I suspect you’ve heard it’s a good idea to blog for your store.  Your SEO guy is bugging you.  People like me, Social Media coaches, tell you how valuable it is to become the “likable expert”.  Nearly every customer service evangelist preaches the value of blogging.  You see others blogging about their business and generating leads. So what’s stopping you?

The #1 excuse I hear dealers and their staff say is, “We don’t know what to write about.” Of course not, this is all new and writing witty content has never been in the job descriptions of any dealership personnel.  Grab a cup of coffee.  Let’s talk about changing that.

You have, at your fingertips, a gold mine.  An untapped reservoir of not only outstanding stories and content but people to do it for you!  It’s your own employees.  They’ve been right under your nose all along and it’s time to unleash the Kraken!

Almost no dealership has a shortage of raw material for blogs.  It’s channeling the material that’s the hurdle.  In the dealerships of the future (read: 2013), every front line employee will be trained and be regularly submitting blog content.

In this post from Marcus Sheridan, he spotlights US Waterproofing and their team of bloggers, otherwise known as their salespeople.  You think blog content is tough for a car dealership? It seems like a walk in the park compared to a waterproofing company!

In just a short few months, US Waterproofing, by using their sales staff, has produced more blog posts than most companies will produce in a year. Furthermore, their web traffic is spiking, leads and sales are up, and the blog has already become the most trafficked page of the website.  It’s hard to argue with that.

For automotive Social Media marketing to reach its full potential, there are 4 success factors (in this order) that must be present:

• Culture
• People
• Process
• Technology

In the dealerships of the future (read: 2013), I see every employee being trained on how to use Social Media, produce content and the importance of the two within the daily dealership operation.

Changing culture is hard work.  This shift began with the customer and we must adapt.  Some of your salespeople will love the idea of creating content and you’ll get major push-back from others. Many will say, “I can’t write.” but writing is actually just writing down what’s in your head.  Start with customer FAQs–each one is a blog post.

Help your people remain aware of content opportunities.  Stories happen on the front lines where the customers are–in your showroom and service drive.  Education and training are in integral part of creating awareness.  Knowledge helps your people recognize an opportunity and not be afraid to use the tools to publish it.

Capture content in their format of choice. Make it easy for your people to be inspired.  Some prefer writing, some prefer video.  Some might just want to write you a long email.  Along the way, they’ll get accustomed to searching for content and with so many of them doing it, your blog will soon be generating traffic and leads in ways you never imagined.

Your Turn: What’s preventing you from shifting to this “all in” culture and getting more participation and results from employees?

Kathi Kruse
Social Media Coaching & Training
www.krusecontrolinc.com

Awesome content is what drives engagement on Social Media.

I see a lot of emphasis on technology lately with Social marketing.  Putting technology before strategy is quite dangerous.  There are a lot of cool tools out there to manage your time.  However, automation is there to support your efforts, it’s not the guts of your campaigns.  You can’t skip planning, listening, education and go straight to engagement.  No one will connect with you if you’re not real.  Human connections are what drive sales.

Focus on your connections, not your network.  People buy from people.  Each Like on Facebook, every follower on Twitter, every reader of a Blog post is a person.  Social Media has connected us all in ways we couldn’t have imagined even 5 years ago.  Never forget that each connection represents many things to those who participate.  Providing great content that people want to engage with propels your connections (read: relationships) further down the trust road.

Social Content strategy is the act of designing, developing and managing the relevant information you produce on various Social platforms.  Do you have an on-staff content writer/strategist?  Those who want to succeed at Social business have created this position and tied it with customer service.  Hint: Your online reputation is part of your Social presence.

I hear many dealers asking, “How do I know what to post on Social Media to grow Likes, get people talking and sell cars?” You must start with a solid foundation. The only way to the goal is to build your house, brick by brick.  Here are 5 questions to ask yourself and the answers are your blueprints:

Who is my customer?

You won’t know how to frame your content strategy unless you understand something about the type of person you’re trying to sell to.  The more you know and understand, the better your content will be.  If you’re new, the answer here may seem elusive and you may not realize how well you know your customer.  The individual who drives an import compact car is far different than one who drives a European luxury sedan.  The F-150 driver has certain interests that the Nissan Juke owner would never be interested in.  Break things down by each model you sell.  Describe in detail who your customer is.  Never lose touch with the people who buy from you.

What is my customer interested in?

Start local. Think about your market area.  What are the communities and causes in your town?  Is your store near the wine country, a recreational fishing area, or ski resort? There are all sorts of communities already built for you.  Once you’ve identified your customer’s interests, you can find pieces of content (blogs, articles, videos and photos) based on those subjects.

What problems can I solve?

You’d be surprised how many questions people have about car dealerships.  Here’s your chance to be the “likable expert”.  Be as transparent as you can about the information you give.  What are your customers’ frequently-asked questions?  Ask your front line personnel to contribute.  One store I know has a gregarious master technician who likes to do short “how-to” videos.  Solving customers’ problems fosters loyalty and engagement.

What desires can I satisfy?

The great Eugene Schwartz, master copywriter said, “You can’t create desire, you can only channel it.”  Create content which serves that existing desire.  If you’ve spent time getting to know your customer, you understand what drives them to certain behaviors. Buying is sometimes an irrational process that meets a hidden desire.  People buy social consciousness, not the Prius.  People buy credibility and trust, not your service menu.

How can I help them buy? 

Start conversations.  Social Media allows you to keep in touch with your customers regularly.  Keep awesome information coming their way and over time you cement a relationship for all future sales.  People buy from those they know, like and trust.  The content you post everyday should engage your customer.  They buy from those who helped them the most.

The answers to these 5 questions lay the groundwork for your content strategy.  They’ll help you identify the goals of your Social marketing campaigns. I’ll cover what to do from here in another post. Until then, will you let me know how it’s going for you?

Kathi Kruse
Social Media Coaching & Training
www.krusecontrolinc.com
 

One of the first rules they tell you in sales training is it’s a numbers game.  You gotta throw a lot of spaghetti against the wall to have some stick.  Last week I blogged about using Social Media to foster long-term sales relationships (not one-night stands).  Instead of looking at each prospect you meet like a lotto ticket, use Social Media to touch people’s lives.

Word of mouth is universally acknowledged as the most powerful and effective marketing force there is. In their book, “Go Givers Sell More”, Bob Burg & John David Mann write, “From Hollywood executives gambling hundreds of millions on the latest Summer blockbuster” to a car sales professional trying to fill his or her capacity of a few hundred clients, “everyone in business knows that their trade ultimately rises or falls on the quality of the word of mouth it generates.”

It’s not that other forms of advertising and marketing aren’t effective.  They are but only to the degree that they emulate or reinforce the effect of word of mouth: human beings communicating the impact that a purchase experience has had on them.

In this numbers game, Social Media allows dealers and salespeople to harness that impact.  I always hear, “Social Media doesn’t make me money!”  Money is not a measure of goodness or worthiness.  It is a measure of impact.  You want more income? Have more impact.  What would your world be like using Social Media to impact so many people on a regular basis?  That’s the power we have today.

Impact takes hard work.

Start with a solid foundation of masterful networking techniques.  Keep in mind, Social networks are not replacements for your normal networking activities.  If you suck at networking then you’ll suck on Social Media.  You must identify:

• Who you want to meet–who is your customer?
• Who do you know who can get you an introduction?
• Where do these people like to hang out?
• What problems can you solve for them?
• What desires can you satisfy?

Your impact is directly proportional to how many people you serve and how well you serve them.

Is Social Media your Digital Mask?

Authenticity and transparency rule when engaging on Social networks.  It’s time to get yourself (your store, your brand) detailed and ready for the front line.  What communities are you already part of that can vouch for your credibility? How many people in your circle of influence know that you’re the #1 Salesperson at your company?  It’s perfectly fine to talk about yourself as long as you’ve worked to bring value to your relationships.  If you haven’t done that, take action now using Social Media.

Too little, too late.

I have a friend who recently lost his job as a GM of a dealership.  Like many other dealers and business owners, he was not using Social Media himself or as a marketing platform for his store.  As we’ve all seen in this new economy, it takes a wide array of marketing and advertising to fill the pipeline.  The majority of that has to be digital because that’s where people are.  Now that my friend is looking for a job, he’s had to scramble to build his network.

Whether you’re a salesperson, a family-owned legacy dealership or a massive publically-traded auto group, your sales depend on word of mouth. Even if you think Social networks are a fad, you HAVE to present a positive experience on ratings sites.   Are you guilty of ignoring the advantage you have over your competitor by not building a network of fans?

Don’t be another leg-humping salesperson who dwells in old school tactics. People buy from people. It’s not simply to sell something now.  It’s about creating an experience of value that has a positive impact on people’s lives.  That’s what they tell others about!

Your turn: How have you capitalized on word of mouth for your business?

Kathi Kruse
Social Media Coaching & Training
www.krusecontrolinc.com
 

It’s 1998.  You scan your inventory for the best cars to put in the ad.  You pay the local newspaper and cable company huge sums to run the ad.  Buyers show up on the lot with their checkbooks in hand.  The focus then was meet, greet, sell, then next up.  It was the equivalent of 50 first dates.

We've come a long way, baby...or at least the customer has.

My hero, Carl Sewell speaks about the $517,000 customer.  The average person buys 12 cars in their lifetime and the tab for those, including service, equals roughly $517K.  Establishing a long-term relationship with that potential repeat customer ensures you’ll be there for every one of those purchases.  The top salespeople know this.  They treat every customer as though they were going to do business with them for the rest of their lives.

It’s 2012.  Buyers aren’t showing up on the lot like they used to.  Some dealers are more concerned with wishing it was 1998 than reaching today’s customer with Social Media marketing.  Some on Facebook are more concerned with getting Likes on their Page than getting their message out to their existing fans.  It’s important to grow your fan base but only if those fans are potential buyers.  Buying Likes and running meaningless contests to get Likes will never increase your sales.

Facebook marketing has never been about getting in the face of a million strangers in hopes of landing 50 first dates.  It’s about building an amazing Page and giving your fans a reason to talk about your store.  You build an online community to mirror your existing offline community.  You want your message to reach the fans who already love you, engage in your content, and want to share how cool you are with their friends.

I hear a lot of GMs asking, “How can we get more likes on Facebook?” Whether you have 100 fans or 10,000+, your message will never reach your fans’ newsfeeds if they’re not engaging with you.  It’s never been about the number of fans you have.  What matters is the actions they take.

Social Media is an action-based medium.

You have to listen, talk and converse to get noticed and be remarkable.  A successful Facebook Page does not happen overnight.  It’s not  “build it and they will come”.  You can’t lurk and expect to close sales.

So which will it be:  50 one-night stands with people who don’t trust you, who may or may not buy from you again?  Or will you focus your efforts on cultivating those repeat buyers–the people who already know, like and trust you?  Social Media helps you turn one-night stands into long-term sales relationships. Everyone wants repeat buyers.  After all, Facebook is a referral-based platform and those existing fans are your best salespeople!

Kathi Kruse
Social Media Coaching & Training
www.krusecontrolinc.com
 

We talk a lot about Social Media as a marketing platform.  One of the cheapest, most effective forms of marketing is called extraordinary customer service.  When you combine Social Media with customer service, you create an environment where customers want to share their story.

Social Media done right is like a supportive cocoon enveloping your customer during every stage of the sales process.  You serve your customer in ways they never expect.  You develop and manage long-term profitable relationships on a scale larger than ever before.  You create a personal connection with your customer throughout their life.  They emerge from their cocoon as butterflies, free to spread the good word.

Your employees are an integral part of your customer service process.  They’re on the front lines interacting with your customers every day.  You can mirror this in the online world.  With guidance in Social Media best practices, employees can be outstanding advocates for your store!

Social Media is a valuable resource to listen for sales opportunities.  When you spend the time and effort to build your online community, conversations arise that bear fruit.  Social allows you a glimpse at where each fan/follower is in their sales process. From the very top of the sales funnel (not necessarily interested in buying) to the bottom (ready to buy this weekend), you are privy to each person’s needs and wants.

Here’s how mastering Social Media can help you facilitate the sale from top to bottom:

Before the Sale

This is where Social content marketing is vital.  Ask yourself, “Who is my customer?” Once you know what they’re interested in, once you’ve defined where they live, what they like and how they buy, you write and publish content relevant to them.

Think about it locally.  What’s happening in your surrounding area that means something to your audience?  What problems can I solve?  This is how you strategize for the customer who’s either not ready to buy right now or is just beginning to research their next purchase. Once this customer becomes a fan, you can keep them engaged in conversation while they are in the market.  The added benefit to you is each fan/follower has a trusted network themselves.  In social situations, online and off, your fan/follower will only think of you when someone they know is ready to buy.

During the Sale

What a fantastic time to use Social Media!  Make sure your Community Manager acknowledges each sales transaction and creates content that engages your customer and your fans.  During the sales process, your salespeople get to know their customer very well.  Make sure they know how to spot the right opportunities during that process.

Take the time to find out which Social platforms the customers are on and ask them to become part of your network.  Video testimonials are awesome, give great Social proof to others, and can be recorded right there in the moment with a smartphone.  Are they a repeat customer?  Ask them what it was that brought them back.  Are they new?  Ask them why they chose your store.  Social Media allows dealerships to interact with more people on a broader basis more regularly.  Use Social Media to communicate everything that’s great about the purchase process.

After the Sale

The period directly after a purchase is the best time to get your customer talking about it on Social Media.  Online ratings sites give them a megaphone to speak from. People spend huge sums of money on their vehicles so why not help them acknowledge what they’re spending so they can appreciate it even more!  Social gives your customer a way to tell others why they bought from you and what’s great about the car.  Help them recognize and respond to the experience they just had by providing the platform for them to speak.

And what better way to “stay in touch” than on Social Media!  Anywhere in the sales process, if you can stay connected, you increase your chances of top of mind awareness.  The more they hear from you, the less prompting they’ll need when it’s time to consider a purchase.

Dealerships and manufacturers have always made customer service a priority.  There are winners and losers in this race.  I know you want to win so take advantage of the power of Social Media to listen, converse, prospect, and sell.  No matter where your customer is in the sales process, whether you’ve sold to them or not, they’ll remember those conversations and come back to you every time.

Kathi Kruse
Social Media Coaching & Training
www.krusecontrolinc.com
 

“Getting information off the Internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant.” ~Mitch Kapor, Founder, Lotus Development Corp.

I’ve spent the last few weeks training a dealer group and their employees on Social Media content strategy.  It’s quite a leap for most employees as their job has never required them to consider how they want to be perceived by the buying public.  As a matter of fact, it gets overwhelming for most folks.  In this age of Social Business, it’s more important than ever to be a savvy content publisher.  It’s harder than ever to filter out all the noise to find what your brand and your audience is looking for.

It’s important that when people Google your business, you’re not the only one talking about it.  You do this by developing a process to foster “evangelists” for your store.  Good news!  You already have part of that in place through CSI and your front line personnel.  The next step is to utilize Social networks to get customers to talk for you!

Think Reputation Not Ranking.

How do you want to be known? What makes your store different in the market place?  Maybe you’re a legacy dealer who’s 4th generation.  Perhaps you’ve won the President’s Award for the last 6 years.  Those are examples of great achievements.  But how does your customer talk about you?  What do they say to their friends and family about their experience with you?  Achievements are always great but what matters more is a solid online reputation.

Think Connection Not Network.

Putting technology before strategy is quite dangerous.  There are a lot of cool tools out there to facilitate a better network.  However, you can’t skip planning, listening, education and go straight to engagement.  You’ll come up empty handed.  Automation is there to support your efforts, it’s not the guts of your campaigns.  No one will connect with you if you’re not real.  Human connections are what drive sales.

Think Loyalty Not Proclamation.

When you proclaim yourself the “biggest and best”, you better deliver on that promise because your claims mean nothing when customers have friends and family who’re telling them otherwise.  Find out who your loyal customers are and reward them.  Get them involved in telling your brand’s story.  Show the world how loyal customers are treated and you’ll have many more coming your way.

Now let’s talk about 3 key strategies to grease the wheels of those conversations.  We talk a lot about engagement in Social marketing.  What that all boils down to is providing super-interesting content on each platform where your customer spends their time.

Think Consistent Not Arbitrary. 

Is your content consistent with your brand?  Recently Coca-Cola did a very controversial guerrilla marketing campaign where they paid people to stencil Coke’s logo all around New Orleans during the Final Four.  Many questioned the sanity of a big brand defacing property in and around the historic French Quarter, especially when it was later revealed they didn’t even have permits to do it.  What’s disturbing for me is that the stunt wasn’t really consistent with Coke’s brand.  It sounds like something more consistent with Red Bull.  Your content is YOUR message.  Be consistent, be remarkable.

Think Assurance Not Panic.

Block Out Time.  Content curation takes time.  Anyone who’s had to create something knows that it has it’s own time schedule.  Devote a minimum of two hours per day to trolling for content.

Do Your Homework.  Spend time reading blogs on Social Media marketing and topics that are important to our industry.  Read blogs on subjects that interest your customer.  Add those blogs by RSS Feed to your Google Reader so you’ll have a treasure trove at your fingertips.  The time you spend now will ensure your success later on.

Think Smarter Not Harder.

Brainstorm with a Coach.  Marketing content creation should never be done alone, especially if you’re new.  The collaborative process with a content strategy coach works quicker and is more effective at reaching your sales goals.  An experienced Social Media content strategist will get you up to speed and on your way to self-sufficiency.

Reputation, connection and loyalty spurs conversations.  Be consistent, self-assured and smart in your Social Media content strategy.  Get people talking about you.  There’s no better way to the sale.

Kathi Kruse
Social Media Coaching & Training
www.krusecontrolinc.com
 

Had I not experienced this first hand, I’m not sure I would’ve believed it.

A car dealer said to me, “Social Media doesn’t make me any money”.  This was his objection to adding Social Media as part of the marketing plan for his dealership.  I remained calm and replied respectfully, “Just because you believe that, doesn’t make it true.”  Apparently, he would rather be right than rich.

How willing are you to give up your misconceptions to close more sales?

Social Media is exactly where small businesses (aka: car dealerships) make money.  I didn’t want this post to be about another reason to jump into Social Media–I’ve got plenty of those. Instead, let’s talk about some successes that people are having to illustrate how misconceptions harm your business.

Continuing to sit on the fence about Social Media costs you money.  It’s no longer a question of “If”.  It’s simple: if you want to make money on Social Media, you need to be asking “How”. 

Here are 3 clear examples of how people are making money on Social Media:

1.  Conversation Converts to a Sale. A local New York dealership has very high engagement on their Facebook page.  They’ve built their fans by sharing highly-relevant content and supplementing with cheap, effective Facebook Ads.  Their community manager puts her attention on the local community and they pay her back by liking the page and conversing with the store regularly.  They’ve built up a trust level with the fans and just the other day, one of them reached out to say they were in the market for a new car.  A few days later, their conversation resulted in a sale.

2. Facebook Delivers the Ideal Buyer.  A client (Mike) asked if he could allocate ALL of his marketing budget to Social Media.  His reasoning was his realization that every customer he gets from Facebook is happy, engaged and ready to buy.   Mike develops these lasting sales relationships prior to any fan visiting his store.  He builds genuine trust so the customers feel comfortable working with him. While it’s important to focus time, effort and a budget on Social, your marketing plan should be well-rounded.  After all, your already-existing database is full of repeat customers who have family and friends!

3. Listening Leads to a Sale.  This dealership community manager was listening when their competitor wasn’t.  For several months, she’d been building their Twitter following, engaging in conversations and publishing valuable content to the store’s audience.  Once the store’s credibility was established, the community manager started using Twitter Search to look for conversations people were having about dealership service departments.  She soon came upon a conversation going on around their competitor’s store.  She introduced herself as the store, was human, interested and helpful.  Through a simple one-to-one, the customer set an appointment to service their car the next day.

There are many stories just like these.  Social Media is marketing. If you put together a winning strategy, along with a budget, the very same things can happen for you!

Please don’t tell me that Social Media doesn’t make you money.  It makes money all the time.  The difference is knowing HOW.  It’s a new medium for dealerships and it requires experience and training.  The only thing standing between you and these successful examples is action.  How much longer are you willing to wait to make money on Social Media?

Kathi Kruse
Social Media Coaching & Training
www.krusecontrolinc.com
 

How do you want to be perceived on the Internet? Social Media gives you the platform to communicate everything anyone would want to know about your brand and–contrary to what you might think–that’s a good thing.  But what happens when something goes wrong?  What parts of your business would be affected if damaging yet truthful information started spreading like wildfire?

The Los Angeles Times published a story recently about a spoof around the new TV ads for the Chevy Volt, congratulating GM for ceasing to fund the Heartland Institute, a free-market think tank that questions the science behind global warming. The group that produced the spoof ad said, “There was such a clear contrast between what they were doing in the market and the positions that they’re taking and what Heartland does. The most emblematic example of that was the Chevy Volt.”

When your brand’s values and perspectives don’t align with your actions, things can quickly turn negative.  Today’s socially-responsible and Social Media-connected consumer likes to buy from those businesses they feel a connection with.  If you’re able to make that genuine connection, that customer’s loyalty rarely wavers.  They buy from you again and again.  They refer their friends and family through word-of-mouth on Social networks.

For car dealers, this is good news!  Dealerships have long been integral, civic leaders in their community:

• Sponsoring the local Little League and school functions
• Free Service Clinics so customers can get to know their cars better
• Chamber of Commerce mixers in the showroom to support local business
• Support local causes that make a difference in people’s lives!

Car dealers regularly given back to their local community.  It’s now a matter of making sure dealers’ actions are broadcast well and there’s no better place to do that than Social Media.  Sure, everybody loves to hate on car dealers but having been one myself, I’m living proof there’s another side to that story.  A few bad actors have reinforced a stereotype and that doesn’t have to be the message everyone hears.  For every bad actor, there are 100+ that are doing great things in their neck of the woods.  Tell your story!

It’s never easy to see negative things said about you online.  With Chevy, they recognized how their actions were harming their brand and they fixed it.  For dealers, recognizing that you need an internal process to manage your online reputation is how you prepare for and fix any future debacles.  Identify what you stand for and live that out every day.  Let it be what guides every decision you make.

Do your online ratings reflect the real-life experience your customers receive with they visit your store?  If not, consider how, with some training and development, your staff might execute a winning process to identify optimal situations during their daily duties.  These opportunities with customers come in the form of:

• Recognizing and initiating ideal conversations to capture online reviews
• Submission of ideas for blog posts by answering FAQs from customers. Heck they might even enjoy writing the post!
• Video blogs on how to perform minor vehicle self-services
• Email marketing to your already-established repeat customer database

Social Media is not just a great platform to market to your customer.  With effort and perseverance, you really can build a community online that reflects your real-life community and customer experience.  Take action now and sleep well tonight!

Your Turn:  Do your business’ actions reflect the values you want to be perceived by?

Kathi Kruse
Social Media Coaching & Training
www.krusecontrolinc.com

Have you recently come ’round to the idea that Social Media is an integral part of your overall marketing?  You’ve discovered how valuable it is at creating genuine interest in your store to generate leads?  Congratulations! Now let’s get to work.

It takes a village to search, locate, curate and publish content on Social Media. In the world of auto retail, this is not easily achieved.  Everyone in the store is busy selling or supporting those that sell cars, parts or service.  Where do you find the time?  This is truly the case where the sum of the parts is more valuable than each part on its own.  It’s time to leverage the power you have in your staff.

Involving your employees in Social Media is the key that unlocks your Social network and fosters high engagement with your fans/followers.  Here are 6 smart moves to engage employees in Social Media:

1.  Provide Education & Training.  Social Media (and online reputation management) are the new forms of marketing.  Just because someone has a personal profile or dabbles in the Social space, it doesn’t make them a marketing expert.  It takes a Social Media strategist to map out how you want to be known, who your customer is, why people should like or follow you and design content around all that.  Social Media changes every day.  Make room in your budget for education. It’s cost effective and faster than wading through the maze.

2.  Provide Access to Social Media.  Let’s be honest here: your employees are already on Social Media at work. If you block these sites, you’re only cutting off a very lucrative source going directly to your customer.  Blocking Social Media sites is similar to shutting off your phones or taking down email.  Employees have smartphones and laptops at work so embrace that fact and leverage it.  Listen to them.  Let them bring you their ideas on how to engage Social customers.

3.  Establish a Social Media Policy.  Social media is a new communication channel, but it doesn’t change the basic rules of honesty, courtesy and respect that your store promotes and each employee represents in their day-to-day work lives.  You recognize the importance of participating in these online conversations so you want to provide a clear and purposeful Social Media policy for all your staff to follow to help protect both the staff and the business.

• Outline descriptions of the Social networks and demonstrate how they benefit the company.
• Provide acceptable employee uses of Social Media and guidelines for Social Media use.

4.  Give Them a Reason to Engage.  Any Social Media campaign will have a rough road without grassroots employee buy-in.  Some employees will be active on Facebook, others on Twitter or LinkedIn, and some will hardly know what Social Media is.  Adjust your expectations for specific employees and know that every single person has a contribution to make.

• Do you have a Master Tech who loves interacting with the customers?  Let him do some simple “How To” videos.
• Do you have a Service Advisor who is loved by her customers?  Help her engage with customers on Social Media and submit feedback.
• Do you have a Salesperson who likes to write or do video blogs?  Let them submit content.
• Persuade, Motivate, Recognize, and Reward.  You’re building a team of “brand evangelists”. It pays to construct a good foundation.

5.  Be a User of Social Media.  Most dealers and managers I work with start out with an aversion to Social Media.  By becoming a user, by participating in the medium, every one has found it to be fun, interesting and valuable.  Lead by example.  Social Media spreads awareness about you as the person behind the brand.  Tracy Myers of Frank Myers Auto Maxx embodies this concept.  His customers and his community feel they know him through his presence on Social Media and they trust him.  You have the ability to communicate in the same way.  The added benefit of being participatin is that you’ll know exactly what your spending your money on and how it’s working for or against you.

6.  Be Creative & Open about Content.   Devote a few hours a week to brainstorming sessions with your staff.  Your community manager is the kingpin to your content but it cannot be done alone.  Input from every person in your store is critical.  Here are some launch pad ideas:

• Blogs
• Videos
• Causes
• Internal contests to engage “Raving Fans”
• Events
• Photos (eye candy counts!)

Your Turn: How have you leveraged the power of your team to create relevant content for your fans/followers?

Kathi Kruse
Social Media Coaching & Training
www.krusecontrolinc.com

“Flawsome is the new awesome.” ~Mari Smith

Flawsome is using Social Media to declare the awesomeness of your store while allowing the consumer to see your flaws.  Customers want to know the real you. Take online ratings for example: 68% of consumers trust comments more when there are both positive and negative reviews.  The more open the better. Consumers actually prefer it.

Try new things with your content on Social Media.  Marketing is a creative process.  That’s why you don’t see books or blogs about WHAT to post–only how, when and why.  If you asked Picasso how he knew what to paint, he couldn’t tell you.  Social Media marketing a process that’s part talent, part intuition and part inspiration.

Your community manager curates content for your network and they know it’s working if the analytics say so and you’re generating leads.  Brainstorming sessions with a coach work wonders.  Spend time getting inspired.  Test your audience.  Not everything will work but you’d be surprised at how some content catches on.  You’ll never know if you don’t try.

Avinash Kaushik, Google’s Digital Marketing Evangelist, says, “The cost of trying something now in this day and age is so small, it’s almost more costly not to try.  This is the age of the Citizen Influencer.  There’s a density of information, a wall of sound that’s constant. We’re looking for leadership.  We hunger to know people who know what they’re talking about.  The Google approach is try everything.  Then take away the things that don’t work.”

Dealerships can take this marketing approach too!  Who do you have in your store that would be eager to try blogging?  There are so many benefits to blogging that you’re doing a disservice to your store by not having one.  I know a Master Tech who blogs for his dealership.  I know countless sales people who’ve started blogs on their own.  It’s time to leverage the power you have in your store!

When it comes to your online reputation, negative reviews are expected by the consumer.  When they see a dealership with all 5-star reviews, they become suspicious.  Heck, we all do!  There is no such thing as perfection.  Every retail business, especially car dealerships, have dissatisfied customers.  Cars break; things can go down the wrong road quickly.  Don’t be afraid to show your flaws!

Everyone appreciates transparency.  A store with a 4-star rating is going to get more attention and win more business than one that’s trying to look “perfect”.  Mari Smith and Guy Kawasaki did a Webinar recently on the 7 Hottest Business Trends in Social Media.  A main takeaway was that the Social audience is quick to forgive.  They prefer the flaws.  It makes brands more human.  People buy from people.

What about the dreaded negative review?  More often than not, it’s possible to turn negativity into a positive, or dare I say, boost to your online reputation.  Handled well, the audience witnesses how you dealt with a customer service issue.  They’ll buy from you knowing that if something should go wrong, you’ll be there to listen, take responsibility and make things right.

Social Media is a great customer service tool so use it to your advantage.  Be flawsome. Work hard to let the audience know how awesome you are and don’t be afraid to show your flaws.  Experiment.  Like Richard Branson puts it, “The brave may not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all!”

Your turn: What flaws in your business have you let fly?

Kathi Kruse
Social Media Coaching & Training
www.krusecontrolinc.com