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!

Word-of-mouth is gold and social media is the vessel we use to promote it, but how exactly is it accomplished? As businesses we are always looking for ways to lower the cost of acquiring new customers. It's simple economics, the lower the acquisition cost the more sales (and money) we make...simple right? Not exactly, as with most things it's easier said than done but if you make it part of your daily customer/employee interaction to give your customers something positive to talk about you go a long way to influencing a higher rate of word-of-mouth, let's call it your ROE or Return On Experience.

In this post I'm going to throw out some radical ideas. Radical ideas that, at first, you will discount as being just that, radical. Then these ideas will start to work on you as you mull them over in your mind, more than likely you will talk with your spouse about them or maybe a co-worker asking yourself and them what if? What if you did try what I'm about to suggest, what would happen? Would it produce rapid word-of-mouth, would it reduce your cost per customer, would it create you more sales? The answer to all of those questions, of course, is yes but I understand that there will be a certain amount of skepticism involved but as you will soon find out, the logic is iron clad.

Customer Experience

I've brought this up before but I thought it important enough to bring it up here again and that is: it's the difference between what people expect and the actual level of customer service received that will dictate whether or not a person will talk about how their business with you went. Of course it goes without saying that if you fail to meet those expectations the word-of-mouth will be negative but if you exceed them, well ...all sorts of magical things start to happen, such as repeat and referral business!

The idea is to go so above and beyond what the customer expects that you earn massive amounts of exposure on the level of Return on Experience (ROE) you receive from shocking your customers with your level of customer service. In fact, I don't want you to think about it as "customer service" at all, instead think of it as:

Customer Enchantment

It might just be me but when I think of the term customer service I think about doing all the things that I'm supposed to do such as be helpful and friendly but when I think in terms of customer enchantment I think on a much, MUCH grander scale. In other words I don't want you to think about how you can give good customer service, I want you to think in terms of "how can I enchant my customers?"

Enchantment: (en·chant·ment ) Captivation: a feeling of great liking for something wonderful and unusual.

Before I get into some ideas of what I mean I feel it's important to remind you about the story of the boy and the starfish. You know the one, the one where there are thousands of starfish beached upon the sands where a little boy, one-by-one, is throwing the starfish back into the water. When asked why he's even bothering when there are too many to make a difference, the little boy replied after throwing a starfish back in the water, "It mattered to that one."

I bring up that story because I understand that what I'm about to propose would be impossible to do with every customer, of course you wouldn't want to do what I'm about to propose with every customer anyway because then it would become expected and the whole idea is to go beyond what is expected. Another thing to keep in mind is that you are trying to work your way into your customers social graph (both online and off), or at least become a conversation within it. By influencing your customers to say positive things about you, you in effect create customer that create other customers, thus reducing your customer acquisition cost theoretically in half.

Scenario #1 Let's say you have a customer come in to your dealership to purchase a vehicle for his daughters 16th birthday. He of course is excited but you decide to take things to the next level by getting the car wrapped for him, complete with a big bow on top. But you don't stop there because you really want to enchant your customer so you then give to his daughter a year's worth of free oil changes, 5 complete details and a $150 gas card.

Scenario #2 A customer drops off her car for an oil change and you learn that she is due to give birth to a baby boy in two weeks so you decide to go shopping for her. You buy her some baby related items, maybe a diaper bag and diapers, maybe some baby clothes or baby blankets. While talking with her you learn that she is in need of a car seat or maybe even a stroller so you picked one of those up for her as well and put them in her car for when she comes back to pick it up.

Scenario #3 You learn that one of your customers has had a death in the family so you send a big bunch of flowers to their house, along with a gift certificate for a free house cleaning and yard maintenance with a hand written card that says, "It's always tough losing a loved one and we understand that there are always too many things to worry about during times like these. Attached you will find a gift certificate for free house cleaning and yard maintenance, two less things that you have to worry about. We truly are sorry for your loss."

Do you get what I mean when I say customer enchantment? I sure hope so because by doing things such as the three scenarios above you go a long way to influencing word-of-mouth. Think about what will happen once the word gets out about the things you are doing for your customers and it will get out. In fact your customers will find a way to bring up the amazing things you did both in person and all over Facebook (and Twitter, MySpace, and others) any and every chance they get. They will happily do this because you made a difference in their lives and did something they would NEVER have expected. You now have a customer and a word-of-mouth generating machine for life.

Another Crazy idea

What if you empowered your employees to do this sort of thing. Maybe create an enchantment budget, think of it as advertisement if you have to but by allowing your employees to get creative with customer enchantment and then giving them the means by which to do so you are creating an environment that creates rampant word-of-mouth.

What ideas do you have when it comes to creating customer enchantment, how can you increase your ROE?

Word-of-mouth is gold and social media is the vessel we use to promote it, but how exactly is it accomplished? As businesses we are always looking for ways to lower the cost of acquiring new customers. It's simple economics, the lower the acquisition cost the more sales (and money) we make...simple right? Not exactly, as with most things it's easier said than done but if you make it part of your daily customer/employee interaction to give your customers something positive to talk about you go a long way to influencing a higher rate of word-of-mouth, let's call it your ROE or Return On Experience.

In this post I'm going to throw out some radical ideas. Radical ideas that, at first, you will discount as being just that, radical. Then these ideas will start to work on you as you mull them over in your mind, more than likely you will talk with your spouse about them or maybe a co-worker asking yourself and them what if? What if you did try what I'm about to suggest, what would happen? Would it produce rapid word-of-mouth, would it reduce your cost per customer, would it create you more sales? The answer to all of those questions, of course, is yes but I understand that there will be a certain amount of skepticism involved but as you will soon find out, the logic is iron clad.

Customer Experience

I've brought this up before but I thought it important enough to bring it up here again and that is: it's the difference between what people expect and the actual level of customer service received that will dictate whether or not a person will talk about how their business with you went. Of course it goes without saying that if you fail to meet those expectations the word-of-mouth will be negative but if you exceed them, well ...all sorts of magical things start to happen, such as repeat and referral business!

The idea is to go so above and beyond what the customer expects that you earn massive amounts of exposure on the level of Return on Experience (ROE) you receive from shocking your customers with your level of customer service. In fact, I don't want you to think about it as "customer service" at all, instead think of it as:

Customer Enchantment

It might just be me but when I think of the term customer service I think about doing all the things that I'm supposed to do such as be helpful and friendly but when I think in terms of customer enchantment I think on a much, MUCH grander scale. In other words I don't want you to think about how you can give good customer service, I want you to think in terms of "how can I enchant my customers?"

Enchantment: (en·chant·ment ) Captivation: a feeling of great liking for something wonderful and unusual.

Before I get into some ideas of what I mean I feel it's important to remind you about the story of the boy and the starfish. You know the one, the one where there are thousands of starfish beached upon the sands where a little boy, one-by-one, is throwing the starfish back into the water. When asked why he's even bothering when there are too many to make a difference, the little boy replied after throwing a starfish back in the water, "It mattered to that one."

I bring up that story because I understand that what I'm about to propose would be impossible to do with every customer, of course you wouldn't want to do what I'm about to propose with every customer anyway because then it would become expected and the whole idea is to go beyond what is expected. Another thing to keep in mind is that you are trying to work your way into your customers social graph (both online and off), or at least become a conversation within it. By influencing your customers to say positive things about you, you in effect create customer that create other customers, thus reducing your customer acquisition cost theoretically in half.

Scenario #1 Let's say you have a customer come in to your dealership to purchase a vehicle for his daughters 16th birthday. He of course is excited but you decide to take things to the next level by getting the car wrapped for him, complete with a big bow on top. But you don't stop there because you really want to enchant your customer so you then give to his daughter a year's worth of free oil changes, 5 complete details and a $150 gas card.

Scenario #2 A customer drops off her car for an oil change and you learn that she is due to give birth to a baby boy in two weeks so you decide to go shopping for her. You buy her some baby related items, maybe a diaper bag and diapers, maybe some baby clothes or baby blankets. While talking with her you learn that she is in need of a car seat or maybe even a stroller so you picked one of those up for her as well and put them in her car for when she comes back to pick it up.

Scenario #3 You learn that one of your customers has had a death in the family so you send a big bunch of flowers to their house, along with a gift certificate for a free house cleaning and yard maintenance with a hand written card that says, "It's always tough losing a loved one and we understand that there are always too many things to worry about during times like these. Attached you will find a gift certificate for free house cleaning and yard maintenance, two less things that you have to worry about. We truly are sorry for your loss."

Do you get what I mean when I say customer enchantment? I sure hope so because by doing things such as the three scenarios above you go a long way to influencing word-of-mouth. Think about what will happen once the word gets out about the things you are doing for your customers and it will get out. In fact your customers will find a way to bring up the amazing things you did both in person and all over Facebook (and Twitter, MySpace, and others) any and every chance they get. They will happily do this because you made a difference in their lives and did something they would NEVER have expected. You now have a customer and a word-of-mouth generating machine for life.

Another Crazy idea

What if you empowered your employees to do this sort of thing. Maybe create an enchantment budget, think of it as advertisement if you have to but by allowing your employees to get creative with customer enchantment and then giving them the means by which to do so you are creating an environment that creates rampant word-of-mouth.

What ideas do you have when it comes to creating customer enchantment, how can you increase your ROE?

LinkedIn is a powerful tool to connect with super influence in your community, are you using it? Welcome to the 4th episode of Automotive Social Media – The Podcast! In this episode I will share with you the tips and tricks of LinkedIn and how you can connect with the super influencers in your market. If you’re not using LinkedIn with you Automotive Social Marketing then you are missing out. Keep in mind that if you are a sales person, you don’t have to wait till your dealership says its mandatory, start now, take your future into your own hands!

If you would like to listen to the rest of the "Automotive Social Media - The Podcast" you can do so at Persuasive Concepts.

LinkedIn is a powerful tool to connect with super influence in your community, are you using it? Welcome to the 4th episode of Automotive Social Media – The Podcast! In this episode I will share with you the tips and tricks of LinkedIn and how you can connect with the super influencers in your market. If you’re not using LinkedIn with you Automotive Social Marketing then you are missing out. Keep in mind that if you are a sales person, you don’t have to wait till your dealership says its mandatory, start now, take your future into your own hands!

If you would like to listen to the rest of the "Automotive Social Media - The Podcast" you can do so at Persuasive Concepts.

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.