Experience and Relationships are the Building Blocks of Your Brand

Ask most people what they think of walking into a dealership to buy a new car, and you’ll get a variety of reactions rangingfrom nervous jitters to hyperventilation all the way to a raging case of hives—not exactly promising conditions for anyone, let alone for the salesperson who is left to attempt to sell a vehicle.  There are many reasons for the extreme reactions peoplehave when it comes to buying cars, but they all relate in some way to the sales process and what people perceive as high-pressure sales tactics.  Traditionally, people have come to expect high-pressure tactics whenever they head to the dealership,so what would happen if you were to surprise them and instead offer an environment where shoppers felt comfortable and at ease while purchasing a vehicle? 

By leveraging your employees’ social contacts and reaching out to friends and family—not through high-pressure sales, but instead by way of offering support, information, and assistance when the time comes to purchase—you can provide a more comfortable car-buying experience for shoppers.  In addition to the friends and acquaintances your employees already have,they can work to create an even larger network by building a brand based on trust, reliability, and a good reputation.  Whenyour dealership places a greater emphasis on building relationships rather than solely on the high-pressure sale, you will begin to build a loyal customer base that will return for repeat vehicle purchases, repairs, and maintenance.

Building relationships is a task that takes dedication, time, and above all—a plan.  Now, more than ever, your focus should revolve around an online platform and reaching out to potential customers on social networks like Facebook and Twitter. When customers walk into your dealership after having formed an online relationship with you, they will feel more at ease.  If you’re not exactly sure how to get started, we’ve put together a list of best practices and helpful tips so you can begin to create the EPIC CAR-BUYING EXPERIENCE for your customers:

• Build an online community, starting with Facebook and Twitter.  Focus on these major game-changing sites first and ensureyou have profiles filled out for your dealership, complete with professional photos of your staff and information regardingyour business.  Don’t forget to link back to your website so that customers can easily navigate online.

• Deliver quality content.  Be prepared to provide content your potential customers will find useful as they research online.  Remember the 80/20 rule when it comes to planning your content calendar.  Plan so that 80% of your content includes poststhat don’t promote your dealership; in other words, post content that is enlightening, entertaining, and just plain fun for your readers, but don’t hit them in the face with selling vehicles or service.  Save the other 20% of your content for promoting yourbusiness; post service specials, financing offers, or new inventory that might be of interest.  Consumers will be more likely to tune in to your posts and stay connected when they aren’t overwhelmed by constant selling.

• Stay connected.  You are connecting with new people every day via your online social networks, and you will grow yourfollowing by continuing to post relevant content.  Be sure to post regularly.  One way to ensure this happens is to create and follow a content calendar, which can keep you organized and serve as a reminder to update your online networks.

• Interact with the people in your networks.  Instead of always talking toward your audience, why not interact and talk withyour network?  Consider taking a poll, starting a conversation about a popular topic, or getting people involved in a friendly online competition.  These are all ways of asking your audience to participate with you and showing them you are interestedin what they have to say.

• Read and engage with others’ posts.  Use your online networks as a resource and find out what people are thinking, whattheir opinions are on certain topics, and even what they are looking for when it comes to certain shopping experiences.  Occasionally even toss out some questions to get specific feedback—and listen intently to what consumers say.

You are making connections and maintaining friendships with your online social circles, and in turn, those individuals will feelmore comfortable when they set foot in your dealership because they will have a feeling they already know you.  Not to mention, every connection you make can result in word of mouth marketing that is priceless in the online marketing age.  Weall know that word spreads quickly, but especially online, it’s important to maintain your presence, be vigilant, and provide quality content so that consumers are able to share and drive even more shoppers to your site.

If you are a bit hesitant to jump into the social media realm and start planning your strategy, you need to remember that your competitors don’t share that hesitancy.  They are already using the power of social media to propel their dealerships to thenext level.  In fact, 8 out of 10 small businesses today are using social media to expand their business growth, with 3 out of 5of those respondents saying they have gained new customers by doing so.  Both from word of mouth advertising and by leveraging the already-existing relationships your employees have with their online connections, the possibilities are endlesswhen it comes to the business you can bring to your dealership.

With Facebook being the most visited social media site, you can be sure your presence there (or lack thereof) has a huge impact on your business.  Additionally, it’s important to note that businesses on Twitter are thriving, with 53% of peoplerecommending companies and products on this site alone.  By increasing your online presence, your dealership can focus on forming meaningful relationships with consumers and taking the necessary steps toward building a better bottom linethrough consumer trust and knowledge.  Remember, you are earning trust and building friendships, so that when potential customers step into your dealership, they will feel more at home, relaxed, and ready to do business.

Providing an epic buying experience is up to you.  In today’s social media marketing age, it starts by getting to know your customer online, becoming familiar with his or her needs, and offering relevant content that will educate and promote loyaltyto your brand.  But it doesn’t stop there.  It continues onto the showroom floor, and everything you do—from your initial online contact to your service at the dealership—must reflect your desire to provide the ultimate in customer care.  You are not just making a sale; you are building a relationship.

Epic Ways to Tell Your Brand Story

Storytelling is what sets your brand apart when it comes to communicating to your consumers what you’re really all about. Anyone can tell people what they do.  And anyone can tell shoppers what they sell.  The secret lies in telling your brand story—who you are, why you are, what you are—in a way that resonates and makes it all meaningful to consumers.  The WAY youtell your story will stick with people and determine the success of your business.  It’s up to you, and it’s all about the story youtell.

There is a Native American proverb that states, “Those who tell the stories rule the world.”  This rings true in business, especially as the marketplace becomes more crowded with businesses struggling to be seen by consumers.  Consider the likelihood that in many businesses or dealerships, the products and services being served up to the public are much thesame as those being offered by competitors, and if all else is equal, what is to make a business stand apart?

Stories define your dealership.

Stories form the backbone of all you are offering consumers as a collection of products, services, and capabilities; and bestof all the stories that are part of your dealership are unique to you.  By weaving together a picture of ideas and experiences,you are creating a meaningful relationship with customers that will help to form a bond built on loyalty and trust.  Rather than simply selling your wares, you are building a brand presence and gaining solid footing with customers who will find your business more credible and trustworthy because they feel a connection to you through your story. 

All that sounds great, but many may still be wondering how to go about the actual storytelling.  When you think about the factthat storytelling is a natural thing that has been around as long as we can remember, it helps to put things into perspectiveand make this whole “telling” and “resonating” thing sound a little more doable.  A story is the way a person (or business) chooses to tell about his or her journey, and it encompasses all the events and meaningful characters that have played a partalong the way.  Your story is what will compel shoppers to choose your dealership over the many others that are vying fortheir business. 

Storytelling has always been an intrinsic part of society.  It is the way we pass along information, remember history, and influence people—and when it comes to business, the art of storytelling is much the same.  When you consider how you willtell the story of your dealership, keep in mind the things you most want your customers to know.

Show them how you are unique.  What does your dealership do that is unique to make it stand out in the community?  Do yousupport local high school teams?  Do you regularly hold events like car-care clinics to help educate the public?  Are you activewith a local pet adoption program?  Share with your shoppers the things that make you a local original and be sure to inviteyour customers to join in when you sponsor events.  The best way to grow and be recognized is to continue to spread theword about the great things you are doing.  You aren’t like everyone else.  Your story is unique, so let it shine!

Use social media to broadcast your story. You probably don’t have too many customers who aren’t on social media, so if youwant your story to be heard, you’ll need to go where the people are.  Brush up your online skills, hone your brand voice, andtake to your online platform—because that’s where your audience is hanging out.  Start with Facebook and Twitter and besure to get visual.  Online audiences like pictures, videos, and infographics!

Inspire customers with your culture. When customers walk into a place of business that has a great culture, they know it. How?  They know it because they can feel it.  They are immediately greeted by engaged employees who are happy to be doing their jobs, and instead of walking into a dealership where everyone is simply going through the motions, they walk into a car-buying experience.  When the foundation of your dealership is a culture of excellence and engagement, it is evident to everyone who walks through the showroom doors.  This is part of your story, and it is told by the people who form the dealership culture every day.

Share your dealership’s history.  Is your dealership family-owned?  Does it come from a long line of proud, hard-working localmen and women?  Whatever the history of your dealership, be proud to share it with your customers.  They will find a bondwith the feeling of family and the reminder that you are a part of the hometown history they share. 

Offer to solve customer problems.  Customers appreciate it when you understand their frustrations.  You become a part oftheir story when you empathize and understand where they are coming from.  There aren’t many things as frustrating as car problems—from repairs to financing to maintenance—so when a dealership can step in and smooth the way, it is recognizedand appreciated.

Stand for something. What does your dealership stand for?  Does your maintenance department unequivocally offer the fastest tire rotations in town?  Then stand for that!  But if your dealership offers a customer experience that is out-of-this-world and amazing, then stand for that.  Whatever it is you stand for, make it known.  The thing you stand for should be woven into every part of your dealership; it is your story, so talk about it.

Tell it here, tell it there, tell it everywhere. Your story is something you are proud of; in fact everyone in your dealershipshould be proud of it.  It should be shared with everyone who sets foot in the dealership, and every employee should be encouraged to shout it from the mountaintops—or at least on Facebook and Twitter.  Your employees have a MUCH greater online reach than your dealership alone, so encourage them to spread your story and be proud of the dealership where theywork.  After all, it’s not just a dealership; it’s a story.

Listen to your customers’ stories.  From feedback to buyers’ angst to financing woes, whatever your customers are tellingyou is part of their story.  When your dealership becomes a good listener, it will help your bottom line.  You will be able tobetter receive and respond to feedback, both online and in person, and you will be able to react quickly to shopper needs and requests, allowing you to be a more responsive sales leader.  It’s a win-win when you become a great listener as well as agreat storyteller.

Remember, your brand is your story.  And in order for a story to be interesting and engaging, there are several elements to consider.  Don’t forget the details and don’t forget your brand’s personality.  Remember to surround your customers with the experiences and culture of your dealership, and you will be giving them a way to emotionally connect with your brand.  By infusing your brand with personality, you are refusing to get lost in the sea of dealerships and marketing messages that areout there today, and customers will recognize your dealership for the clearly-defined brand story it provides.  Be epic in your storytelling and be authentic; your dealership will thank you for it.

Putting Social Media to Work at Your Dealership

There are two opposing schools of thought regarding social media and business; some believe social media can boost your brand into orbit, while others are steadfast in their belief that no amount of social media interaction will have an effect on your success. After reading this article, you’ll not only know why this argument exists, but you’ll also finally get an answer to your questions about whether social media really can work to boost your brand.

The purpose of social media is to be social. It’s all about sharing and having conversations and interactions with a community of individuals who share your interests. When it comes to your business, social media’s purpose is much the same. Your goals are to interact with others, build a community, find potential leads, and grow awareness of your brand. When your dealership decides on a game plan for implementing social media as a marketing tool, it is important to remember that, although it is a powerful way to reach an exponentially higher number of consumers, it must be done correctly in order for it to be successful.

For Brands, There’s a Right Way and a Wrong Way

The varying opinions regarding the success of social media for brand growth stem from the fact that dealerships everywhere take different approaches toward using social media outlets. Some businesses dive into the social realm without a plan and continually post memes or selfies as their way of updating a page. Other dealerships feel it’s in their best interests to bombard consumers with pictures of inventory and updated sales specials. A few take the time to lay out a well-planned platform that consists of a social media calendar, professionally curated content that is interesting to their potential consumers, and interact frequently by engaging consumers on popular social media forums like Facebook and Twitter. Any guesses as to which method is most successful?

If you guessed the dealership that is actively planning and interacting with potential consumers is the most successful, you are correct. While it’s easy to throw content onto social media, true engagement with your consumers requires careful planning and reflection regarding what is really important to your audience. There is a right way to do social and a not-so-right way to do social, and those who are speaking out and saying it doesn’t work for dealerships are likely not doing social the right way.

Doing Social Right

Dealerships already know they have an uphill battle to climb when it comes to gaining and maintaining a pristine reputation in the eyes of their consumers. After all, we’ve seen the slick car commercials that run on TV, and we’ve all received the “winning” scratch-off ticket in our mailboxes that promises a brand-new car if we just visit the local lot, right? So upstanding businesses that are working to gain consumer trust have a hard battle ahead of them when it comes to convincing people of their authenticity. Social media can be the key to engaging shoppers and strengthening relationships if it’s done right. So what is right? Check out some tips to get you started:

• Connect with shoppers. The majority of shoppers do online research before going to a dealership, and since you are working to build your brand, you need to be where the shoppers are. Get in front of potential sales by being online where the customers are and provide content, feedback, and interaction that is relevant. This will position you as the expert and keep you top-of-mind with shoppers.

• Post great content. Post professionally curated, relevant content that grabs the attention of your consumers. By positioning yourself as a subject-matter expert, you will be seen as the dealership to go to when it’s time to buy.

• Build relationships. By making your online interactions about your customers and potential customers, rather than solely about products, you will build valuable business relationships. Instead of just talking toward your audience, be sure to engage them in online conversations and interact with them.

• Respond to feedback. Negative online feedback is unavoidable, but no matter the feedback your business gets, be sure to respond to it in a professional manner and offer practical solutions to help in every situation. Remember, everything online is visible by potential customers, and the way you react and respond affects your future business.

• Be consistent. Once you develop an online following, your posts will be expected. Be sure to provide content on a regular basis to keep people coming back for more.

• Use images, videos, and infographics. Today’s world moves quickly, and online users prefer posts that are clear and concise; images help to make a post quickly understandable and also entertaining. Posts with images get more interaction!

• Personality is important. Build your online profile; whether it’s on Facebook, Twitter, or the myriad other social sites you can choose from, be sure to let consumers know who you are, what your business stands for, and how they can contact you.

• Think culture and engagement. When you build a culture every employee is proud of, you’ll end up with a dealership full of engaged employees, and that means every employee will want to share things on social media. Encourage that and leverage the power of positive social word of mouth. Your employees are a valuable tool, and engaged employees will be excited to help grow the business.

• Authenticity is key. Remember to be yourself and reflect your brand when you reach out to customers via social media. You will be reminding your audience your dealership is unique, is present where they are shopping and researching, and is the expert in the subject matter they are researching.

It makes sense that people disagree regarding whether or not social media works for building business, because the truthful answer is actually complicated. Social media will do amazing things for your business…if it is done right. If it’s not done right, it will fall flat. Overloading consumers with content that isn’t relevant or that doesn’t resonate with their current needs will end up getting you unfriended faster than you can click the refresh button. However, if you take the time and plan content that truly speaks to consumer needs, and if you engage consumers with topics that interest them, the time you spend planning your social media marketing will be well spent. You will end up building your customer base, increasing loyalty, and positioning yourself as the expert in your area. Simply stated, social media works if it’s done right.

Consistency is Key: Branding with Purpose

Bruce Springsteen once said, “Sustaining an audience is hard. It demands a consistency of thought, of purpose, and of action over a long period of time.” Although he was referring to his journey to fame, his thoughts are very applicable to maintaininga consistent brand. Establishing brand consistency within a dealership is about more than just creating rules and setting the standards. Keeping a consistent brand image means you must uniformly brand yourself to your potential customers andcurrent, loyal buyers. Brand consistency significantly impacts your brand recognition and leading to more sales. There are two ways dealerships can demonstrate brand consistency—cultivating a social culture and delivering customer experience.

Social Culture Strategy

To achieve consistency, successful brands are careful to deliver messages that build familiarity. Whether it’s social media or a print ad, a strong brand will have a consistent look, feel and tone. The modern automotive dealership must begin branding from the inside out.  Focused efforts to cultivate a social culture and leverage the influence of employees begins with effectively communicating the core mission, vision and values of your brand.  Engaged leaders and their employees have the power to create a credible and authentic marketing channel.  A dealership culture of engaged employee advocates will reach a far broader audience than you could ever gain from paid advertising!  

Think of the brands who have gained your loyalty.  What kind of employees work for them?  Are they passionate about the brand and do they share what’s great about the brand they represent?  Brands like Southwest Airlines, Starbucks, Zappos and more place the highest value on creating a social culture and the proof is in the bottom line.

Although dealerships may not work exactly like the brands mentioned above, they can still improve the way they present themselves to customers by investing in their employees, offering tools for engaging with consumers at the top of the sales funnel and empowering them with consistent communication so they feel connected to the mission of your brand and excited to share it! Dealerships who want to stay competitive in the digital age must invest in the people they’ve charged with carrying out their growth strategies and goals.  It is no longer enough to buy a bigger ad or have cooler business cards.  Branding begins inside the dealership and from there it is carried forward by the people behind it.  

Customer Experience

Creating a consistently excellent customer experience is essential to a dealership’s success. In the automotive industry, consumers can find the same cars anywhere they search, but customer experience is what sets dealerships apart. Consistency on the customer journey is an important predictor of overall customer experience and loyalty. A customer journey spans all elements of a company and is most directly impacted by the level of employee engagement. To maintainconsistency, dealerships need tools and teams in place that allow them to quickly respond to customer needs and concerns.  Proper training ensures employees know their role in the customer experience, and the right tools provide them with effective strategies for stepping in when needed. When you have done the work of cultivating a social culture, every employee will know how, and have the tools to deliver a consistently excellent customer experience because they understand the values and mission guiding them.  Trust is gained or lost in every customer interaction, so empowering teams to meet customer needs is critical. When customers know what to expect, or better yet, know the people who work for a dealership, they will demonstrate loyalty. 

Customer experience is driven by the combination of promises made and promises kept by a dealership. Brands must deliver on the promised values of their brand in addition to the deals and promotions they advertise.  This will require a proactive strategy for sharing content that highlights the goals of the brand and the delivery of brand promises. 

Since a customer journey often touches different parts of the organization, companies need to rewire themselves and re-engage from the top down.  Everyone in your dealership must understand how they contribute, either positively or negatively, to the customer journey from beginning to end. Dealerships that miss the opportunity to invest in employees as step one on the customer journey department will undoubtedly expend unnecessary resources to improve the customer experience, without realizing the cost.

Creating brand-consistent customer experiences are critical to a dealership’s influence and bottom line success. Cultivating a social culture is the lynchpin for great customer service. When every lead is a referral, trust is easily established enabling your dealership to sustain continued growth.

Author is Kristin Huntley, Director of Content & Marketing for Motofuze powered by Fuzecast

This Week in Social Media and What it Means to You

News for the Week of July 13, 2015

Facebook News Feed Controls

In an effort to allow even more personalization, the Facebook News Feed Preference page now offers new choices for users to select: Prioritize who to see first, Unfollow people to hide their posts, Reconnect with people you unfollowed, and Discover new Pages. By clicking once of these options, users are able to customize their Facebook feed and interact with the content they most like to see.

Available now on iOS, the newest capabilities will roll out on Android soon. While Facebook is giving consumers more power to filter their news feeds, automotive dealerships should take heart. By continuing to post relevant and interesting content and spreading the positive word about your dealership, you will be found on the Discover new Pages feed, so keep networking with employees and customers and asking them to share your posts on Facebook.

Twitter Ads Companion

Available to all Twitter users on iOS or Android devices, this Twitter tool makes it easier for marketers to keep an eye on campaigns via mobile devices, and the Ad Comparisons allows marketers to see things like impressions, engagement, spend, cost per engagement, and engagement rate.  An account summary and the performance of specific campaigns are now viewable within the Twitter app. Busy dealership marketers running Twitter ad campaigns will find this tool invaluable for tracking ads in real time.

Twitter Personas

Twitter recently introduced Personas, an update to the Audience Insights dashboard that offers a new way to learn about targeted groups of users and then market to them in specific campaigns with just a click. Personas allows marketers to break users down into individual groups and then target them by learning more about their behaviors, preferences, and purchasing trends. For example, if marketers are looking to target millennials, clicking on the Millennials persona would take them directly to information regarding that consumer group. Marketers will still be able to keep user information private, and at the same time, they will be able to target and pinpoint new audiences. Professionals in the automotive industry should pay attention to this newest update because it will allow more flexibility in tailoring and delivering messages to your targeted audience.

LinkedIn Analytics

LinkedIn announced analytics for publishing, which is a great way to measure exactly which of your posts are resonating most with your followers. By utilizing this tool, you’ll know which professionals are interested in the topics you are presenting, and you’ll be able to see how many people are reading and sharing your insights. Users can see a summary of views, likes, shares, and scrolling further down the page—all great ways to take note of who is being generous with your posts and plan future posts according to audience interaction. Auto dealerships take note: you’ll not only be able to see who’s reading and following your posts, but you’ll also be able to pinpoint them by industry and location. The patterns of behavior you see formulating will help you grow even more traffic for the future!

Google+ Collections

Get ready for a brand-new way to organize your posts by topic. Google+ users are happiest when they can connect and be social with other users, so the introduction of Google+ Collections is right up their alley. Collections can be shared, kept private, or shared with a specific group of people—and once a user’s first collection is created, the profile will display a new tab allowing others to locate and interact with the user. A Featured Collections page offers plenty of inspiration for new users to get started. Currently only available on Android and the web, iOS is soon to follow. For savvy automotive dealerships, Google+ Collections will allow you to create and post groups of auto reviews, pictures, or comparisons for your customers to follow.

Meerkat Address Book Integration

Meerkat and Facebook might be ganging up on Twitter and Periscope.  How?  They’ve made it easier than ever to push your live and upcoming video streams to Facebook [via Meerkat] with the new Address Book Integration tool. Meerkat added address book integration in the latest update now available in the Ap Store. For automotive dealerships, consider a lot walk-around to show off new inventory, chat with professionals in the service area or interview happy customers to promote your business through live streaming.

Meerkat WordPress Plugin

Meerkat seems to be everywhere, so don’t be surprised when you discover the capability to embed your Meerkat stream onto your WordPress site. Now, you can share your live stream video with all your followers. If you are live, it will display your live stream; if you’re not live, it will show any upcoming streams. This smart embedded player allows you to decide exactly what appears on your site. For dealerships with WordPress blogs, this is great news; now all the hard work you’ve put into creating your live stream videos can now be shared here as well.

Meerkat Cameo

Meerkat keeps the updates coming by adding Meerkat Cameo to its list of capabilities. Now, users are able to invite others to join their live stream and “take over” their streams for up to 60 seconds at a time. Moving from a “talking to you” format to a “talking with you” format, this allows more people into the conversation. Any participating user can end the cameo at any time, which will then return the video to the original broadcaster. Automotive dealerships looking to engage consumers and employees will find this a useful and fun tool. Think about short interviews, back and forth conversational insights, and live feedback!

Tip of the Week

Take Back Your Brand: How Your Service Department Can Tell a Great Brand Story

As the automotive industry continues to evolve and look toward the future, it is clear that service departments are an integral piece of every dealership’s overall success. For varying reasons, consumers are looking to dealerships to provide outstanding service, both during the upfront sale of a vehicle and throughout its life on the road. While it is comforting to know the service department is on hand during the purchase of a new vehicle, it is imperative a dealership have knowledgeable professionals available to help maintain, repair, and service vehicles throughout their life cycle.

Take Back Your Brand: Deliver a Service Story Worth Sharing!

Few things are more frustrating than the inconvenience of a car breaking down—except possibly realizing that your go-to repair shop is either booked solid, closed when you need them, or unable to help with the problem at hand. Customers in today’s rushed society look for and appreciate dealerships that have outstanding parts and service shops that can keep up with their needs. In order to make the grade, not only will your dealership have to be top-notch, but your service shop will need to demonstrate the following qualities to attract and bring back customers:

Make a good first impression. Ensure that a friendly professional greets customers quickly and by name. After getting details regarding the nature of their visit, give accurate details regarding the time required for service or repairs. Customers who know exactly what to expect feel secure about the service choice they have made.

Over-the-top customer service is a must. Of course your professionals are knowledgeable, but today’s consumers demand even more than that; they want personable service with a smile. They are looking for friendliness and great communication, things that will continue to drive growth for your dealership by making customers happy and bringing them back for more.

All-around vehicle knowledge instills customer confidence. The professionals in your service department should leave no doubt in customers’ minds that they are competent and capable of completing the service requested. Ensure staff members continually update training and certifications and encourage them to clearly communicate technical information to customers to instill a higher level of confidence.

Guarantee your work. Consumers feel more confident they are receiving quality service when shops guarantee the work being done. Be sure to include all important information with the guarantee, for example whether or not the guarantee is prorated and whether or not the guarantee is transferable if the vehicle is sold.

The little things matter. A clean, neat service department that offers a comfortable waiting area with customer amenities is likely to earn loyalty from patrons. Consider offering fresh coffee, updated magazines, and plenty of seating to make waiting customers more comfortable.

Service Makes or Breaks a Brand

The importance of a top-notch service department is critical to your dealership in order to thrive in today’s economy. Currently, the average vehicle age is 11 years old, and shopping trends don’t show this changing dramatically anytime soon. Couple this with the fact that certain manufacturer warranties are becoming shorter, and we are left with consumers who are shopping for the best service providers in order to keep their vehicles maintained and drivable for the longest possible periods.

Additionally, a recent trend among car buyers is the long-term car loan, with close to a third of loans stretching to 74 months and longer. Used as a way to get consumers into a more expensive car at lower payments, these longer-length loans produce even more buyers who will hold onto vehicles longer—another reason to offer top-notch service and repairs at the dealership.

Much the same as on the car lot or closing a car deal, shoppers want to get in and out when repairs are needed. Looking for an immediate-gratification experience doesn’t change with the setting, and today’s consumers continuously seek efficiency combined with competency. By providing legendary customer service combined with transparency, fair prices, and high-quality professional knowledge, you can guarantee a growing customer base. The future of dealerships lies with the quality and performance of service departments, as they will drive the repeat business, customer loyalty, and revenue that comes with providing service throughout the life of a vehicle. A successful service department that is committed to retaining customers and expanding new business is essential to the overall success of the dealership.

Most dealers know by now how important it is to have a social media presence to develop and build relationships with current and potential customers. Some dealers know that Facebook has made it difficult for dealer content to be seen by the majority of their Facebook fans without paying to promote posts and advertise. In fact, according to a recent study by KISSMetrics, only about 4.5 percent of a page’s fans will see the content that gets posted organically. 

While it’s important to constantly get engaging content out, it’s pretty much pointless if no one is going to see it. However, there is a simple way to increase that reach to nearly 40 percent without having to pay for it. That secret is your employee advocates.

Employee advocates are your employees who actively engage with and share your content to their networks. You may even already have some promoting your content; just look to see who is engaging with and sharing your content. The more engagement your page gets, the more exposure it will receive and the further your reach will be.

Employees, especially salespeople, serve as the voice of your business. They should be informed of what’s going on and share that with their network. And it’s not just about selling; this is also a great way to get your fans engaged in your community involvement.

Additionally, people will trust what their friends have to say about a company over what a company presents itself to be, so by having your employees vouch for your company, you become more credible to their network of friends.

An example of the power of employee advocates is Gary Crossley Ford in Liberty, Missouri. They partnered with the Midwest Animal ResQ for an adoption event in December. Through engaging Facebook posts and the power of employees sharing the content, Gary Crossley Ford was able to pull off an extremely successful event that was even written up in an article in the Kansas City Star. That’s exactly the kind of exposure that helps develop relationships with Facebook fans — they love to hear what dealers are doing for the local community.

So how do you get your employees to serve as advocates for your company? The first step is making sure all of your employees “like” your Facebook page and list your dealership as their place of employment. Your employees should be proud to openly say on social networks that they work for you. To get an idea of how many of your employees show that they work at your business, just search for “people who work at” followed by your company name in Facebook open graph search bar and view the people listed. You may be surprised how few show up. If that’s the case, it might be a good time to find out why.

Some simply may not know they can list that information. Others may be worried that liking your page will give you access to their personal page — it won’t; you will only see what their privacy settings allow. Getting them involved in your social strategy will increase their feeling of involvement and get them more excited to help spread the word about what’s going on.

The use of “big data” (the massive amount of customer information available to companies today) will become an even stronger advantage for the automotive industry. From the standpoint of competitiveness and operational effectiveness, all companies need to take big data seriously. In most industries today, a well-leveraged, data-driven strategy is used to create a competitive advantage and increase our operations’ effectiveness. This allows our industry to do many things better and more profitably. This will continue to be critical as we see more stress on the automotive margins. Big data will help companies with product innovation, the introduction of new services, the ability to compete more aggressively, the more effective use of marketing dollars and the ability to capture value from multiple data sources in real-time.

There are many areas that data can help you run your dealership more effectively.

First, big data can unlock significant value by making information transparent and usable faster and at a much higher frequency. Managers and salespeople with good tool sets and the know-how to use the analysis of big data to make fast effective decisions will see a huge advantage. Please understand: One of the requirements of this tool is that the data needs to be real-time to be the most effective. This is why so many of the current providers in automotive fall short. The data is great, but if the opportunity has passed, the data can only be analyzed to understand how to effectively change the next campaign — not affect the current one. To get the most out of your data, it must be real-time to allow you to react in real-time. 

Second, as the automotive industry creates and stores more actionable data in usable forms, they can collect more accurate and detailed performance information on everything from lead providers and inventory selections to retention and marketing strategies, exposing opportunities and that allow them to boost their performance. Leading companies today are using real-time data collection and analysis to conduct controlled experiments. This type of “A/B testing,” or “split testing,” allows dealers to make better management decisions about their business, and not be limited to just using the industry averages. Think how this will change marketing, when you can see in real-time what's happening or not happening. It also gives you the ability to adjust business decisions on the fly. You no longer have to wait for the campaign to run it is course to see the results.

Third, big data allows ever-narrower segmentation of customers and, therefore, much more precisely tailored products or services. This alone has changed automotive marketing forever. Don't tell the mass marketing companies, but mass marketing is dead because the masses have left. Without data segmentation, their goals and our goals no longer align. How does a mass marketer make more money? Lick, stick and mail more. You want just the opposite: You want to lick, stick, and mail less with better results. This can easily be achieved with better management and data segmentation.

Fourth, sophisticated analytics can substantially improve decision-making. For the first time, you will be able to see what your prospects and customers are doing today, right now. You will see and be notified of trends you should focus on. Do you know how your customer really found you? Do you really know what campaign drove that prospect to your showroom floor, and what it cost you?

Finally, big data can be used to improve the development of the next generation of products and services. For instance, manufacturers are using data obtained from the dealers and lead providers to determine what types of cars their customers really want — what to build, how to price them, colors options, vehicle configurations, etc. Based on inventory availability, interest, leads, profit, location and other items, this level of real-time data should help determine what color the next Ford Focus will be painted, and it could literally be decided at the moment the unit hits the paint area on the assembly line.

Big data can help dealers with basics such as “How do my customers what to be communicated with?” “What advertising has the highest ROI?” “What cars, both new and used, should I buy?” “How long will they sit on my lot?” “How much will I sell them for?” “What are my customers really looking for? “What features do they require?” “What F&I products should they be offered and when?” This list is almost endless.

The use of big data will increase productivity, growth and consumer and prospect opportunities. For example, we know for a fact that retailers using big data to its fullest have the potential to increase operating margins by wasting less and selling more to the right person at the right time.

While the use of big data in many other industries has been a requirement for years, I believe the auto industry will be see some of the largest gains simply by wasting less advertising and reducing incentives. Just think if dealers, service providers and OEMs could reduce the incentives, understand the product configurations better, build fewer undesirable units and increase their efficiencies. The potential is mind blowing. 

Please, keep in mind this new frontier will not come without several new challenges and questions that will need to be addressed. Policies related to data ownership, privacy, security, intellectual property and even liability need to be addressed in a big data-driven world. The automotive industry not only needs to put the right talent and technology in place, but also structure workflows and incentives to optimize the use of big data. The real challenge will be driving productivity from mountains of data and using it correctly and timely. There are many automotive companies that see this opportunity and are quickly building around this to help their customers.

The access to data is critical — companies will increasingly need to integrate information from multiple data sources, OEMs and third parties, and the data has to be in real-time to see the most actionable results. Data and product integration is the key. Look for vendors that offer a full spectrum of services. The old days of buying from 15 different vendors that don't communicate in real-time is dead. They is simply is no advantage to this approach, and can no longer be considered industry standard. 

The major takeaway here is big data and analytics create competitive advantage. I don't see this trend slowing down anytime soon; I see just the opposite.

The advantages of understanding your data from a completive and actionable standpoint are no longer debatable. The only question left is how soon will you take advantage of this trend and use it to your advantage? 

http://issuu.com/autosuccess/docs/as.mar13.2 

Sean Stapleton is the executive vice president of VinSolutions. He can be contacted at 866.587.7629, or by e-mail at sstapleton@autosuccessonline.com.

It all starts at the top, the decision makers, the shot callers, the check signers. Recent study shows that these managers, presidents and CEO's don't engage in social media leading to the non-understanding of why it is important.

Using the Fortune 500 list the following was discovered; 70% of all CEOs have no social presence. The percentage that do part take in social 25.9% are on LinkedIn, which was the highest percentage of all social sites.

• 7.6% are on Facebook (compared to 50.5% of the US public is on Facebook)
• 3.8% are on Twitter
• 1.2% have a blog
• 0.8% are on Google+
• 0% are on Pinterest.

Surprisingly a small number of CEOs participate in social media. Of the 19 Fortune 500 CEOs currently on Twitter only 9 have tweeted at least once in the last 100 days. 

How do these CEOs stack up on Facebook? Out of the 7.6% on Facebook, 65.8% have less than 100 friends. The Facebook average is 140 friends for the regular user. Only 2 CEOs have more than 500 friends on Facebook. 

Since LinkedIn tends to be the social site CEO's go to, you would expect more activity but 25% of CEOs have not updated their LinkedIn with a current company or title.

• CEOs with 500 connections or more on LinkedIn = 7.8%
• Have more than 10 connections = 58.9%
• 10 connections or less = 41.1%
• 0 or 1 connection = 27.9%

So, if social media is a vital part of online experience, why do so many CEOs neglect it? There may be several reasons for this:

• Risk of sharing the wrong information
• All mistakes are magnified
• Social media seems so overwhelming
• Too much commitment to justify
• Unfamiliar with how to use social media
• No time for social media
• Feel "too old" for social media

Even though the people at the top might not think it matters but it does. A recent survey by Chadwick Martin Bailey shows that 50% of consumers are more likely to buy from a company after following their tweets.

Employees believe that a social presence from upper management could have numbers positive outcomes (study from Brandfog of hundreds of employees from a wide range of companies)

What employees believe:

• 94% think social CEO will Enhance the Brand
• 93% think having a social CEO will help crisis management
• 82% think companies with social CEOs are more trustworthy
• 81% think social CEOs are better leaders
• 78% think having a social CEO leads to better communication
• 78% think having a social CEO will make it easier to recruit
• 77% think a social CEO's company will have increased purchases
• 64% think having a social CEO will improve transparency

This is the main reason upper management does not think or worry about social media marketing. Show them these numbers and maybe you'll get a different response.  Projections from IBM indicate that CEOs may soon take heed of these benefits and ramp up the social communications.

While the majority of Fortune 500 CEOs have yet to pick up the pace with personal social media efforts, current data shows that those who do are more likely to be rewarded with better engagement and loyalty at every entry level.

Its only human nature to fight something we don't understand. Is your company dumping tens of thousands into billboards and doing nothing with social media marketing? 

Show me a precise ROI on a billboard and I'll give you the same for social.

Internal/External Social Media Marketing Manager 

@LittleJoeAtVin

VinSolutions.com

Office: 800.980.7488 X199

I rarely meet a Twitter user who doesn’t want more followers. A few argue that the numbers aren’t important. They are only concerned with “quality followers.” I’m not sure it is either/or, but I notice that most of the people making this argument have very few followers.

Why would you want more followers? Three reasons:

1. More followers provide social authority. Like any other ranking system, the higher your follower count, the more people assume you are an expert—or at least someone interesting. It may not be valid, but it’s the way it works in a world where there is a ranked list for everything.
2. More followers extend your influence. Twitter is a great tool for spreading ideas. If you have ideas worth sharing, why wouldn’t you want to spread them to as many people as possible? Twitter makes it ridiculously easy. The larger your follower count, the faster your ideas spread.
3. More followers lead to more sales. You’re likely on Twitter for one of three reasons: to be entertained, to network with others, or to sell your stuff. Whether it’s a new or pre-owned, service, or even a cause, more followers provide the opportunity to generate more leads and more conversions.

So how can you get more followers? Follow these steps for better Twitter usage and increase your followers:

1. Show your face. Make sure that you have uploaded a photo to your Twitter profile. I will not follow anyone without a photo. Why? Because the absence of a photo tells me they are either a spammer or a newbie. Use a good headshot.
2. Create an interesting bio. Don’t leave this blank. It is one of the first things potential followers review. Explain who you are and what you do. If you were a brand or a product (crass, I know), what would be your tagline? Include that in your bio. Also, be sure to include a city name. By the way, Twitter will not include you in search results unless you fill out your username, full name, and bio.
3. Make your Twitter presence visible. I can’t tell you how often I have read an interesting post and wanted to tweet the link, but couldn’t find the author’s Twitter username. So I gave up and moved on. Make it easy for people to follow you. Display links to your Twitter account in your email signature, your blog or website, business cards—everywhere.
4. Share valuable content. This is probably my most important piece of advice. Point people to helpful resources. Be generous. Be inspiring. Use lots of links. Create content that other people look forward to getting and want to pass on to their own followers. 
5. Post frequently, but don’t flood your followers. I do most of my blog reading early in the morning. I scan over 30 blogs, and love to share the gems I find. I used to do this as I found them, which often meant a flood of 8–10 posts at a time. Now, I use HootSuite to spread these throughout the day, so I don’t overwhelm my followers.
6. Keep your posts short enough to retweet. Retweets are the only to get noticed by people who don’t follow you. Therefore, you must make it easy for your followers to retweet you. Keep your tweets short enough for people to add the RT symbol and your username (“RT @LittleJoeAtVin”). For me, that takes up 17 characters, including the space. That means my tweets can be no longer than 123 characters (140–17=123).
7. Reply to others publicly. I used to reply to people via DM, thinking my message was irrelevant to most of my followers. Because I wasn’t replying in public, this made me look unsociable. So now, I reply almost exclusively in public. The only people who see those messages are those who follow both me and the person I am replying to—a small subset of my followers. So, it’s sociable but not annoying.
8. Practice strategic following. By this I mean, follow people in the auto industry, people who use certain keywords in their bio, or even people who follow the people you follow. Some of these will follow you back. If they retweet you, it will introduce you to their followers. For example, I could use Twitter’s Advanced Search Feature to find everyone within a 50-mile radius of Kansas City who has used the word “automotive” in their bio or a post.
9. Be generous in linking and retweeting others. Twitter fosters a culture of sharing. The more you link to others, the more people will reciprocate. And that’s precisely what must happen for you to grow your follower count. You need others to introduce you to their followers. 
10. Avoid too much promotion. Yes, you can promote your blog posts, products, etc. on Twitter but be careful. There’s an invisible line you must not cross. If you do, you look like a spammer—or just clueless. Not only will you not get additional followers, you will wear out your existing followers and many of them will unfollow you. 
11. Don’t use an auto-responder. Do not set up an auto responder to send a DM to thank someone for following you. Its tacky and a bad practice. 

Social Media Marketing Manager

@LittleJoeAtVin

VinSolutions.com

Office: 800.980.7488 X199

Taken from: http://michaelhyatt.com/12-ways-to-get-more-twitter-followers.html