What is your dealerships’ story?

If you were asked on an elevator to describe your dealerships’ brand what would you say? You sell XYZ products? If that’s your answer great, but more than likely if found in the same situation your competition would say the exact same thing. If that’s the case what separates you from them?

Crafting, developing and understanding your dealerships story is important for it’s what separates us from our competition; It’s what makes us unique and in some cases remarkable. If you’re having trouble understanding why or how you should be using Facebook, Twitter, [insert tool here] it’s because you have yet to discover your dealerships story. Those social tools are designed to be an avenue for you to tell a story. A unique story. Your story.

Here’s an example:

Circa 2009 Lebanon Ford’s slogan/motto was “changing the way you feel about buying a car”. I won’t even begin to explain all the things I can’t stand about this motto/slogan. With that being said I set out to craft something that was deep and meaningful. With some help from a six pack and an overly cooked grilled cheese sandwich I came up with…

Connect. Engage. Drive.

Connect to exceed expectations. Engage to grow relationships. Drive to build trust

Connect. Engage. Drive.  shapes and encompasses everything we do at Lebanon Ford, those are our core values, and what separates us from you. It is our story. What’s yours?

What is your dealerships’ story?

If you were asked on an elevator to describe your dealerships’ brand what would you say? You sell XYZ products? If that’s your answer great, but more than likely if found in the same situation your competition would say the exact same thing. If that’s the case what separates you from them?

Crafting, developing and understanding your dealerships story is important for it’s what separates us from our competition; It’s what makes us unique and in some cases remarkable. If you’re having trouble understanding why or how you should be using Facebook, Twitter, [insert tool here] it’s because you have yet to discover your dealerships story. Those social tools are designed to be an avenue for you to tell a story. A unique story. Your story.

Here’s an example:

Circa 2009 Lebanon Ford’s slogan/motto was “changing the way you feel about buying a car”. I won’t even begin to explain all the things I can’t stand about this motto/slogan. With that being said I set out to craft something that was deep and meaningful. With some help from a six pack and an overly cooked grilled cheese sandwich I came up with…

Connect. Engage. Drive.

Connect to exceed expectations. Engage to grow relationships. Drive to build trust

Connect. Engage. Drive.  shapes and encompasses everything we do at Lebanon Ford, those are our core values, and what separates us from you. It is our story. What’s yours?

Stop thinking like this...

and starting thinking like this....

Social media tools by themselves (e.g.. Facebook in this case) aren't really all that important. Stop focusing solely on the tool and begin to understand how that tool fits into your overall marketing ecosystem. Sleep, eat, think... Synergy.  

Stop thinking like this...

and starting thinking like this....

Social media tools by themselves (e.g.. Facebook in this case) aren't really all that important. Stop focusing solely on the tool and begin to understand how that tool fits into your overall marketing ecosystem. Sleep, eat, think... Synergy.  

You may have experienced this before, especially those who’ve recently decided to get serious about social media for your dealership. It’s that feeling when all your social platforms are open on your browser and you catch yourself just clicking back and forth between all of them without a purpose. Like a mindless zombie you’re just “there” in front of your computer, refreshing your Twitter or Facebook feeds contributing nothing of value to others, yourself, or society.

What you are experiencing is Social Media Overload. A very similar feeling to when you try to make sense of the Universe and your significance within it. It starts off by asking yourself “am I using this correctly?” followed by “I have no idea what I’m doing on Twitter!” and then caps off with “am I, and all this Social Media hubbub really worth it?”. Sometimes being social can be a bit overwhelming, here are 5 tips to help prevent Social Media Overload:

1) Keep your strategy in the back of your head. You do have a strategy right? This will help you maintain your focus on the bigger picture. If you don’t have it memorized, keep it close at hand.

2) Only bite off what you can chew. If you’re having trouble managing 10 social platforms at your dealership determine if all 10 of those are truly necessary. You may find you should only be focusing on three of them. If a social network doesn’t pass the “why” test than don’t waste your time with it.

3) Set aside 10, 15, 30, or 45 solid minutes in-which you close all your browser windows and focus solely on writing a blog post or engaging on one social platform (if you have ADD like me, this will help out greatly).

4) Get into a rhythm with content creation and engagement. This will not only help you stay on track but it will help your followers as well. Keep in mind everyone’s rhythm will be different so your mileage may vary. If you’re writing blog content in-house set up an editorial calendar for you and others to follow.

5) If you start to get to the point where you’re cursing your boss for this added responsibility, or feel like there’s no hope. Take a step back, grab a cup of water, and go for a little walk. This little escape can be extremely helpful to a healthy mental state.

6) What would you add for the 6^th tip?

You may have experienced this before, especially those who’ve recently decided to get serious about social media for your dealership. It’s that feeling when all your social platforms are open on your browser and you catch yourself just clicking back and forth between all of them without a purpose. Like a mindless zombie you’re just “there” in front of your computer, refreshing your Twitter or Facebook feeds contributing nothing of value to others, yourself, or society.

What you are experiencing is Social Media Overload. A very similar feeling to when you try to make sense of the Universe and your significance within it. It starts off by asking yourself “am I using this correctly?” followed by “I have no idea what I’m doing on Twitter!” and then caps off with “am I, and all this Social Media hubbub really worth it?”. Sometimes being social can be a bit overwhelming, here are 5 tips to help prevent Social Media Overload:

1) Keep your strategy in the back of your head. You do have a strategy right? This will help you maintain your focus on the bigger picture. If you don’t have it memorized, keep it close at hand.

2) Only bite off what you can chew. If you’re having trouble managing 10 social platforms at your dealership determine if all 10 of those are truly necessary. You may find you should only be focusing on three of them. If a social network doesn’t pass the “why” test than don’t waste your time with it.

3) Set aside 10, 15, 30, or 45 solid minutes in-which you close all your browser windows and focus solely on writing a blog post or engaging on one social platform (if you have ADD like me, this will help out greatly).

4) Get into a rhythm with content creation and engagement. This will not only help you stay on track but it will help your followers as well. Keep in mind everyone’s rhythm will be different so your mileage may vary. If you’re writing blog content in-house set up an editorial calendar for you and others to follow.

5) If you start to get to the point where you’re cursing your boss for this added responsibility, or feel like there’s no hope. Take a step back, grab a cup of water, and go for a little walk. This little escape can be extremely helpful to a healthy mental state.

6) What would you add for the 6^th tip?

Craig Lockerd, for the love of all that is good and holy stop spamming the Driving Sales blog feed. That is all.

Craig Lockerd, for the love of all that is good and holy stop spamming the Driving Sales blog feed. That is all.

I wrote this little piece on my other blog, Social Blade and thought it might be helpful to those dealers getting serious about Social Media Marketing in 2011...

Too often I see my fellow dealers jump into the Social Media pool without fully understanding why. Which can be mistake since the why question tends to be the most important one to answer. The how and what are easy, but we tend to shy away from the why because it’s hard to think about and difficult to answer. Or worse, we don’t know the right why questions to ask. Here's a sample of "why" questions to ask yourself:

Why are we on [Insert Social Media Platform]?

Why are our customers on [Insert Social Media Platform]?

Why would our customers follow/like us online?

Why are we investing our time and resources?

Why are we monitoring conversation?

Why are we directing conversation?

Why are we creating conversation?

Why are we measuring ROI?

Why should we synergize our Social Media, SEO and Traditional Media Marketing?

Why are our competitors… [Insert Above Questions]

Keep in mind the answers to why questions will be unique and specific for your dealership. But, You’ll find having the ability to answer the why makes the how and what that much easier. For the Why is what will determine the two.

I wrote this little piece on my other blog, Social Blade and thought it might be helpful to those dealers getting serious about Social Media Marketing in 2011...

Too often I see my fellow dealers jump into the Social Media pool without fully understanding why. Which can be mistake since the why question tends to be the most important one to answer. The how and what are easy, but we tend to shy away from the why because it’s hard to think about and difficult to answer. Or worse, we don’t know the right why questions to ask. Here's a sample of "why" questions to ask yourself:

Why are we on [Insert Social Media Platform]?

Why are our customers on [Insert Social Media Platform]?

Why would our customers follow/like us online?

Why are we investing our time and resources?

Why are we monitoring conversation?

Why are we directing conversation?

Why are we creating conversation?

Why are we measuring ROI?

Why should we synergize our Social Media, SEO and Traditional Media Marketing?

Why are our competitors… [Insert Above Questions]

Keep in mind the answers to why questions will be unique and specific for your dealership. But, You’ll find having the ability to answer the why makes the how and what that much easier. For the Why is what will determine the two.