The trend for the last 3 or 4 years has been for businesses to try to tap into social media as a broadcasting tool. It's not universal, but many (most) see social media as a place to post their messages to prospective clients in hopes of switching on the social media faucet that touches a billion people worldwide.

The promise of social media for businesses, particularly local ones, has only been seen by a small percentage. Most believe there's something there, but they aren't certain that their efforts are going anywhere. In many cases, they're not. It's not that social media is so challenging that only the select few can get in, nor is it that there's no value in it.

It's about intention. Those with the intention of sheer marketing with social media will likely be met with limited rewards. People don't go to Facebook or Twitter to see what they want to buy or which services to select. They go to engage, to have fun, and to experience the virtual filter on the real world that social media has to offer them.

In other words, they don't want to see marketing. If and when they're ready to interact with a business through social media, it's because they have questions or needs that can be fulfilled through easy-access communication. This is the part that most businesses are missing.

The real promise of social media is not just to business, but lies an the center between business and consumer. More internet time is spent on social media than any other category; in fact, it's equal to the next three on the list (games, email, and portals) combined.

Businesses want to take advantage of this fact and many are trying, but customer service management is still 3rd on the list of initiatives they perform on social media with brand reputation management and driving promotions above it. This is backwards. Most businesses can achieve their top two goals by focusing on the customers themselves.

It comes down to a lack of understanding. Those who are able to focus their attention on their customers through social media will gain a better reputation and find it easier to broadcast their promotions as a result. It's counter-intuitive to all other forms of interactions with customers, but it makes sense once one realizes the true capacity of the medium.

This article was originally posted on Business Insider.
Click to enlarge.

For the last 3 years, search engine optimization has grown as one of the primary aspects of automotive internet marketing upon which dealers and vendors focus. Everyone has hear a pitch (or two, or ten) from experts and salespeople at vendors telling why SEO is important and what it takes to dominate the market area for a dealership.

Much of what is out there is both legitimate and powerful. Some is antiquated. Much is simply wrong. That's not to say that there's no value in listening to the different opinions of what really drives search traffic, how to do it right, and where to find best practices, but it doesn't have to be so complicated.

In the video below, we take a look at some of the readily-accepted components of SEO as described in an article by Mashable and broken down by yours truly. It's good to see efforts stronger understanding starting to permeate the internet. Here, we see how it affects dealers.

If you have any questions, feel free to comment here, email me, or learn more about Automotive SEO.

For the last 3 years, search engine optimization has grown as one of the primary aspects of automotive internet marketing upon which dealers and vendors focus. Everyone has hear a pitch (or two, or ten) from experts and salespeople at vendors telling why SEO is important and what it takes to dominate the market area for a dealership.

Much of what is out there is both legitimate and powerful. Some is antiquated. Much is simply wrong. That's not to say that there's no value in listening to the different opinions of what really drives search traffic, how to do it right, and where to find best practices, but it doesn't have to be so complicated.

In the video below, we take a look at some of the readily-accepted components of SEO as described in an article by Mashable and broken down by yours truly. It's good to see efforts stronger understanding starting to permeate the internet. Here, we see how it affects dealers.

If you have any questions, feel free to comment here, email me, or learn more about Automotive SEO.

"Mobile has taken over." It's a subtle difference to what I've been saying for the last 3 years, but it changes everything about the way we think about automotive marketing. Just a few months ago, the statement would have been, "Mobile is taking over."

See the difference?

This isn't the death of laptops and desktops. It's not time to abandon traditional SEO or PPC. It simply adds another layer to our automotive marketing needs. Your customers are spending more time on their mobile devices. Some do more of their surfing and searching through iOS and Android than they do on Windows or Mac. Are you paying attention to them?

You should be.

To put it into perspective, here's an infographic that breaks down the rise of geosocial and location-based interactions between people and the businesses around them. Click to enlarge.

"Mobile has taken over." It's a subtle difference to what I've been saying for the last 3 years, but it changes everything about the way we think about automotive marketing. Just a few months ago, the statement would have been, "Mobile is taking over."

See the difference?

This isn't the death of laptops and desktops. It's not time to abandon traditional SEO or PPC. It simply adds another layer to our automotive marketing needs. Your customers are spending more time on their mobile devices. Some do more of their surfing and searching through iOS and Android than they do on Windows or Mac. Are you paying attention to them?

You should be.

To put it into perspective, here's an infographic that breaks down the rise of geosocial and location-based interactions between people and the businesses around them. Click to enlarge.

This is a dangerous topic and I'm heading down a steep slope on this one as people may misunderstand, but it's important to get it out anyway. Your Facebook page is important to you business, but it should only account for a small portion of your social media marketing day.

Period.

Most businesses that we work with have a strong leaning towards Facebook, just as they should. Twitter, YouTube, Tumblr, even Google+ have a role in the social media strategy for most businesses, but Facebook covers most of the needs simply because it's where most of the people spend most of their social media time. The challenge is no longer with convincing business to use Facebook. It's in getting them to stop thinking that their Facebook page is their Facebook presence.

There is so much more to Facebook than putting up landing tabs and status updates.

Facebook is a communication tool that allows businesses to reach out to their customers and prospective customers while allowing these same people to reach the business. Everyone has seen example of how a properly-handled objection or complaint on Facebook has been turned into a positive. This is a good thing. Now, it's time to take it to the next level. Here are some things that businesses should be doing on Facebook to make their real presence known and effective.

Post on Other Pages

When Facebook opened up the ability for pages to post on other pages just as if they were people, it brought in new strategies that surprisingly-few employ. While navigating around Facebook as a page, you can like and post to other Facebook pages. It's been around for months but it still surprises me how few people know about this.

This is something that should not be abused. Knowing this, you may now be thinking about redirecting traffic from competitors by posting on their walls all the time (it's a natural thought - don't be ashamed if it crossed your mind) but this is, of course, futile and potentially dangerous. Instead, this feature should be used to advance conversations, to join the right ones, and to expose your brand on relevant pages without succumbing to spamming.

In the example above, I stayed relevant with the page (they were mentioned in the article, so I'm not hijacking their conversation) and offered a resource that visitors to their page may find useful.

For local businesses, they may post to the local newspaper page, the chamber of commerce, other local businesses (this is a good one which I'll detail shortly) or charities. The goal is to get exposure for your page and your brand to a wider audience. Think of Facebook pages like ponds. Every pond has a certain number of fish. When you post to other pages, your dropping your line in another pond. It's not something that you should abuse; page owners will notice if you're constantly spamming their page. Instead, be diverse and post occasionally so as to not make anyone mad or accusing of you being a spammer.

The easiest way to not be accused of being a spammer is to not spam.

I heard Jeff Cryder over at Lebanon Ford talk about social media engagement like it was double-dutch. You don't just jump in as soon as the ropes start spinning. You watch, wait, plan out your timing, and then jump in at the right moment. Patience is key - don't jump prematurely. Look for your opportunity and then enter the conversation when you're ready to bring value to it.

Local businesses are able to get involved with other local businesses this way by being both complimentary and advancing their cause simultaneously. For example, a car dealer who is having a big sale next week might post this:

"We are so pumped about having Stan's Barbecue serving the best ribs in town at our sale next weekend." Posting something like that on Stan's Facebook page does two things - you're giving them a compliment while exposing their Facebook page likers to your sale. Your fishing in their pond, but doing so in a way that they won't mind.

Drive People to your Facebook Page from other Sources

We all get lazy sometimes. It's easy to say, "I have my Facebook widget on my blog and my website. I'm doing what I need to do to get people to my Facebook page."

No. You're not. You're doing what everyone else does, which means that you're doing something that will be ignored by most. When we see something over and over again, we no longer see it. That's the case with Facebook buttons and widgets. Unless we want to find the Facebook page of a particular business, we're not seeing the buttons from these pages because we see them everywhere already.

To truly move the needle and get people to your Facebook page from other sources, we have to get creative. We have to offer a reason or incentive to do so. Every business-type is different in what they can offer, but here are some ideas that should spark thinking on how to do it in your niche or market:

• - Event Registration - there are plenty of these available, but when you use a Facebook tab as your "Event Headquarters" you have the opportunity to double-dip. You're getting them to sign up for your event and you have the ability to get them to like your page.
• - Inventory Landing Pages from Craigslist - many businesses who have an inventory of items for sale have tried to get people to view their inventory on Facebook with limited results. People don't think, "I want to buy a car today. I'll go to Facebook to look for them!" Instead, they go to dealer websites, Autotrader, or Craigslist (amongst others). If you have inventory on your Facebook page, you can link your listings from anywhere other than your website (if they're already on your website, you don't want them to go anywhere else) to your Facebook listing to have the same double-dipping possibility from above. List the car on Craigslist, link it to your Facebook page listing for more details, and you have the opportunity to collect a lead while also potentially getting a new Facebook like.
• - Charity Information - there is no better place to post information about a charity that your business supports than Facebook. People may not be in buying-mode when they're on Facebook, but they are in sharing and caring mode (most people, at least). Widgets and buttons may no longer get peoples' attention, but ads and banners about a charity will. Create a tab on your page that focuses only on the charity and your involvement, then blast the link out through your websites, blogs, other social media sites, press releases, and everything else.

Notice that I didn't include giveaways. They have become so commonplace that the effectiveness of "Win an iPad" has simply diminished. The numbers are down on like-building contests and the messages sent by having them are now considered negative. You don't want people coaxed into liking your page. You want them to like it because they truly like it or find value in it. Contests are silly.

Also absent is the gaming aspect. While social gaming is a huge and growing phenomenon and can be an extremely effective way of bulking up numbers of likes, they're empty likes. Don't forget, Facebook is a numbers game and one of those numbers is percentages of involvement. Having 100k Facebook likes but only having a few dozen actually engaging with you on your wall can do more damage than good.

Create Other Pages

I'm always hesitant to recommend this because I'm always fearful of orphaned or abandoned pages floating around. Businesses should have a central Facebook page that they use for the majority of their interaction, but if they have enough time and if they're committed to using Facebook as a true marketing strategy, there are distinct advantages to having focused pages that deal with particularly niches or elements within their business.

Ford has a very robust presence with their primary Facebook page approaching 5 million likes. They also have more focused pages specific to vehicles and departments that are growing as well, such as Ford Trucks, which has over a quarter million likes.

It requires more work and the risk of abandonment is high, but a business that really wants to succeed can do amazing things with focused pages. It isn't just for the big brands. Even local businesses can take advantage of this technique. For example, a restaurant might have their regular Facebook presence, but they might have an "All You Can Eat Tuesday Lunch Page" where people who like it get a free drink when they come buy.

I can imagine the page itself being entertaining by "frowning" on every day other than Tuesday. For example, the page could have a post on Friday saying, "Everybody like to thank God about today, but they they should we believe in TGIT around here." On Monday, they could post, "The only good thing about Monday is that it's the closest day to All You Can Eat Tuesday. See you all tomorrow!"

On their primary Facebook presence, they would want to direct people to the new page every other Sunday and/or Monday, and definitely post about it (at least once) on Tuesday itself.

So Many Possibilities

The key here is understanding that your Facebook page is important, but there is so much more out there in Facebook marketing. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't have a robust and engaging page. Just don't forget that there's more to your Facebook presence than the single marketing hub. Use Facebook the right way and you will find that it's better for getting your brand out there than you even imagined.

* * *

(This article originally appeared in Soshable but was definitely relevant for the automotive industry)

This is a dangerous topic and I'm heading down a steep slope on this one as people may misunderstand, but it's important to get it out anyway. Your Facebook page is important to you business, but it should only account for a small portion of your social media marketing day.

Period.

Most businesses that we work with have a strong leaning towards Facebook, just as they should. Twitter, YouTube, Tumblr, even Google+ have a role in the social media strategy for most businesses, but Facebook covers most of the needs simply because it's where most of the people spend most of their social media time. The challenge is no longer with convincing business to use Facebook. It's in getting them to stop thinking that their Facebook page is their Facebook presence.

There is so much more to Facebook than putting up landing tabs and status updates.

Facebook is a communication tool that allows businesses to reach out to their customers and prospective customers while allowing these same people to reach the business. Everyone has seen example of how a properly-handled objection or complaint on Facebook has been turned into a positive. This is a good thing. Now, it's time to take it to the next level. Here are some things that businesses should be doing on Facebook to make their real presence known and effective.

Post on Other Pages

When Facebook opened up the ability for pages to post on other pages just as if they were people, it brought in new strategies that surprisingly-few employ. While navigating around Facebook as a page, you can like and post to other Facebook pages. It's been around for months but it still surprises me how few people know about this.

This is something that should not be abused. Knowing this, you may now be thinking about redirecting traffic from competitors by posting on their walls all the time (it's a natural thought - don't be ashamed if it crossed your mind) but this is, of course, futile and potentially dangerous. Instead, this feature should be used to advance conversations, to join the right ones, and to expose your brand on relevant pages without succumbing to spamming.

In the example above, I stayed relevant with the page (they were mentioned in the article, so I'm not hijacking their conversation) and offered a resource that visitors to their page may find useful.

For local businesses, they may post to the local newspaper page, the chamber of commerce, other local businesses (this is a good one which I'll detail shortly) or charities. The goal is to get exposure for your page and your brand to a wider audience. Think of Facebook pages like ponds. Every pond has a certain number of fish. When you post to other pages, your dropping your line in another pond. It's not something that you should abuse; page owners will notice if you're constantly spamming their page. Instead, be diverse and post occasionally so as to not make anyone mad or accusing of you being a spammer.

The easiest way to not be accused of being a spammer is to not spam.

I heard Jeff Cryder over at Lebanon Ford talk about social media engagement like it was double-dutch. You don't just jump in as soon as the ropes start spinning. You watch, wait, plan out your timing, and then jump in at the right moment. Patience is key - don't jump prematurely. Look for your opportunity and then enter the conversation when you're ready to bring value to it.

Local businesses are able to get involved with other local businesses this way by being both complimentary and advancing their cause simultaneously. For example, a car dealer who is having a big sale next week might post this:

"We are so pumped about having Stan's Barbecue serving the best ribs in town at our sale next weekend." Posting something like that on Stan's Facebook page does two things - you're giving them a compliment while exposing their Facebook page likers to your sale. Your fishing in their pond, but doing so in a way that they won't mind.

Drive People to your Facebook Page from other Sources

We all get lazy sometimes. It's easy to say, "I have my Facebook widget on my blog and my website. I'm doing what I need to do to get people to my Facebook page."

No. You're not. You're doing what everyone else does, which means that you're doing something that will be ignored by most. When we see something over and over again, we no longer see it. That's the case with Facebook buttons and widgets. Unless we want to find the Facebook page of a particular business, we're not seeing the buttons from these pages because we see them everywhere already.

To truly move the needle and get people to your Facebook page from other sources, we have to get creative. We have to offer a reason or incentive to do so. Every business-type is different in what they can offer, but here are some ideas that should spark thinking on how to do it in your niche or market:

• - Event Registration - there are plenty of these available, but when you use a Facebook tab as your "Event Headquarters" you have the opportunity to double-dip. You're getting them to sign up for your event and you have the ability to get them to like your page.
• - Inventory Landing Pages from Craigslist - many businesses who have an inventory of items for sale have tried to get people to view their inventory on Facebook with limited results. People don't think, "I want to buy a car today. I'll go to Facebook to look for them!" Instead, they go to dealer websites, Autotrader, or Craigslist (amongst others). If you have inventory on your Facebook page, you can link your listings from anywhere other than your website (if they're already on your website, you don't want them to go anywhere else) to your Facebook listing to have the same double-dipping possibility from above. List the car on Craigslist, link it to your Facebook page listing for more details, and you have the opportunity to collect a lead while also potentially getting a new Facebook like.
• - Charity Information - there is no better place to post information about a charity that your business supports than Facebook. People may not be in buying-mode when they're on Facebook, but they are in sharing and caring mode (most people, at least). Widgets and buttons may no longer get peoples' attention, but ads and banners about a charity will. Create a tab on your page that focuses only on the charity and your involvement, then blast the link out through your websites, blogs, other social media sites, press releases, and everything else.

Notice that I didn't include giveaways. They have become so commonplace that the effectiveness of "Win an iPad" has simply diminished. The numbers are down on like-building contests and the messages sent by having them are now considered negative. You don't want people coaxed into liking your page. You want them to like it because they truly like it or find value in it. Contests are silly.

Also absent is the gaming aspect. While social gaming is a huge and growing phenomenon and can be an extremely effective way of bulking up numbers of likes, they're empty likes. Don't forget, Facebook is a numbers game and one of those numbers is percentages of involvement. Having 100k Facebook likes but only having a few dozen actually engaging with you on your wall can do more damage than good.

Create Other Pages

I'm always hesitant to recommend this because I'm always fearful of orphaned or abandoned pages floating around. Businesses should have a central Facebook page that they use for the majority of their interaction, but if they have enough time and if they're committed to using Facebook as a true marketing strategy, there are distinct advantages to having focused pages that deal with particularly niches or elements within their business.

Ford has a very robust presence with their primary Facebook page approaching 5 million likes. They also have more focused pages specific to vehicles and departments that are growing as well, such as Ford Trucks, which has over a quarter million likes.

It requires more work and the risk of abandonment is high, but a business that really wants to succeed can do amazing things with focused pages. It isn't just for the big brands. Even local businesses can take advantage of this technique. For example, a restaurant might have their regular Facebook presence, but they might have an "All You Can Eat Tuesday Lunch Page" where people who like it get a free drink when they come buy.

I can imagine the page itself being entertaining by "frowning" on every day other than Tuesday. For example, the page could have a post on Friday saying, "Everybody like to thank God about today, but they they should we believe in TGIT around here." On Monday, they could post, "The only good thing about Monday is that it's the closest day to All You Can Eat Tuesday. See you all tomorrow!"

On their primary Facebook presence, they would want to direct people to the new page every other Sunday and/or Monday, and definitely post about it (at least once) on Tuesday itself.

So Many Possibilities

The key here is understanding that your Facebook page is important, but there is so much more out there in Facebook marketing. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't have a robust and engaging page. Just don't forget that there's more to your Facebook presence than the single marketing hub. Use Facebook the right way and you will find that it's better for getting your brand out there than you even imagined.

* * *

(This article originally appeared in Soshable but was definitely relevant for the automotive industry)

As more dealers and vendors start to understand the importance of link-building for organic search engine rankings, I get a lot of questions about anchor text. The actual text itself that's associated with the link is the anchor. It (as well as the link title) tell the search engines what the link is supposed to be about.

I'm often quoted from a 2008 Automotive SEO video as saying that "links are like votes". If links are votes telling the search engines which URL that site is "voting for", then the anchor text and titles tell the search engines which term your vote should count towards.

While most links are getting properly anchored, there are still a couple of questions that continue to pop up. I'll post some examples, but I'll use non-TK Carsites clients so it's not thought that this post is simply for our own SEO use. To those who get the links, consider it a gift.

Are links without anchors worthless? No. They still give credibility to the target sites and help indexing. It's not ideal, but it's better than nothing.

Are anchors completely targeted? In other words, if you write a post that includes a link to Kia Dealers Baltimore, does it only affect that exact keyword? No. The link itself will benefit "Kia Baltimore", "Baltimore Dealers", etc.

Another thing to consider in link-building is that size matters when it comes to anchor text. Going for a keyword like CT Toyota Dealer will require more links with that anchor than going for a term like Spray In Bed Liners Northern Kentucky. The shorter, more general the term, the more links will be required to make it rank.

As I've always said, links aren't everything. They should be natural, high-quality links, particularly with the changes coming to Google in the very near future. When in doubt, simply use the anchor text of something you want. If you're already ranked #1 for a keyword (such as your dealership name) then it doesn't do any good to use it as an anchor text.

You can't get any higher than #1.

As more dealers and vendors start to understand the importance of link-building for organic search engine rankings, I get a lot of questions about anchor text. The actual text itself that's associated with the link is the anchor. It (as well as the link title) tell the search engines what the link is supposed to be about.

I'm often quoted from a 2008 Automotive SEO video as saying that "links are like votes". If links are votes telling the search engines which URL that site is "voting for", then the anchor text and titles tell the search engines which term your vote should count towards.

While most links are getting properly anchored, there are still a couple of questions that continue to pop up. I'll post some examples, but I'll use non-TK Carsites clients so it's not thought that this post is simply for our own SEO use. To those who get the links, consider it a gift.

Are links without anchors worthless? No. They still give credibility to the target sites and help indexing. It's not ideal, but it's better than nothing.

Are anchors completely targeted? In other words, if you write a post that includes a link to Kia Dealers Baltimore, does it only affect that exact keyword? No. The link itself will benefit "Kia Baltimore", "Baltimore Dealers", etc.

Another thing to consider in link-building is that size matters when it comes to anchor text. Going for a keyword like CT Toyota Dealer will require more links with that anchor than going for a term like Spray In Bed Liners Northern Kentucky. The shorter, more general the term, the more links will be required to make it rank.

As I've always said, links aren't everything. They should be natural, high-quality links, particularly with the changes coming to Google in the very near future. When in doubt, simply use the anchor text of something you want. If you're already ranked #1 for a keyword (such as your dealership name) then it doesn't do any good to use it as an anchor text.

You can't get any higher than #1.

In 2012, there's a person you need to hire if you haven't already. Every dealership or dealer group that wants to succeed MUST hire a Digital Manager. I go into more details about what a digital manager does in a blog post on Techi, but here I want to shed some light on the differences between an internet manager/BDC manager and a true digital manager.

First, digital managers are more than just the person sitting on Twitter and Facebook all day. They should be using these as tools, certainly, but that should be only a small part of it. If your dealership has a full time social media person, that's great, but that's not the end of it. You need more.

You need content. Real content. You need pages added to your site constantly that are created by real people. Automated "SEO pages" are junk thanks to Google Panda (and I would happily debate that point with any vendor pushing the "more pages is better for SEO" rhetoric that simply doesn't work anymore). You need real pages. You need unique content. You need engaging content such as videos and infographics tied into compelling text and images.

You need a pro-active presence. If your focus is on building a strong Facebook page, you're completely missing the boat. It's not what happens on your page that matters nearly as much as what happens on other people's pages and profiles when they're talking about you. Are people talking to you and about your dealership in a positive manner multiple times a day? Are 50% of the people driving off the lot with a new car posting a picture of themselves on their Facebook pages and Twitter profiles? Is your dealership involved in some way with local discussions, other pages/profiles, and every publication that has a voice in your area?

Your internet manager and his/her team should be contacting all of the inbound leads. Your BDC should be contacting old customers. It's the digital manager and his/her team that should be contacting everyone else. They are the voice of the dealership. They are sending emails, texts, direct messages on social media, and every other new method of communication that's popping up, and they should be doing this daily.

Are you in complete control over your search engine presence or are you leaving it completely to your vendor. If you are leaving it to your vendor, are they reporting to you adequately, talking to you when the need arises and empowering you to contribute if you want (or to sit back and let them handle it of you don't)?

The subject of hiring a digital manager is so important and a single blog post cannot do it justice. If you have any questions or would like to learn more (keeping in mind, this is all about education and help - I'm not selling a "digital manager in a box" product or anything) about the most important move you'll want to make that will have the most dramatic impact on your business in 2012, please feel free to contact me (jrucker@tkcarsites.com).

I'm here to help.