Every few months, we see a dip in sentiment regarding social media. It's been going on consistently since early 2009 and we know that it will continue. Dealers try social, see little reason to continue, and set things on autopilot or abandon it altogether. Then, something changes that makes social media more important and the searches for "Automotive Social Media" spike again.

Get ready to do the search. Social just got more important again. A LOT more important.

During the Digital Marketing Strategies Conference in Napa last earlier this month, I gave a keynote that highlighted Google's commitment to social media (as soon as Jared, Bart, and Arnold send me the video, I'll be happy to post it here... hint, hint). Google reaffirmed that commitment in a big way earlier today that will change the way savvy dealers do social media.

Google Social Search is a game changer - even SearchEngineLand, a blog that is often conservative about the impact of Google changes, agrees. It will insert links into the natural search stream based upon social connections that share and produce those links. While social search itself has been around for nearly 2 years, it has always been a side-note buried at the bottom and likely unnoticed by most. Now, it has the potential to change the search results important to us with a single Tweet, review, or blog post.

With access to Beta, I did 2 searches for "Washington DC Chevrolet." The first, I did while not logged into Google, personalized search off and cookies cleared:

Then, I did the exact same search while logged into Google:

As you can see, a post by good friend Paul Rushing popped up at the top.

What does this mean for search and social? It means that social sentiment, which many dealers are paying attention to more regularly, just got that much more important. It means that dealers who are unprepared have the potential to see their search traffic drop, particularly if a competing dealer in the market is able to take advantage of this.

It means that YOU can beat them all to the punch and start getting prepared today before it rolls out fully.

I am in the middle of exhaustive research on the subject right now, but here are some key points to think about while you wait for our next version of the Automotive Social Media strategy guide:

• - Tweets Matter. A Lot. - Imagine a potential customer doing a search for one of your makes in your metro area (the most common new car search; "Denver Ford," for example). They under one of the results close to the top your dealership's listing. It's not at the top, but something catches their eye... Co-worker Debbie tweeted your dealership URL. They click through and see that 14 months ago, Debbie bought a car there and tweeted about how good her experience was. Bingo.
• - If You Thought Reviews Were Important Before... - As Google always does when they roll out new search features, we can expect expansion. While Facebook is almost completely out of the question for integration, reviews are definitely part of the equation. Same scenario as above, except replace "Tweet" with "RatePoint." Bingo again.
• - That Pesky Blogger... - Remember the guy who thought he'd wreck your business by posting on his blog about how you low-balled him on his trade? You were smart and covered your Google page one results to keep his post off, but now it's showing up again for hundreds, even thousands of people who are either connected to him or connected to someone who shared his post on social media.
• - Your Connections. - Now more than ever, having a strong and well-maintained Twitter account is important. Do you still have an RSS feed handling your Tweets, driving potential customers to unfollow you, or are you growing your account and being interesting? If the subtle, intrinsic benefits of Twitter didn't get your attention before, how about moving your website up to the top of hundreds of searches? Still want to automate?

I'm not going to sit here and say "I told you so." Not here. Not on Driving Sales. The dealers here represent the top echelon of automotive social media knowledge so you're probably taking advantage of social media in one way or another. Don't let up. Stay aggressive. Keep up with the changes.

And don't forget to bug Jared about getting me that video. It has some information that may further change the way you do your social media.

While dealers have been paying attention to social media for a couple of years now, it hasn't been until recently that the effort and investment has been put into hiring employees directly engaged in the field. It has been pushed off on Internet managers, sales people, and occasionally college-bound children of owners and general managers (more often than you probably know).

This infographic design by our friends at SocialCast puts the job into perspective in a way that will hopefully shed some light on what a full-time social manager's day looks like. We don't necessarily have to understand what it is that they're doing, but we definitely need to know that there is a distinct ROI involved.

When done right, there is.

While dealers have been paying attention to social media for a couple of years now, it hasn't been until recently that the effort and investment has been put into hiring employees directly engaged in the field. It has been pushed off on Internet managers, sales people, and occasionally college-bound children of owners and general managers (more often than you probably know).

This infographic design by our friends at SocialCast puts the job into perspective in a way that will hopefully shed some light on what a full-time social manager's day looks like. We don't necessarily have to understand what it is that they're doing, but we definitely need to know that there is a distinct ROI involved.

When done right, there is.

The Digital Marketing Strategies Conference in Napa is off to an amazing start. Following our presentation from Glenn Pasch, we moved to watch Alex Snyder from Dealer.com and DealerRefresh. We will be reviewing all 6 workshops over the next 2 days.

People Are Looking For Someone They Can Like or Trust

Quoting prices? Alex says no. There are so many prices out there that the need to quote a price every time is bogus. 97% of customers don't really need a price to get going. They simply want to know and like you.

Sean Stapleton from VinSolutions brought up a good point that giving at the very least a range of pricing to get it out there on the table ahead of time. Can you sell a car online? Stapleton says, "Yes."

The volley back and forth between the two auto-industry giants is extremely entertaining. They both seem right. It really depends on the personality of the dealership and the sales person, but not matter what, everyone agrees that people buy from other people who they like and trust.

No exceptions.

An Experiment

Alex told a story about how he moved to Vermont and became an avid snowboarder. He was interested in getting the stiffness rating on a Burton T7. He sent us on a mission to find the stiffness, which we did. After some time, several people found it.

Then, he asked, "What specials were on the homepage?"

Nobody knew.

The point (brilliantly made) was that when people visit websites, they're going to use navigation or a search box to find what they want. As an industry, we tend to overthink the front page of our websites and we don't take into account that simpler is often better. Give the consumer exactly what they want as quickly as they can by giving them search functionality and very few dropdown menu options. Otherwise, we're just confusing them.

CRM Architecture

The Internet manager should be a "CRM Architect." Having the control over what is happening at the dealership, how the leads come in, and where the sales eventually get listed will help put sanity into the Internet manager's job, particularly at month-end.

The industry is often stuck making "CRM excuses," blaming the software rather than the process. If you can architect the right process and test it to make sure the CRM is getting the information properly, there should be no way that poor (or no) information is plugged in.

The Simplest Way to Make a Change

Everything is tied into pay plan. If you want a change, you change it. It's that simple.

If your goal is to get more appointments, you set the appointment-setters' pay plan based around the number of appointments set, confirmed, and showed. Having bonuses tied into these numbers can help a dealership make things more efficient.

Note: Snyder mentioned that 2-3 minutes is optimal for these calls. Why not longer? "The art of talking yourself out of a deal" definitely applies.

The Inventory Workflow

Snyder put together an excellent visual depiction of how inventory flows from the floor to the Internet.

Visit the full review on our blog.

The Digital Marketing Strategies Conference in Napa is off to an amazing start. Following our presentation from Glenn Pasch, we moved to watch Alex Snyder from Dealer.com and DealerRefresh. We will be reviewing all 6 workshops over the next 2 days.

People Are Looking For Someone They Can Like or Trust

Quoting prices? Alex says no. There are so many prices out there that the need to quote a price every time is bogus. 97% of customers don't really need a price to get going. They simply want to know and like you.

Sean Stapleton from VinSolutions brought up a good point that giving at the very least a range of pricing to get it out there on the table ahead of time. Can you sell a car online? Stapleton says, "Yes."

The volley back and forth between the two auto-industry giants is extremely entertaining. They both seem right. It really depends on the personality of the dealership and the sales person, but not matter what, everyone agrees that people buy from other people who they like and trust.

No exceptions.

An Experiment

Alex told a story about how he moved to Vermont and became an avid snowboarder. He was interested in getting the stiffness rating on a Burton T7. He sent us on a mission to find the stiffness, which we did. After some time, several people found it.

Then, he asked, "What specials were on the homepage?"

Nobody knew.

The point (brilliantly made) was that when people visit websites, they're going to use navigation or a search box to find what they want. As an industry, we tend to overthink the front page of our websites and we don't take into account that simpler is often better. Give the consumer exactly what they want as quickly as they can by giving them search functionality and very few dropdown menu options. Otherwise, we're just confusing them.

CRM Architecture

The Internet manager should be a "CRM Architect." Having the control over what is happening at the dealership, how the leads come in, and where the sales eventually get listed will help put sanity into the Internet manager's job, particularly at month-end.

The industry is often stuck making "CRM excuses," blaming the software rather than the process. If you can architect the right process and test it to make sure the CRM is getting the information properly, there should be no way that poor (or no) information is plugged in.

The Simplest Way to Make a Change

Everything is tied into pay plan. If you want a change, you change it. It's that simple.

If your goal is to get more appointments, you set the appointment-setters' pay plan based around the number of appointments set, confirmed, and showed. Having bonuses tied into these numbers can help a dealership make things more efficient.

Note: Snyder mentioned that 2-3 minutes is optimal for these calls. Why not longer? "The art of talking yourself out of a deal" definitely applies.

The Inventory Workflow

Snyder put together an excellent visual depiction of how inventory flows from the floor to the Internet.

Visit the full review on our blog.

Wait, what? It's still 2010.

Next week is, for those who are strategically minded and who understand how marketing works realize that next week is the last full week that we can dedicate completely to putting together our plans for 2011. The following week is Thanksgiving, the beginning of the crazy season we know as "The Holidays".

What normally happens in our industry is this: we know that we as Internet Managers, General Managers, and Dealer Principals must make some decisions about our marketing budgets for 2011. We think, "It's mid-November, so I have to get on that soon."

Then, every year, so many go through knowing that with over a month until 2011, they will be able to sit down and make it happen in an hour, maybe two. Others think they can put a full-day effort in sometime in December.

For most, it doesn't happen, at least not the right way. Thanksgiving happens, then the end-of-the-month push, then the beginning-of-the-month push, then the end-of-the-year push, then Christmas, then the end-of-the-month push, and all of a sudden it's 2011.

Next week (this week if you're reading this on Monday), spend time every day evaluating and planning. If you don't, there's a strong chance you will go into 2011 with a poorly laid plan (or no plan at all). Here's what you should do:

Call Every Vendor You Have

Find out what's coming down the pipe. Have a conversation and discuss contract dates, new things in 2011, pricing changes... anything that will influence your decision about whether to keep them, spend less with them, or spend more with them. Estimate how much you'll be spending with them on a monthly basis (even if you don't pay them monthly) and put it on a spreadsheet.

Call Every Vendor You're Considering

Starting social media in 2011? What about mobile marketing? Expanding your budget? Need more lead providers? Make a list of everything that you are considering for 2011 and call them. You don't have to make decisions next week, but if you have an idea that you will be expanding your classified listings beyond Autotrader.com and Cars.com, for example, then make a list and start calling the options. Get a proposal. You may not have time to take a pitch this week, but at least get a proposal and have an understanding of them as an option. Be sure to let them know that you're looking at them for the following year so expectations are set up front.

Read. A Lot.

After next week, you will have limited time until 2011 to start reading about the different marketing options out there. You're on Driving Sales now - we can assume that here and in other places you will be able to find information, testimonials, and peer opinions about different tactics, vendors, and styles.

Ask. A Lot.

You have access to forums and social networks that have other dealers and vendors willing to answer questions. Get the opinion on this vendor, that marketing venue, and other emerging strategies that you may want to consider.

* * *

This process takes a couple of hours a day, but if you don't do it this week, there's a good chance that you won't be able to do it in one continuous motion the rest of the year. Marketing technologies are emerging while others are dying. Techniques that worked in 2010 won't work next year, while others that were blips in 2010 will be huge in 2011.

We will be posting more about a 2011 Automotive Internet Marketing Strategy in the days and weeks to come, but don't wait for us. Start your research now. It may not happen at all if you don't.

Wait, what? It's still 2010.

Next week is, for those who are strategically minded and who understand how marketing works realize that next week is the last full week that we can dedicate completely to putting together our plans for 2011. The following week is Thanksgiving, the beginning of the crazy season we know as "The Holidays".

What normally happens in our industry is this: we know that we as Internet Managers, General Managers, and Dealer Principals must make some decisions about our marketing budgets for 2011. We think, "It's mid-November, so I have to get on that soon."

Then, every year, so many go through knowing that with over a month until 2011, they will be able to sit down and make it happen in an hour, maybe two. Others think they can put a full-day effort in sometime in December.

For most, it doesn't happen, at least not the right way. Thanksgiving happens, then the end-of-the-month push, then the beginning-of-the-month push, then the end-of-the-year push, then Christmas, then the end-of-the-month push, and all of a sudden it's 2011.

Next week (this week if you're reading this on Monday), spend time every day evaluating and planning. If you don't, there's a strong chance you will go into 2011 with a poorly laid plan (or no plan at all). Here's what you should do:

Call Every Vendor You Have

Find out what's coming down the pipe. Have a conversation and discuss contract dates, new things in 2011, pricing changes... anything that will influence your decision about whether to keep them, spend less with them, or spend more with them. Estimate how much you'll be spending with them on a monthly basis (even if you don't pay them monthly) and put it on a spreadsheet.

Call Every Vendor You're Considering

Starting social media in 2011? What about mobile marketing? Expanding your budget? Need more lead providers? Make a list of everything that you are considering for 2011 and call them. You don't have to make decisions next week, but if you have an idea that you will be expanding your classified listings beyond Autotrader.com and Cars.com, for example, then make a list and start calling the options. Get a proposal. You may not have time to take a pitch this week, but at least get a proposal and have an understanding of them as an option. Be sure to let them know that you're looking at them for the following year so expectations are set up front.

Read. A Lot.

After next week, you will have limited time until 2011 to start reading about the different marketing options out there. You're on Driving Sales now - we can assume that here and in other places you will be able to find information, testimonials, and peer opinions about different tactics, vendors, and styles.

Ask. A Lot.

You have access to forums and social networks that have other dealers and vendors willing to answer questions. Get the opinion on this vendor, that marketing venue, and other emerging strategies that you may want to consider.

* * *

This process takes a couple of hours a day, but if you don't do it this week, there's a good chance that you won't be able to do it in one continuous motion the rest of the year. Marketing technologies are emerging while others are dying. Techniques that worked in 2010 won't work next year, while others that were blips in 2010 will be huge in 2011.

We will be posting more about a 2011 Automotive Internet Marketing Strategy in the days and weeks to come, but don't wait for us. Start your research now. It may not happen at all if you don't.

For over a year, I've worn two hats. As Director of New Media for TK Carsites, it's my job to make sure that our marketing products that support websites for dealers (namely SEO and Social Media) are supercharged and kicking tail. My team is stronger than it's ever been and things have been rocking along for some time now.

As President of Hasai, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of TK Carsites, we've worked with major companies and publications to spread their content virally, sending around 11 million pageviews per month to just under 25 websites.

Hasai hit a "tipping point" recently where it is able to run well without much of my personal bandwidth being spent on it. As a result, I've been focusing nearly all of my time on analyzing and breaking down the automotive industry's needs and "feel the pulse" of dealers as a whole.

A couple of  weeks ago, I came to a conclusion that was (thankfully) wrong.

During October's string of conferences, social media was the message that many were spreading. It's big. It's growing. Dealers need it.

For their own part, most dealers that approached us were asking about Power Social more than our other two core services (SEO and Websites). I came to the conclusion that dealers may be losing sight of the most important parts of their marketing strategy in favor of the "sexy" potential of social media.

Then, Google made their changes. We held an emergency webinar to discuss how dealers can take advantage of these changes, and I was shocked. Rather than have to convince very many that they cannot take their eye off the SEO ball, HUNDREDS of dealers reached out and contacted us about the webinar and actions they needed to take. Despite having less than 24 hours notice (we didn't want to wait for the next scheduled webinar so we announced it the day before), this was our most discussed and attended webinar and the discussion points keep pouring in.

We will be breaking down the webinar (it turned into a 2-hour discussion with questions flying in throughout) and posting the highlights and action points here on Driving Sales. I was so tremendously encouraged that despite all of the hype surround social media, despite all of the vendors pushing social, social, social, that dealers haven't forgotten that SEO is still the meat and potatoes.

I'm a social media guy. As such, I know that it can be a tremendous tool and I've seen dealers do some incredible things with it. Still, SEO is the key to long- and short-term success. SEO is the "must have" and social media is the "should have". The hype from vendors (us included) at October's conferences made me question whether or not that message was still being heard.

Thankfully, dealers answered that question last week.

* * *

Read more about Automotive Digital Marketing

For over a year, I've worn two hats. As Director of New Media for TK Carsites, it's my job to make sure that our marketing products that support websites for dealers (namely SEO and Social Media) are supercharged and kicking tail. My team is stronger than it's ever been and things have been rocking along for some time now.

As President of Hasai, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of TK Carsites, we've worked with major companies and publications to spread their content virally, sending around 11 million pageviews per month to just under 25 websites.

Hasai hit a "tipping point" recently where it is able to run well without much of my personal bandwidth being spent on it. As a result, I've been focusing nearly all of my time on analyzing and breaking down the automotive industry's needs and "feel the pulse" of dealers as a whole.

A couple of  weeks ago, I came to a conclusion that was (thankfully) wrong.

During October's string of conferences, social media was the message that many were spreading. It's big. It's growing. Dealers need it.

For their own part, most dealers that approached us were asking about Power Social more than our other two core services (SEO and Websites). I came to the conclusion that dealers may be losing sight of the most important parts of their marketing strategy in favor of the "sexy" potential of social media.

Then, Google made their changes. We held an emergency webinar to discuss how dealers can take advantage of these changes, and I was shocked. Rather than have to convince very many that they cannot take their eye off the SEO ball, HUNDREDS of dealers reached out and contacted us about the webinar and actions they needed to take. Despite having less than 24 hours notice (we didn't want to wait for the next scheduled webinar so we announced it the day before), this was our most discussed and attended webinar and the discussion points keep pouring in.

We will be breaking down the webinar (it turned into a 2-hour discussion with questions flying in throughout) and posting the highlights and action points here on Driving Sales. I was so tremendously encouraged that despite all of the hype surround social media, despite all of the vendors pushing social, social, social, that dealers haven't forgotten that SEO is still the meat and potatoes.

I'm a social media guy. As such, I know that it can be a tremendous tool and I've seen dealers do some incredible things with it. Still, SEO is the key to long- and short-term success. SEO is the "must have" and social media is the "should have". The hype from vendors (us included) at October's conferences made me question whether or not that message was still being heard.

Thankfully, dealers answered that question last week.

* * *

Read more about Automotive Digital Marketing

Many will call me crazy. Some will say that I'm recommending "bending the rules". Some will say that it's too risky.

You may be right, but we're recommending it anyway. When individual employees such as Internet Managers, Sales Managers, and Salespeople utilize their Facebook profiles to enhance dealership exposure and engagement, there are many benefits that can happen. There are risks, yes, but a properly trained staff given the tools to succeed can help a dealership go to the next level in social media marketing.

Below is a video tip that is part of the TK Power Social package. We made this one visible to the public because I really want to hear feedback on whether the benefits of direct Facebook engagement between employees and customers is something that should be encouraged.