoter Score is a great way to gauge your customers loyalty)

Now that we have goals (return) for each category, it's time to plug the variables into the social media ROI formula. Before we do that though, it's important to figure out how we are going to figure out how our total investment is going to be split up, among the three ROI categories. Once you do that, let's take out the calculator and figure this thing out!

The Numbers Below Are Monthly Numbers

• Awareness Social Media ROI = [($5,000 - $2,250)/$2,250]*100
  Awareness Social Media ROI = 122%
   
• Sales Social Media ROI = [($25,000 - $5,250)/$5,250]*100
  Sales Social Media ROI = 376%
   
• Loyalty Social Media ROI = [($15,000 - $3,980)/$3,980]*100
  Loyalty Social Media ROI = 277%

Now you can put them all together, if you'd like:

Total Social Media ROI = [($45,000 - $11,480)/$11,480]*100
Total Social Media ROI = 292%

So there you have it, tracking social media ROI! There are others ways that this can be accomplished and other things to consider when tracking social media, so this is just one tool you should be using when deciding if what you're doing with social is giving you the results you have been looking for. Please keep in mind that the ROI ratio I've shown you here is a top level metric, what that means is that it will give you the bottom line but won't show you were you are going wrong, or where you are going right, but that's for another blog post.

David Johnson

Social Media Strategist
Upcoming Workshops
PersuasiveConcepts.com

A lot of people will tell you that there is no way to track the ROI of social media, I'm here to tell you that they're wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong! But why are they wrong? I have a few ideas on that, the biggest of which is that they don't know what they're doing. Another reason could be that they think it's too hard and instead of admitted that, say it's impossible. Other reasons, I'll keep to myself, but I think you get the point!

If you take a look at the traditional formula for ROI you will see that it's rather simple:

ROI = [(return – investment) / investment ] *100

So, for instance, let's say that your investment was the $1,000 you spent on a radio buy, but it netted you a return of $3,000. All you would have to do is plug into the formula, like so:

ROI=[($3,000 -$1,000)/ $1,000]*100
ROI= 200%

Using the same formula we can covert it for use with social media, it would look something like:

SM ROI=[(sm return - sm investment)/ sm investment]*100

First, let's take a look at your social media investment. The investment can include everything from the cost of giveaways and social management tools to employee compensation and any IT related expenses. Yes, your social media investment should be pretty straight forward, it's in the social media return that some work needs to be done.

Before you can ever hope to calculate an ROI you must first decide what your social media return will be. Your return will fall into one of three categories, as the book, The Now Revolution, points out:

• Awareness
• Sales
• Loyalty

Keep in mind that you can, and should, track metrics for all three, it will give you a much better idea of what your actual return might be. So, pick a different return goal for each ROI category listed above.

Once you have the goal (your return) decided upon, now it's time to assign a metric to it. How will you track your return? What do you have, or are going to put in place to alert you when your goal is reached? For instance, if your goal is to drive more traffic to your website then it's just a matter of looking at your website analytics for social network referrers.

Using the example of website traffic, now it's time to decide what each of those are worth to you. That is, how much is each visit worth? To figure that out, take a look at the total number of sales income you had the previous 6 months from your social traffic (you can try fewer months but 6 will give you a more accurate number) and divide it by the total number of unique social media traffic. That number will help you to establish how much each visit to your website is. I would urge you though, that if you are using website visits as a goal, then you should reevaluate the worth of social visits about every 3 months or so because as you start to use social media the right way, you will notice that leads from your social networks will close higher and higher, thus increasing the worth of a social visit.

$175,000 (Total Sales) / 1,500 (Traffic) = $117 Each unique visit

Now that you have a worth associated with your return, it's just a matter of plugging it back into the social media ROI formula to figure out what your rate of return is.

Social Media ROI Example

First, let's chose a return goal from each category:

• Awareness - For this example our awareness goal will be to increase the number of mentions that are being said about us online, using a reputation management package such as SocialMention.com (free) or BrandsEye.com & UberVu.com(not).
  
  We've decided, through research, that a favorable social mention is worth around $50. While we understand that a blog post (and the creators reach) is worth more than a Tweet, we are only figuring averages here and a little on the low side.
   
• Sales- Our sales goal is pretty straight forward and if you are a car dealerships it's when you sell a car, part or service. In fact, we know the exact return here so there is no need to figure out what each will be worth.
  
  Even the metrics we need to track it are already in place, what business doesn't know when they make a sale?How do we know when a sale is a social media sales? Simple, we ask, 100% of the time. No exception. If it's from a lead on the website, we make sure that each lead is sourced correctly so that we can pinpoint which leads sold and where they came from.
   
• Loyalty - Our loyalty goal will be to increase the number of people that return to buy from us again and again. We do this by tracking a lifetime value impact and can attribute this to social media because we strive to connect all of our customer with our social initiative, that way we can build positive relationships with them that go beyond the sale. To figure out a return, we will take the average lifetime value before we started using social media and subtract if from the post social media figure. We can figure it even further by breaking it down per month, which will help us to figure out our ROI below. (While I'm not using it in this example, the Net Promoter Score is a great way to gauge your customers loyalty)

Now that we have goals (return) for each category, it's time to plug the variables into the social media ROI formula. Before we do that though, it's important to figure out how we are going to figure out how our total investment is going to be split up, among the three ROI categories. Once you do that, let's take out the calculator and figure this thing out!

The Numbers Below Are Monthly Numbers

• Awareness Social Media ROI = [($5,000 - $2,250)/$2,250]*100
  Awareness Social Media ROI = 122%
   
• Sales Social Media ROI = [($25,000 - $5,250)/$5,250]*100
  Sales Social Media ROI = 376%
   
• Loyalty Social Media ROI = [($15,000 - $3,980)/$3,980]*100
  Loyalty Social Media ROI = 277%

Now you can put them all together, if you'd like:

Total Social Media ROI = [($45,000 - $11,480)/$11,480]*100
Total Social Media ROI = 292%

So there you have it, tracking social media ROI! There are others ways that this can be accomplished and other things to consider when tracking social media, so this is just one tool you should be using when deciding if what you're doing with social is giving you the results you have been looking for. Please keep in mind that the ROI ratio I've shown you here is a top level metric, what that means is that it will give you the bottom line but won't show you were you are going wrong, or where you are going right, but that's for another blog post.

David Johnson

Social Media Strategist
Upcoming Workshops
PersuasiveConcepts.com

It's not the end all be all, that's for sure. What? But David I've been to one of your seminars, I've seen all your webinars and have read your blog posts, you're a social media guy... aren't you? In a sense you could make the argument that I am, I do preach it, I'm passionate about it and I feel that every dealership in the country can benefit from it to one degree or another but I would argue that I'm more than just a social media guy, allow me to explain.

Wikipedia says the social media is media for social interactions, using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. It goes on to say that social media uses web based technologies to turn communication into interactive dialogue.

Wha?

Basically social media is a tool. Nothing more, nothing less. And just like any tool there are both wrong ways and right ways to use it. So in other words I'm saying that the "tool" is not the end all be all, it's what that tool can help you accomplish that's the end all be all. Think about it, what's worth more, the hammer or the house it built? Rhetorical I know, but you get my meaning.

So What Does The Social Media Tool Build?

It builds the platform on which social interactions can be built. It's the coffee table we sit around as we get to know each other, it's the telephone held to our ears as we talk about the day's events, it's a communication channel. What are you using that channel for?

Some would say that it's used to sell, that it's another channel to get your vehicle seen. I would say the first part is closer than the second part but the kind of selling that should be done with the social media tool is much different than the kind of selling you're used to. Social media purists would argue that you don't sell on social networks and I would say that they are wrong... in a way. True were not selling products or services but what we are selling is ourselves. We are selling the fact that we are human, that we are more than car people, that we have thoughts outside of selling cars and that we want nothing more than to build positive, win-win relationships with our clients.

I talk to a lot of dealer principals, general managers and sales managers who don't seem to get what social media can do for them, they call it a fad. Fad you say? Networking has been around since the dawn of time, in fact the fancy word I used a few paragraphs up (social interactions) is just another word for networking, is networking a fad?

With social media tools you now have the option to networking with hundreds and thousands, even millions, whereas before you were lucky to network with 2 or 3 at a time. If you're one of those people that stay away from hype for the sake of it being hype then think of it this way: Social media is the tool used to humanize and build relationships with the people in my community, much like the newspaper, way back in the day, was used to sell cars.

Relationship Marketing Is The True Hero

If you haven't had a chance to read last week's blog post please take a moment to do so, it's titled "Harnessing The "Human" Mindset." In that post I go into the mindset behind why social networks are so popular and if you are able to harness the basic desires behind it you are well on your way to increasing your social capital.

Again we can go back to Wikipedia for the definition of relationship marketing: a form of marketing developed from direct response marketing campaigns which emphasizes customer retention and satisfaction, rather than a dominant focus on sales transactions. As a practice, Relationship Marketing differs from other forms of marketing in that it recognizes the long term value of customer relationships and extends communication beyond intrusive advertising and sales promotional messages.

Isn't that refreshing! With relationship marketing the pressure of the sale isn't even there, in fact we are doing what we're are hard wired to do, be social! With the onset of social media it's easier than ever to build relationships with our clients and indirectly relationships sell. Relationships get people to talk about your dealership and your sales people, isn't that what you want, word of mouth?

So I'll say it again, social media isn't the end all be all, but what it can help you accomplish...whoa! So, what are you waiting for, go forth and multiply... your networking that is.

It's not the end all be all, that's for sure. What? But David I've been to one of your seminars, I've seen all your webinars and have read your blog posts, you're a social media guy... aren't you? In a sense you could make the argument that I am, I do preach it, I'm passionate about it and I feel that every dealership in the country can benefit from it to one degree or another but I would argue that I'm more than just a social media guy, allow me to explain.

Wikipedia says the social media is media for social interactions, using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. It goes on to say that social media uses web based technologies to turn communication into interactive dialogue.

Wha?

Basically social media is a tool. Nothing more, nothing less. And just like any tool there are both wrong ways and right ways to use it. So in other words I'm saying that the "tool" is not the end all be all, it's what that tool can help you accomplish that's the end all be all. Think about it, what's worth more, the hammer or the house it built? Rhetorical I know, but you get my meaning.

So What Does The Social Media Tool Build?

It builds the platform on which social interactions can be built. It's the coffee table we sit around as we get to know each other, it's the telephone held to our ears as we talk about the day's events, it's a communication channel. What are you using that channel for?

Some would say that it's used to sell, that it's another channel to get your vehicle seen. I would say the first part is closer than the second part but the kind of selling that should be done with the social media tool is much different than the kind of selling you're used to. Social media purists would argue that you don't sell on social networks and I would say that they are wrong... in a way. True were not selling products or services but what we are selling is ourselves. We are selling the fact that we are human, that we are more than car people, that we have thoughts outside of selling cars and that we want nothing more than to build positive, win-win relationships with our clients.

I talk to a lot of dealer principals, general managers and sales managers who don't seem to get what social media can do for them, they call it a fad. Fad you say? Networking has been around since the dawn of time, in fact the fancy word I used a few paragraphs up (social interactions) is just another word for networking, is networking a fad?

With social media tools you now have the option to networking with hundreds and thousands, even millions, whereas before you were lucky to network with 2 or 3 at a time. If you're one of those people that stay away from hype for the sake of it being hype then think of it this way: Social media is the tool used to humanize and build relationships with the people in my community, much like the newspaper, way back in the day, was used to sell cars.

Relationship Marketing Is The True Hero

If you haven't had a chance to read last week's blog post please take a moment to do so, it's titled "Harnessing The "Human" Mindset." In that post I go into the mindset behind why social networks are so popular and if you are able to harness the basic desires behind it you are well on your way to increasing your social capital.

Again we can go back to Wikipedia for the definition of relationship marketing: a form of marketing developed from direct response marketing campaigns which emphasizes customer retention and satisfaction, rather than a dominant focus on sales transactions. As a practice, Relationship Marketing differs from other forms of marketing in that it recognizes the long term value of customer relationships and extends communication beyond intrusive advertising and sales promotional messages.

Isn't that refreshing! With relationship marketing the pressure of the sale isn't even there, in fact we are doing what we're are hard wired to do, be social! With the onset of social media it's easier than ever to build relationships with our clients and indirectly relationships sell. Relationships get people to talk about your dealership and your sales people, isn't that what you want, word of mouth?

So I'll say it again, social media isn't the end all be all, but what it can help you accomplish...whoa! So, what are you waiting for, go forth and multiply... your networking that is.

Top of Mind Awareness is one of those terms you hear thrown around a lot by marketing reps. Wikipedia defines it as "Owning the space that your product or service occupies between your prospects' ears. That way, when they're ready to buy they think of you first." One of their definitions anyway, and the one I liked the most!

When a brand, service, or product is able to achieve top of the mind awareness they ensure that when a consumer comes into the market for their particular product or service, they are able to mentally push aside all of the current advertising they are seeing and think of them. Traditionally, this was done by being memorable, consistent and by repeatedly marketing their unique selling position or USP. Given that traditional advertising breeds mistrust (Neilson did a study and found that we trust only 14% of the ads we see) can you imagine how expensive a traditional top of the mind awareness campaign can be? That's where social media comes and why it's the new top of mind.

SEO Is Super Important, But...

Let's face it. When people go to Google or other search engines it's because they are searching for an answer. It could be the answer to the question, "Where can I find the best deal on a 2010 Ford Fusion," or "Where can I find financing, my bank turned me down?" Whatever it happens to be they are searching because they DON'T know the answer.

What would happen if they did know the answers to those questions and instead of typing in a search query in some search engine somewhere they typed your URL into the address bar? Not only would there be a bigger chance that they would submit a lead but they would close at a higher rate as well, that's because you have already built trust with them by creating top of the mind awareness.

Of course you should ALWAYS optimize your website for search but you should also include social media induced top of the mind awareness strategies into your online marketing mix. Here are 5 tips to get you started in the right direction.

1. Start A Blog

There is no better way to create authority, top of the mind and influence than through the creation and authoring of your own blog. As I stated in the previous paragraphs the only reason somebody goes to a search engine is because they want an answer to a specific question but if they already know the answer before the need for an answer surfaces then you have done your job in creating top of mind awareness.

2. Create A Facebook Fan Page

Okay, I know, you've heard this before and you have a fan page but it's not all that you thought it would be, or what you were lead to think it would be. Most people will tell you that you should pitch on your fan page, and odds are you're probably not. In fact you're probably using it to showcase your customers, the exciting stuff that's going on in your world but still you're not seeing any return on time investment, its worthless right?

Of course it is, if you're NOT doing it the right way that is. What's the right way you ask? Engagement. Spend your time asking though provoking questions, running contests and giving stuff away. You want your fans (or likers?) to "like" your posts or better yet comment on them. Talk about local news, showcase that you're part of the community, in fact you can even allow other local business to start discussions on your fan page, this shows you are one of "us" instead of one of "them."

3. Don't Pitch, Let Others Do It For You

Strange isn't it? Strange that the less you pitch the more you sell from your social media efforts, but it's true! Look at what Ford has done with the Fiesta Movement, what can you do to get your fans, followers, customers, or other types of connections to create content for you? What if you did an ongoing, monthly contest where customers created videos about their experience with their sales person.

The rules could be that the sales person with the most videos got a bonus at the end of the month and each customer that created a video could win dinner for two. Of course they would have to label the video with the businesses name and upload it to YouTube to enter the contest but just think about how many videos you could have in just a few short months, these videos would most definitely build top of mind by influencing everybody that watches them.

4. Know Today's Customers

Customers today are too busy, skeptical, cautious, tired of all the sales pressure, and confused about all the choices available to them, you should adjust your marketing accordingly. What I mean by that is everything you do should address one or all of those. Social media is a great tool to do just that!

Battle Skepticism With: As I mentioned in the second paragraph, consumers only trust 14% of the ads they see but 78% of what a peer recommends. That's why it's essential that you get your customers to talk about you on their own social graphs, not only will that defeat skepticism it will build top of mind.

Addressing Cautious Customers: Answer every question, don't hide behind half answers because you just want to get them in the store. Know that today's customer wants to know ALL the facts before they comment. You could address this through blogs and FAQ's.

Forgo The Sales Pressure: You could have the least amount of sales pressure of all your competitors but if you talk about yourself too much on your social networks people will equate that to sales pressure and will cost you business and top of mind.

Helping Busy Customers: We're too busy these days to spend time haggling price, searching for the right deal or shopping around. Showcase the fact that you willing go the extra mile by getting your past customers to comment about or create videos on, how much time you saved them.

End The Confusion: Choices are everywhere and its easier than ever to shop around with the click of a mouse. But, with that, comes confusion. While we all like choices, the more there is the more confused people become. Most people don't have the time to research all their choices but there are a lot of things you can do to help them with that. For instance you could do a video showcasing your product, taking the time to explain exactly what it is, what it does and the many features it has. Don't use these videos to pitch but to showcase your products.

5. Top of Mind By Association

Being part of the clubs, groups, or associations your customers are part of is a great way to build top of mind. I don't what you to think of social media as just ONLINE, take away the technology aspect of it and you are left with people, people talking to people. Of course there are many different online groups you can be part of as well but think about where you can go in your local market and network. If you really want to create top of mind get out there and talk to people. When somebody has the need for your product they will think of you because you are already being accepted by their peers. That's influence by association.

Social Media Is Top Of Mind

Use it wisely, create a strategy and stick to it. Social marketing won't happen overnight but one day you will wake up see a ton of leads in your inbox, a ton more traffic to your website and dozens more calls and think that it did happen overnight. Embrace the new media but embrace it smartly, take advantage of it and give, give, give. Top of mind will be yours!

David Johnson is the Digital Marketing Strategist for PersuasiveConcepts.com and Next Generation Dealer Services.

Top of Mind Awareness is one of those terms you hear thrown around a lot by marketing reps. Wikipedia defines it as "Owning the space that your product or service occupies between your prospects' ears. That way, when they're ready to buy they think of you first." One of their definitions anyway, and the one I liked the most!

When a brand, service, or product is able to achieve top of the mind awareness they ensure that when a consumer comes into the market for their particular product or service, they are able to mentally push aside all of the current advertising they are seeing and think of them. Traditionally, this was done by being memorable, consistent and by repeatedly marketing their unique selling position or USP. Given that traditional advertising breeds mistrust (Neilson did a study and found that we trust only 14% of the ads we see) can you imagine how expensive a traditional top of the mind awareness campaign can be? That's where social media comes and why it's the new top of mind.

SEO Is Super Important, But...

Let's face it. When people go to Google or other search engines it's because they are searching for an answer. It could be the answer to the question, "Where can I find the best deal on a 2010 Ford Fusion," or "Where can I find financing, my bank turned me down?" Whatever it happens to be they are searching because they DON'T know the answer.

What would happen if they did know the answers to those questions and instead of typing in a search query in some search engine somewhere they typed your URL into the address bar? Not only would there be a bigger chance that they would submit a lead but they would close at a higher rate as well, that's because you have already built trust with them by creating top of the mind awareness.

Of course you should ALWAYS optimize your website for search but you should also include social media induced top of the mind awareness strategies into your online marketing mix. Here are 5 tips to get you started in the right direction.

1. Start A Blog

There is no better way to create authority, top of the mind and influence than through the creation and authoring of your own blog. As I stated in the previous paragraphs the only reason somebody goes to a search engine is because they want an answer to a specific question but if they already know the answer before the need for an answer surfaces then you have done your job in creating top of mind awareness.

2. Create A Facebook Fan Page

Okay, I know, you've heard this before and you have a fan page but it's not all that you thought it would be, or what you were lead to think it would be. Most people will tell you that you should pitch on your fan page, and odds are you're probably not. In fact you're probably using it to showcase your customers, the exciting stuff that's going on in your world but still you're not seeing any return on time investment, its worthless right?

Of course it is, if you're NOT doing it the right way that is. What's the right way you ask? Engagement. Spend your time asking though provoking questions, running contests and giving stuff away. You want your fans (or likers?) to "like" your posts or better yet comment on them. Talk about local news, showcase that you're part of the community, in fact you can even allow other local business to start discussions on your fan page, this shows you are one of "us" instead of one of "them."

3. Don't Pitch, Let Others Do It For You

Strange isn't it? Strange that the less you pitch the more you sell from your social media efforts, but it's true! Look at what Ford has done with the Fiesta Movement, what can you do to get your fans, followers, customers, or other types of connections to create content for you? What if you did an ongoing, monthly contest where customers created videos about their experience with their sales person.

The rules could be that the sales person with the most videos got a bonus at the end of the month and each customer that created a video could win dinner for two. Of course they would have to label the video with the businesses name and upload it to YouTube to enter the contest but just think about how many videos you could have in just a few short months, these videos would most definitely build top of mind by influencing everybody that watches them.

4. Know Today's Customers

Customers today are too busy, skeptical, cautious, tired of all the sales pressure, and confused about all the choices available to them, you should adjust your marketing accordingly. What I mean by that is everything you do should address one or all of those. Social media is a great tool to do just that!

Battle Skepticism With: As I mentioned in the second paragraph, consumers only trust 14% of the ads they see but 78% of what a peer recommends. That's why it's essential that you get your customers to talk about you on their own social graphs, not only will that defeat skepticism it will build top of mind.

Addressing Cautious Customers: Answer every question, don't hide behind half answers because you just want to get them in the store. Know that today's customer wants to know ALL the facts before they comment. You could address this through blogs and FAQ's.

Forgo The Sales Pressure: You could have the least amount of sales pressure of all your competitors but if you talk about yourself too much on your social networks people will equate that to sales pressure and will cost you business and top of mind.

Helping Busy Customers: We're too busy these days to spend time haggling price, searching for the right deal or shopping around. Showcase the fact that you willing go the extra mile by getting your past customers to comment about or create videos on, how much time you saved them.

End The Confusion: Choices are everywhere and its easier than ever to shop around with the click of a mouse. But, with that, comes confusion. While we all like choices, the more there is the more confused people become. Most people don't have the time to research all their choices but there are a lot of things you can do to help them with that. For instance you could do a video showcasing your product, taking the time to explain exactly what it is, what it does and the many features it has. Don't use these videos to pitch but to showcase your products.

5. Top of Mind By Association

Being part of the clubs, groups, or associations your customers are part of is a great way to build top of mind. I don't what you to think of social media as just ONLINE, take away the technology aspect of it and you are left with people, people talking to people. Of course there are many different online groups you can be part of as well but think about where you can go in your local market and network. If you really want to create top of mind get out there and talk to people. When somebody has the need for your product they will think of you because you are already being accepted by their peers. That's influence by association.

Social Media Is Top Of Mind

Use it wisely, create a strategy and stick to it. Social marketing won't happen overnight but one day you will wake up see a ton of leads in your inbox, a ton more traffic to your website and dozens more calls and think that it did happen overnight. Embrace the new media but embrace it smartly, take advantage of it and give, give, give. Top of mind will be yours!

David Johnson is the Digital Marketing Strategist for PersuasiveConcepts.com and Next Generation Dealer Services.

Are they? I think, in a way, they are. You hear about it all the time, in every forum, every dealer twenty group and in all the industry magazines. Best practice this, best practice that, this is what you should be doing if you want to sell more cars!

I say, take it with a grain of salt. Look at where the auto industry is today, we're behind the times, it's always been that way, many times it has been said, "The auto industry is a late adopter of any new technology." I think the reason why this is, is because there are too many auto dealers out there that are always looking for industry best practices without thinking about their own dealerships best practices.

Wikipedia defines best practices as a technique, method, process, activity, incentive, or reward that is believed to be more effective at delivering a particular outcome than any other technique, method, process, etc. when applied to a particular condition or circumstance.

Wow, that doesn't sound bad, now does it? No, it doesn't. In fact, it's not the actual best practice idea that I want you to think about, it's about the idea of blindly following what another dealership has done with the assumption that it will produce the same results for you. Now, I'm not saying that you shouldn't look into these so called "best practices," because you should. But instead of looking at them as the holy grail, use them to create practices that are best for your particular dealership. In other words, test, measure, test some more, measure again then rinse and repeat. This testing process should never end, in fact, you should make it a habit to continually improve upon your own numbers by measuring and testing on an ongoing basis.

The 5 Fundamentals Of Developing DEALERSHIP Best Practices

Embrace The Chaos and be proactive. Times change, people change, and culture is always shifting. The most important aspect of any marketing strategy is to make it flexible enough so that it won't break when things don't go according to plan. Adhering to industry best practices and not developing your own dealerships best practices is the quickest, surest way to failure.

Be a student, but surpass the teacher. Be proactive in your pursuit of knowledge but a master of adaptability.

Don't Let Fear Stop You from taking on new challenges and trying new things. I see a lot of dealers that won't try anything new because they fear they will lose market share, they are content with doing what has always worked, then lose their minds when it doesn't. In order to grow your business and take over market share, don't be afraid to adjust industry best practice by testing and measuring what works best for your particular dealership.

Use industry best practice, but mold it to fit your needs. Being fearful prevents growth, proceed with caution but don't let fear overtake you.

Put Your Ear To The Wind and pay attention to what it says. Predicting what's going to happen, in most instances, is near impossible. But if you listen to the constant change that is going around you and adjust business practices accordingly your dealership will always stay relevant. People are buying differently, mediums have changed and they put more emphasis in what their peers think than ever before, are you listening to them? If you are, then creating dealership best practices will be a much easier task!

Listening is one of the greatest business practices not being utilized today, what are you listening to?

Communicate Up and Down and Inside and Out. Open communication has been preached on forever but it's something that rarely occurs, good communication anyway. Instead of this being about internal dialogue I want you to think about external dialogue and listening to what your customers have to say. I encourage you to open up dialogue with them, get their opinions on what you can do better, believe me, if you ask they will tell! The best way to turn an industry best practice into a dealership best practice is by asking your customers how THEY would like to purchase a car, get service, or buy parts, then adjust accordingly.

Effective communication is more than a fundamental, it's the bedrock upon which ALL successful businesses are built.

Add Value. Everything you do, every email you send, phone call you make, ad you place and every time you talk to a customer should add value to their lives. If you care passionately about your customers it will become much easier to add value. Take a look at what you're doing now, which processes can be adapted so that they add value?

Adding value builds a stronger win-win relationship with your customers. Stronger relationships equal more sales, more referrals and more repeat customers.

Conclusion

While these fundamentals will get you started never forget that you must always test, measure, then test again. Never be comfortable with where you're at, always push the envelope, be creative and grow. Keep in mind that just because a specific email is working now doesn't mean it will ALWAYS work, the same can be said for a phone script, a liner ad, or a radio spot. Adapt and grow.

David Johnson is the Social Marketing strategist of PersuasiveConcepts.com and Next Generation Dealer Services.

Are they? I think, in a way, they are. You hear about it all the time, in every forum, every dealer twenty group and in all the industry magazines. Best practice this, best practice that, this is what you should be doing if you want to sell more cars!

I say, take it with a grain of salt. Look at where the auto industry is today, we're behind the times, it's always been that way, many times it has been said, "The auto industry is a late adopter of any new technology." I think the reason why this is, is because there are too many auto dealers out there that are always looking for industry best practices without thinking about their own dealerships best practices.

Wikipedia defines best practices as a technique, method, process, activity, incentive, or reward that is believed to be more effective at delivering a particular outcome than any other technique, method, process, etc. when applied to a particular condition or circumstance.

Wow, that doesn't sound bad, now does it? No, it doesn't. In fact, it's not the actual best practice idea that I want you to think about, it's about the idea of blindly following what another dealership has done with the assumption that it will produce the same results for you. Now, I'm not saying that you shouldn't look into these so called "best practices," because you should. But instead of looking at them as the holy grail, use them to create practices that are best for your particular dealership. In other words, test, measure, test some more, measure again then rinse and repeat. This testing process should never end, in fact, you should make it a habit to continually improve upon your own numbers by measuring and testing on an ongoing basis.

The 5 Fundamentals Of Developing DEALERSHIP Best Practices

Embrace The Chaos and be proactive. Times change, people change, and culture is always shifting. The most important aspect of any marketing strategy is to make it flexible enough so that it won't break when things don't go according to plan. Adhering to industry best practices and not developing your own dealerships best practices is the quickest, surest way to failure.

Be a student, but surpass the teacher. Be proactive in your pursuit of knowledge but a master of adaptability.

Don't Let Fear Stop You from taking on new challenges and trying new things. I see a lot of dealers that won't try anything new because they fear they will lose market share, they are content with doing what has always worked, then lose their minds when it doesn't. In order to grow your business and take over market share, don't be afraid to adjust industry best practice by testing and measuring what works best for your particular dealership.

Use industry best practice, but mold it to fit your needs. Being fearful prevents growth, proceed with caution but don't let fear overtake you.

Put Your Ear To The Wind and pay attention to what it says. Predicting what's going to happen, in most instances, is near impossible. But if you listen to the constant change that is going around you and adjust business practices accordingly your dealership will always stay relevant. People are buying differently, mediums have changed and they put more emphasis in what their peers think than ever before, are you listening to them? If you are, then creating dealership best practices will be a much easier task!

Listening is one of the greatest business practices not being utilized today, what are you listening to?

Communicate Up and Down and Inside and Out. Open communication has been preached on forever but it's something that rarely occurs, good communication anyway. Instead of this being about internal dialogue I want you to think about external dialogue and listening to what your customers have to say. I encourage you to open up dialogue with them, get their opinions on what you can do better, believe me, if you ask they will tell! The best way to turn an industry best practice into a dealership best practice is by asking your customers how THEY would like to purchase a car, get service, or buy parts, then adjust accordingly.

Effective communication is more than a fundamental, it's the bedrock upon which ALL successful businesses are built.

Add Value. Everything you do, every email you send, phone call you make, ad you place and every time you talk to a customer should add value to their lives. If you care passionately about your customers it will become much easier to add value. Take a look at what you're doing now, which processes can be adapted so that they add value?

Adding value builds a stronger win-win relationship with your customers. Stronger relationships equal more sales, more referrals and more repeat customers.

Conclusion

While these fundamentals will get you started never forget that you must always test, measure, then test again. Never be comfortable with where you're at, always push the envelope, be creative and grow. Keep in mind that just because a specific email is working now doesn't mean it will ALWAYS work, the same can be said for a phone script, a liner ad, or a radio spot. Adapt and grow.

David Johnson is the Social Marketing strategist of PersuasiveConcepts.com and Next Generation Dealer Services.