Most people may simply look at the headline and proclaim Facebook as the winner based on size and user base. Don't be so quick to judge without taking a good look at the key characteristics of both platforms. Grasping the differences can help shape your content strategy as well as the tactics used to connect with users. 

Notice, and understand, the differences with regards to the how users behave within these networks. Facebook has become a personal escape for many; checking in on your friends' activities, benign updates about their daily rituals and a seemingly never ending stream of game invites. Google+ has almost positioned itself as a place to escape Facebook and connect people with more related interests with their ability to easily build your Circles. 

The demographics also tells an interesting story. Facebook has more females and a younger user base while G+ skews towards older males. 

Oddly, the infographic below doesn't mention Google+'s Knowledge Graph, but it does reference Facebook's Graph Search. Both are keys elements of the semantic web, the future of search as it relates to adding more meaning to content and connecting personas with content for improveed search results. Still early stage stuff, but important enough to be aware of as it develops and user behavior slowly shifts.

Ultimately both platforms offer tremendous opportunities for dealers. Marketers need to continue creating experiences that enable social users to explore and connect within a deeper layer of the social exploration spectrum. 

Infographic credit: SocialAnex 

Most people may simply look at the headline and proclaim Facebook as the winner based on size and user base. Don't be so quick to judge without taking a good look at the key characteristics of both platforms. Grasping the differences can help shape your content strategy as well as the tactics used to connect with users. 

Notice, and understand, the differences with regards to the how users behave within these networks. Facebook has become a personal escape for many; checking in on your friends' activities, benign updates about their daily rituals and a seemingly never ending stream of game invites. Google+ has almost positioned itself as a place to escape Facebook and connect people with more related interests with their ability to easily build your Circles. 

The demographics also tells an interesting story. Facebook has more females and a younger user base while G+ skews towards older males. 

Oddly, the infographic below doesn't mention Google+'s Knowledge Graph, but it does reference Facebook's Graph Search. Both are keys elements of the semantic web, the future of search as it relates to adding more meaning to content and connecting personas with content for improveed search results. Still early stage stuff, but important enough to be aware of as it develops and user behavior slowly shifts.

Ultimately both platforms offer tremendous opportunities for dealers. Marketers need to continue creating experiences that enable social users to explore and connect within a deeper layer of the social exploration spectrum. 

Infographic credit: SocialAnex 

Many dealers have invested a lot of smart money in a lot of dumb things when it comes to their website. And by dumb things, I mean those things that are causing people to leave your site. I'm sure you remember being on a website that frustrates you. You remember that site and may even go out of your way to avoid it again. 

Think about the experience you're providing your visitors. Is it simple? Are their obtrusive items? Is it easy for shoppers to get the info they need to make a decision? 

Here's a list of some of the key culprits. And yes, I understand that you may not be able to control every single item. If so, speak up to your website vendor and let them know you want help with the changes. And if a website vendor tells you there will be a charge for it, simply ask them why they're charging you to help them improve their product. 

1. Music or auto attendants who automatically start playing - and are also difficult to stop. Would you run up to a new showroom customer and start blasting music at them or just start shouting out your newest specials? 
2. Traditional Captchas. Please stop showing these squiggly words. You can't possibly have that much of a spam problem, you probably don't get that much traffic to even warrant it on your site. If you still think you need it, there are much easier solutions - such as asking you what 1+2 equals. 
3. Pop-up coupon offers that cover the entire home page - and are extremely difficult to close. If you must use them, make them appear off-center, make them smaller and make them very simple to close. 
4. Multiple pop-ups on the home page. This is more of a personal preference, but I recently visited a dealership site that had a coupon pop-up, a drop-in chat window, a right-hand margin "ask a question" tab and a bottom pane tool bar that all loaded at the same time - it looks like an old west shooter game. I didn't know where to look first. Plus, all of these scripts slowed the entire site down and each page took way too long to load. 
5. Survey pop-ups on the home screen. Again, you don't ask your showroom visitors to answer CSI surveys when they walk in the front door.
6. Immediate newsletter sign-ups. Same deal. Please stop. 
7. Too many required fields in the contact forms. Name, email, phone number. That's all you need. I would even test name & email and let the phone number be an optional field. You don't need my home address if I'm submitting a form. (This is a sticky situation with the vendors as the OEM's may require this - it needs to change as it's a key factor why forms don't get used as much as they could) 
8. Blank specials pages. I want to see the specials. Where are the specials? I clicked on this expecting specials! 
9. Mobile sites that don't have the click to call function. Users expect this. 
10. Not showing all of your vehicle photos on your mobile site. One photo doesn't cut it. 

What other items do you keep seeing that may contribute to your site's high bounce rate? Let's get a solid list of items and wipe these problems out with the help of the website vendors. You'll enjoy better website performance and your online visitors will appreciate the improved experience.

Many dealers have invested a lot of smart money in a lot of dumb things when it comes to their website. And by dumb things, I mean those things that are causing people to leave your site. I'm sure you remember being on a website that frustrates you. You remember that site and may even go out of your way to avoid it again. 

Think about the experience you're providing your visitors. Is it simple? Are their obtrusive items? Is it easy for shoppers to get the info they need to make a decision? 

Here's a list of some of the key culprits. And yes, I understand that you may not be able to control every single item. If so, speak up to your website vendor and let them know you want help with the changes. And if a website vendor tells you there will be a charge for it, simply ask them why they're charging you to help them improve their product. 

1. Music or auto attendants who automatically start playing - and are also difficult to stop. Would you run up to a new showroom customer and start blasting music at them or just start shouting out your newest specials? 
2. Traditional Captchas. Please stop showing these squiggly words. You can't possibly have that much of a spam problem, you probably don't get that much traffic to even warrant it on your site. If you still think you need it, there are much easier solutions - such as asking you what 1+2 equals. 
3. Pop-up coupon offers that cover the entire home page - and are extremely difficult to close. If you must use them, make them appear off-center, make them smaller and make them very simple to close. 
4. Multiple pop-ups on the home page. This is more of a personal preference, but I recently visited a dealership site that had a coupon pop-up, a drop-in chat window, a right-hand margin "ask a question" tab and a bottom pane tool bar that all loaded at the same time - it looks like an old west shooter game. I didn't know where to look first. Plus, all of these scripts slowed the entire site down and each page took way too long to load. 
5. Survey pop-ups on the home screen. Again, you don't ask your showroom visitors to answer CSI surveys when they walk in the front door.
6. Immediate newsletter sign-ups. Same deal. Please stop. 
7. Too many required fields in the contact forms. Name, email, phone number. That's all you need. I would even test name & email and let the phone number be an optional field. You don't need my home address if I'm submitting a form. (This is a sticky situation with the vendors as the OEM's may require this - it needs to change as it's a key factor why forms don't get used as much as they could) 
8. Blank specials pages. I want to see the specials. Where are the specials? I clicked on this expecting specials! 
9. Mobile sites that don't have the click to call function. Users expect this. 
10. Not showing all of your vehicle photos on your mobile site. One photo doesn't cut it. 

What other items do you keep seeing that may contribute to your site's high bounce rate? Let's get a solid list of items and wipe these problems out with the help of the website vendors. You'll enjoy better website performance and your online visitors will appreciate the improved experience.

Online shoppers want answers to questions. They expect easy access to this information. And they don't want to waste time getting those answers. 

One of the easiest ways to help your online visitors is to create a Frequently Asked Questions page. For those feeling extra ambitious could even create multiple FAQ's for different sections of the site. The point being, provide the answers to the questions you already know your guests are going to ask you. They'll appreciate the value in this effort incredibly.

Keep in mind, as Internet users continue to search using conversation search queries such as "How does leasing work?" "Where can I find 0% financing in Pittsburgh?" & "How do I trade-in my used car?" there will be more opprotunities for your content to get discovered. Plus, that's the type of helpful content users remember and share socially. 

Your stores are filled with experts, it's time to leverage their respective knowledge. This is how I created my dealership's FAQ content in just a few days.

1. Create a list of the subject matter experts in your store(s) [Service managers, GM/sales managers, top sales people, BDC staff, F&I, buyers, etc]
2. Ask your experts to write down the 10 top questions asked by customers. [Extra points for video answers]
3. Explain to them why you need this info; educate them on shopper behavior, how it creates a better user experience and how it contributes to your search marketing efforts as well.
4. Organize the questions/answers by categories. [Sales, Financing, Service, Used Cars, Parts, trade-ins, etc]
5. Use plenty of images to help make the content easy to scan - nobody likes to see a page full of text.
6. Use your keywords as anchor text for links in the questions/answers to link to relevant content. [this is what helps improve usability and your internal deep linking efforts]
7. Include additional call to actions/submit buttons and/or a form within the page to drive visitors to take action.
8. Include additional contact information to the contributors of the content when possible.[phone #'s, email, twitter, etc]
9. Use a separate tracking number to track phone calls from this page.
10. Add social sharing.
11. Keep adding new questions, or at least update your content once a month, to keep it accurate and current.

Do you have an FAQ page for your dealership? If so, please share yours in the comments below! 

Online shoppers want answers to questions. They expect easy access to this information. And they don't want to waste time getting those answers. 

One of the easiest ways to help your online visitors is to create a Frequently Asked Questions page. For those feeling extra ambitious could even create multiple FAQ's for different sections of the site. The point being, provide the answers to the questions you already know your guests are going to ask you. They'll appreciate the value in this effort incredibly.

Keep in mind, as Internet users continue to search using conversation search queries such as "How does leasing work?" "Where can I find 0% financing in Pittsburgh?" & "How do I trade-in my used car?" there will be more opprotunities for your content to get discovered. Plus, that's the type of helpful content users remember and share socially. 

Your stores are filled with experts, it's time to leverage their respective knowledge. This is how I created my dealership's FAQ content in just a few days.

1. Create a list of the subject matter experts in your store(s) [Service managers, GM/sales managers, top sales people, BDC staff, F&I, buyers, etc]
2. Ask your experts to write down the 10 top questions asked by customers. [Extra points for video answers]
3. Explain to them why you need this info; educate them on shopper behavior, how it creates a better user experience and how it contributes to your search marketing efforts as well.
4. Organize the questions/answers by categories. [Sales, Financing, Service, Used Cars, Parts, trade-ins, etc]
5. Use plenty of images to help make the content easy to scan - nobody likes to see a page full of text.
6. Use your keywords as anchor text for links in the questions/answers to link to relevant content. [this is what helps improve usability and your internal deep linking efforts]
7. Include additional call to actions/submit buttons and/or a form within the page to drive visitors to take action.
8. Include additional contact information to the contributors of the content when possible.[phone #'s, email, twitter, etc]
9. Use a separate tracking number to track phone calls from this page.
10. Add social sharing.
11. Keep adding new questions, or at least update your content once a month, to keep it accurate and current.

Do you have an FAQ page for your dealership? If so, please share yours in the comments below! 

Check out my man Willie. He's a Wal-Mart greeter and he's one of their best. 

Walking into Wal-Mart isn't necessarily an exciting or memorable experience, but Willie does his best to make sure it is for anyone who comes through those front doors on his shift. He makes people feel special. He makes his introductions unique. And he gets people to remember him. 

Willie becomes the image of Wal-Mart in this town. He goes way beyond the expectations of the Wal-Mart greeter. Does the first person to greet your customers make a difference like this or are your guests simply met with a bland, "Hello, welcome to boring motors"

Who's your dealership's Willie?

Check out my man Willie. He's a Wal-Mart greeter and he's one of their best. 

Walking into Wal-Mart isn't necessarily an exciting or memorable experience, but Willie does his best to make sure it is for anyone who comes through those front doors on his shift. He makes people feel special. He makes his introductions unique. And he gets people to remember him. 

Willie becomes the image of Wal-Mart in this town. He goes way beyond the expectations of the Wal-Mart greeter. Does the first person to greet your customers make a difference like this or are your guests simply met with a bland, "Hello, welcome to boring motors"

Who's your dealership's Willie?

A popular topic of debate is whether or not dealers should be posting pictures of their customers with their cars at delivery. 

I say GO FOR IT! And here's why: 

1. It creates memorable, personal interactions with the customer
2. Celebrating moments and telling stories about your brand is what social media is all about
3. It helps drive the digital culture within your dealership
4. Posting from mobile devices helps create more engagement
5. Plus, why does it just have to be a photo? What about a Vine, or an Instagram video? Instragram now lets you upload video from your camera roll. Or, you could even try YouTube's awesome new video app: MixBit.

And here's the challenge - doing it with creativity. Don't just line up your customers in front of their car and force them to stand there lifeless. Everybody is doing that. Have fun with it. 

Add some context to their image as well. Tell the customer's story as to why they chose that vehicle. Where did they come from? Is there a special reason or story behind the purchase and/or usage? What were they driving before? Did they trade something in? 

Here's the biggest reason why I think you should be taking as many of these pictures and sharing them: Facebook's algorithm favors interaction with pictures. By creating more creative, fun pictures for your dealership's page, you're increasing the likelihood users will view them. By doing so, you're creating more opportunities for your images to show up in the content stream.

A new element of their algorithm is actually called "Last Actor." Facebook sees the last 50 people you have interacted with, such as people viewing your photos or liking your news feed stories. If a user is looking through your photos - because they're interesting enough - Facebook gives your content priority and show more of it to that user. The Last Actor change has already been enacted and is having an effect on content within the web and mobile news feed..

Start sharing. And have fun with it too. 

A popular topic of debate is whether or not dealers should be posting pictures of their customers with their cars at delivery. 

I say GO FOR IT! And here's why: 

1. It creates memorable, personal interactions with the customer
2. Celebrating moments and telling stories about your brand is what social media is all about
3. It helps drive the digital culture within your dealership
4. Posting from mobile devices helps create more engagement
5. Plus, why does it just have to be a photo? What about a Vine, or an Instagram video? Instragram now lets you upload video from your camera roll. Or, you could even try YouTube's awesome new video app: MixBit.

And here's the challenge - doing it with creativity. Don't just line up your customers in front of their car and force them to stand there lifeless. Everybody is doing that. Have fun with it. 

Add some context to their image as well. Tell the customer's story as to why they chose that vehicle. Where did they come from? Is there a special reason or story behind the purchase and/or usage? What were they driving before? Did they trade something in? 

Here's the biggest reason why I think you should be taking as many of these pictures and sharing them: Facebook's algorithm favors interaction with pictures. By creating more creative, fun pictures for your dealership's page, you're increasing the likelihood users will view them. By doing so, you're creating more opportunities for your images to show up in the content stream.

A new element of their algorithm is actually called "Last Actor." Facebook sees the last 50 people you have interacted with, such as people viewing your photos or liking your news feed stories. If a user is looking through your photos - because they're interesting enough - Facebook gives your content priority and show more of it to that user. The Last Actor change has already been enacted and is having an effect on content within the web and mobile news feed..

Start sharing. And have fun with it too.