As a Social Media Specialist, I’ve been asked many times before what is it that I do and how I do it. I simply reply, I write, because social media is far too complex to describe in one sitting. New sites are popping up everyday, like Bo.lt, a website that is supposed to be better than Pinterest (crazy, right?), and new trends are always rising. Which means it is my sole purpose to research industry trends and analyze current social business data available to better understand what is working in the social media world and what isn’t. However, some companies fail to understand the importance of a social strategy and thus implementing social media tactics is not a priority. To those companies, I say, good luck!

Social business is important today, despite what you might think, and it is expected to be more important in the future, according to a report by the MIT Sloan Management Review and Deloitte: 18% of global executives say social business (defined as activities that use social media, social software, and social networks to enable more efficient, effective, and mutually useful connections among people, information, and assets) is important to their organization today, and 63% say social business will be important in three years:

According to this report, Execs say social software is helping their companies meet various challenges and cite the following as "important" or "somewhat important" benefits of social software:

• Managing customer relationships: 80%
• Innovating for competitive differentiation: 74%
• Acquiring and retaining employees: 65%
• Responding to new competitive threats: 62%
• Growing revenue: 61%

ActivEngage uses such programs as: Hootsuite, Hubspot, and Bitly, to track the success of Tweets, Pins, and Facebook posts. Here is a little more about these sites and why we use them:

HootSuiteis a social media management system for businesses and organizations to collaboratively execute campaigns across multiple social networks from one secure, web-based dashboard.

Hubspotis an  all-in-one marketing software that helps us with email management, lead nurturing, keyword analysis, marketing automation, and competitor tracking.

Bitly is an easy way to share and customize links on the web. What’s great about Bitly is that you can also track how many clicks your link has and from which country your link is getting the most clicks.

Now implementing a social business campaign takes dedication and vision, here you can see how to implement it:

The key to any successful campaign is strong leadership and a clear vision:

This means you must have a thorough plan of action spelled out before beginning any social media efforts and also have clear goals for each campaign. Otherwise, you are just shooting bullets at random targets without any direction at what target to shoot at. Strong leadership support and oversight of your social media strategy not only fuels creativity but also allows for the entire business to be on the same page in understanding the importance of such a strategy. It is very hard to sell a vehicle to an interested Facebook user if your Sales team does not find these types of leads to be a priority.

Clearly, social media isn’t going away and more consumers are turning to different platforms to reach out to companies to make a connection and voice their concerns. So before you think that blogging, Tweeting, and making your daily rounds on social media isn’t that important, think again. Don't be like the unicorns that missed the boat, social business is here to stay.

Sales leads come in many different forms, yet few sales reps adjust their sales follow-up process to sync with the latest intelligence available about those leads. If not careful, they could be turning qualified sales leads into "not interested" responses or even worse, turn them off to their competitors.

According to Al Davidson, founder of Strategic Sales & Marketing, these are the top 3 ways that sales reps kill their sales leads:

• Failing to gather up-to-date business intelligence. A customer's pain points can evolve during the nurturing process. And in the rush to set appointments and close deals, sales reps might not ask the questions needed to suggest relevant solutions for current problems such as, the customer being concerned about mpg, hands free technology, or 3rd row seating.

• Putting the customer on the defensive. Don't put words in your prospect's mouth—for instance, starting out with, "I understand that you are in the market for a new vehicle,” is kind of redundant. Isn’t that why your prospect is there? Instead, begin with an open-ended question based on something you already know about this customer: "I understand you are looking for a Ford F-150, were you partial to any features?”

• Asking about budget too quickly. When this question comes too early in the conversation, a customer tends to feel that you're more concerned about your commission than their interest in a vehicle. Instead, of asking up front for the prospect's budget, talk about costs and benefits. Show them how one model is more fuel efficient than another, how the park assist feature will help them, or even how the hands free technology is a great safety feature.

If you understand the questions a consumer asks during the buying process and analyze each question to find out what the customer really needs (Ex: asking about low mpg does not mean the customer wants to buy a hybrid vehicle) , your answers and follow up with the consumer can be more helpful to them. Avoid the mistakes mentioned above and you should see an increase in sales (and sales leads), customer retention, and brand loyalty.

We all want to spend our advertising funds in the most efficient way possible and after reading this, you’ll probably want to stick to mobile advertising or add it to your budget. Nearly three in four mobile users (74.0%) say they fully pay attention to mobile ads while browsing the Web, either on a regular (35.3%) or occasional (38.7%) basis, according to a recent survey from Prosper Mobile Insights.

Below, other findings from the Prosper Mobile Insights survey:

• Men pay more attention to ads, and are more likely to be influenced by ads
• Men are more likely than women to regularly pay attention to mobile ads, particularly when surfing the Web (38.2% of men vs. 32.8% of women), watching video clips (17.8% vs. 12.6%) and, surprisingly, shopping (21.7% vs. 16.1%).
• Moreover, 51.0% of men say ads viewed via smartphone or tablet regularly or occasionally influence the products and brands they purchase, compared with 43.7% of women who say the same.
• Most mobile users would not pay to remove ads on apps or social sites

If this doesn't convince you, total US mobile and social media revenues—including business and consumer content, access, and advertising and marketing—reached $45.38 billion in 2011, up 30.2% from a year earlier, according to new data from PQ Media. 

Additionally, though search and display continued to lead ad formats in 2011, mobile emerged as relevant category, increasing 149%, from $641 million in 2010, to $1.60 billion in 2011.

This growth doesn't look like it is slowing down either. "Mobile will also reach the $100 billion mark in 2015 faster than any other communications industry, driven by several key growth drivers, including strong growth in overall mobile device penetration, the transition to smartphones and tablets, the torrent of new mobile content launches, and the continued growth of consumer and business time spent with mobile media," said Patrick Quinn, CEO of PQ Media. 

You might not use Instagram, but you’ve probably come across photos that 50 million users of Instagram have taken and put on the web. Also, more than likely you’ve heard the news that Facebook acquired Instagram in April for $1 billion.

What’s so special about Instagram? Its calling card is the photo filter, a digital layer that, when added to a standard photo, gives it the appearance of professional editing. So how can you jump on this photo filter craze? ActivEngage is here to share the Instagram basics, whether you’re new to the network or need some additional tips as well as how to use this app for your dealership.

First off, let’s register:

1. Instagram has always been an almost exclusively mobile platform. You must download the iPhone or Android app to your device in order to register an Instagram account.
2. Instagram accounts are public by default, but you may elect to create a private account. In that case, only users who you approve may follow you and view your photos. Head to your profile tab and scroll down to “Privacy.” There, you may select to make photos private.
3. Once registered, change your profile picture and edit your profile information, which includes a brief 150-character bio and a website. You may also edit profile information here.

Connecting to your Social Media sites:

It’s important to connect social accounts to get the most out of the experience. You may choose to link Instagram to your Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Tumblr, and Flickr.

To connect social accounts, head to the Profile Tab > Edit Sharing Settings, then choose the network you wish to connect.

Each time you upload a photo to Instagram, you’ll have the option to share to each of the social networks you’ve enabled, or to none. If you choose to share to no social networks, the photo will post only to Instagram, viewable only by those users who follow you on the app.

Adding a Photo:

1. Click the blue camera button in the center of your Instagram navigation panel.
2. You may either choose to snap a picture or choose a picture already saved to your phone.

Adding Filters-the Fun Part:

Once you’ve either taken or selected a photo, a set of three icons appears beneath the image.

• These are the 17 famous Instagram filters which add different pre-determined layers to your photos, and give the effect that you’ve altered or professionally edited them.

• Scroll through the filters and experiment with the best one for that particular image. You’ll soon find that certain filters work well with specific types of photos.

• Each filter also has its own associated border. For instance, the Earlybird filter adds rounded edges to your photo and Kelvin adds a rough, sandpapery frame.

• If you're not the border tip, you can forego borders altogether by tapping the square “frame” on the upper-left of the edit screen.

Now it’s Time to Share:

• Once your photo is ready to go, click the green checkmark. This brings you to the social sharing screen.

• You can add a caption explaining what you’ve photographed. Make sure  to add category hashtags and @mention people, especially if you plan to share via Twitter. The caption will be the text of the tweet, and the app will file hashtags and @mentions accordingly.

• If you’ve enabled location services, you even have the option to tag where you took the photo.

Not so hard, right? Using these helpful tips will increase your social media presence as well as establish a relationship with your consumer. Upload photos of new arrivals to your lot, accessories, and employees that best represent your dealership. Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words!

Pinterest is a pretty easy thing to grasp, right? You just pin pictures and hope that someone likes them or comments on them. We all know that Pinterest is quickly becoming the go-to social media site and if you have a Pinterest account and a decent amount of followers/likes, you may be asking yourself, now what? You think you might have mastered the art of the pin, but have you thought about making words pinnable? Let’s say you have a great blog you want to share on Pinterest. Take a simple quote from the blog and use Share As Image to transform your text into a pinnable photo!

Share As Image allows you to highlight text anywhere on a website and instantly convert that text into an image. Just grab the bookmarklet from the Share As Image website, and you're ready to pin the text. Here is an example of one I made:

In order to pin text, highlight the words or paragraphs that you wish to pin and hit the "Share As Image" button on your browser. The bookmarklet will then generate a pinnable image containing the text you highlighted. For $2.99, you can buy the pro version of this app in which you can customize your text pin.

Ever wondered which of your pins on Pinterest were the most popular? Or did you want to know how your board on Pinterest was doing? With PinReach you can access all that data and more! PinReach also assigns a PR score to your Pinterest account to give you an overview of how popular you are on the site. The higher your score, the better you're doing. Here is an example of ActivEngage’s data:

Wouldn’t it be great to pin your tweets on Pinterest? With Pinsmatic you can! You can also add locations, music, quotes, and websites. Pinsmatic even has an automatic post-it generator that's perfect for pinning clever quotes or lines from your blog posts. Using the quote part of Pinsmatic would be a great way to showcase customer recommendations:

Hopefully, after reading this blog you’ve gained more valuable tips to master your Pinterest board and to capture more followers, likes, and repins. You can even pin our blog!

To align with the photogenic theme, tomorrow I will have a blog post on Instagram for beginners so be sure to check it out as well. And, as always, Happy Pinning! =)

More and more automotive brands are recognizing the value of live chat and OEMs such as Nissan and GM are suggesting that their dealerships use allocated funds towards chat. At ActivEngage, we are our own largest customer.  We use the very same live chat and real-time analytics reporting software we sell to dealers every day to engage visitors on our own website and to provide the managed live chat service for which we are so respected.

The analysis of more than one million live chat conversations allowed us to develop the following live chat deployment best practices. These are the same strategies that we employ on our website and recommend to our clients for the greatest success:

1) Avoid chat graphic styles and designs that blend in with the content and background of the webpage.
Chat graphics should be eye-catching and pop from the page so consumers take note of their location and availability. These graphics can help promote your brand, but should be quickly noticeable too!

2) Place chat buttons on the header of each web page.
If chat buttons are placed at the top of the page, they are more quickly and easily recognized by consumers. Our data shows the higher the button’s placement on the page, the higher the conversion rate of visitors to chats for your website.

3) Make sure the placement and design of chat graphics are consistent on all pages.  

Consistency allows users to easily recall chat button locations and readily engage in chat without having to search the website.

4) Keep visitors on your site while they engage with your social media.
A connectivity toolbar on each web-page will created an integrated social shopping experience for website visitors by allowing them to engage with your social content without leaving your site.  When used in conjunction with “forced” proactive invitations, connectivity toolbars achieve the highest conversion rate on non-inventory pages.

If you find that your website is lacking these strategies to great success, call your website/chat provider and they should be able to handle it. 

Heads up! Todd is doing a webinar this Thursday, June 7th on Digital Dealer: Check it out!

Do you hate seeing that your customers have unsubscribed from your email list? Do you loathe seeing them “unlike” your fan page. Do you cringe when your customers are no longer your Tweeps? Well, the average customer is bombarded with around 3,000 messages a day so more than likely, if they leave, they’re just not that into you.

How can you court your customers back and gain their grace? Easy! Personalize their shopping experience! Pitney Bowes asked 6,000 consumers across France, Germany, the UK, and the US, despite marketing efforts, why aren’t you into our brand?

According to the survey, customers are clear about what they want and expect from companies. They want personalization, some 59% of surveyed consumers said they appreciate personalization on websites, such as the greeting "Welcome, {customer name}." For transactional sites, especially when purchases are being made,  customers might find reassurance in seeing that the site recognizes them and their previous transactions. So, in other words, pay attention to your customer and their shopping history. Don’t mix them into one big pot and assume they all want the same things. Personalize their shopping experience!

As Dan Kohn, VP of Corporate Marketing at Pitney Bowes, Inc said, “This survey confirms that brands should listen to their customers before they send out their communications,”adding, “Every interaction must honor the interests of the customer first, only then is a relevant offer or call to action acceptable to consumers. Each conversation between a brand and a customer is an opportunity to delight or disappoint. We’re all learning how to do more of the former and less of the latter.”

Again, personalizing your emails, website, etc, is a top point to gain customers back. Customers want to know that you are listening to them and their concerns.  Here is the Survey Findings and the Do's and Don'ts of Brand Interactions with Customers:

1. Personalization
Do: Amp up the level of personalization on the Web (59% positive).
Don't: Let your call center reps get too chummy on the phone (70% negative).

2. Asking the Customer for Action
Do: Conduct customer feedback surveys regularly (75% positive).
Don't: Invite consumers to create their own home page (69% negative).

3. Frequency
Do: Send a special offer in the mail each month (74% positive).
Don't: Send weekly emails (89% negative).

4. Invitation to a Brand's Cause
Do: Keep customer forums related to customer service efforts, not marketing (81% positive).
Don't: Ask the customer to support the brand's charity (84% negative)

What other do’s and don’ts of brand interactions do you recommend? Post your thoughts below! And as, always, subscribe to our blog!

Twitter, an online micro-blogging social networking site, can be a difficult thing to manage for a business profile. However, if you think of it as a cocktail party it might make things easier for you. Don’t be the drunk guy spilling over his words, constantly saying things that don’t make any sense but also, don’t be the person in the corner that holds onto his drink never saying a word. Be the person that is engaging, fun, and the life of the party.

First off, let’s get familiar with Twitter lingo, if you already know this, you can just skip to the next paragraph.

@ = reply or mention

ex. @activengage your last blog post was great!

.@ = allows your tweet to be seen as a broadcast, meaning EVERYONE can see it.

ex. .@activengage your last ebook was awesome!

RT = retweet or in other words, sharing. It has been said that the most effective time to RT is around 5pm.

ex. RT @activengage: Happy #memorialday! Enjoy the day off - and be sure to check out our tribute to vets: livechat.ae/memorday

DM = Direct Message, no one can see this tweet but you and the person you are tweeting to

ex.  DM here is link to Todd's cameo clip from NADA that I plan to use in the upcoming @lead2show video ow.ly/94QdJ

#=  this hashtag symbol is short for a trending topic. On Friday, the trending topic for the day is #FF (Follow Friday) in which you mention fellow Tweeters

ex. #FF TGIF @vickioneill @joe4pres@GeorgeMagda @Toddlearsmith@HookLogic @drivingsales @RalphPaglia

Now that you’ve mastered the Twitter lingo, you might be asking yourself, what do I Tweet? Simply put, you want to Tweet things that add value, not noise, to your followers. A dealership, for example, can Tweet about a new shipment of vehicles that just arrived, special giveaways,  service specials for the week or even some pop culture posts. Below I’ve highlighted some examples of good tweets.

Hendrick Atlanta has a good example of a giveaway:

To make this Tweet even better you can see if there are any trending topics on hashtag.org 
I typed in Dale Jr and noticed a lot of tweets on him as well as the Camaro and autographed. So I would have written this Tweet like this to get the most exposure and chance of being re-tweeted.

Win #DaleJr 2011 #Camaro delivered by #Jr himself. One ticket will win an #autographed prize pack this week!

This Tweet by Charleston Honda has good use of #hashtags

Here Charleston Honda focused on keywords that are trending topics, and in turn, the chance of their tweet being re-tweeted is higher.

Here is a good example of a mention that Rosen Nissan had with a customer:

Not only does this tweet humanize Rosen Nissan as a dealership, but it also has great use of a #hashtag!

Taking notes? I’ll make it easier for you. Let’s review the do’s and don’ts of Twitter for your dealership:

DO

• RT and give props - if your Tweeps (Twitter Users) share something interesting, give them credit.
• Comment
• Share interesting links (ones specific to your audience)
• Ask questions - get your Twitter followers involved!
• Use link-shortening services such as bit.ly  and ow.ly which make it easy to incorporate condensed, trackable links that don’t take up so much of the available 140 characters of space in tweets.
• Check sites like hashtag.org, Monitter , Tweetmeme , and Trendistic to see what’s trending and currently being tweeted the most.
• Respond to a RT, DM, or mention in less than 4 hours.
  • Here is a Tweet, that if it wasn’t quickly responded to, would have been bad news for Chevy:

DON’T

• Tweet nonsense or the same message every hour- it’s annoying.
• TUI (Tweet under the influence). Think of Twitter as living in a glass house, everyone will see what you post, sure you can delete it, but to those who managed to see the tweet before termination, will not forget.
• Tweet about sex, religion, or politics - these topics should be seen as the plague. Be like Switzerland and stay neutral.

Are you ready to Tweet? Wait! Take time to do a little research by listening in on the Twitterverse so that you can get a feel for the conversations taking place and discover the ways your Tweeps  like to interact and engage on Twitter. Twitter has various built-in tools to help you in your research:

• Twitter has a search engine  that produces real-time RSS feeds for the keywords orphrases you enter.
• If you are trying to figure out whom to follow, you can start by connecting with people you already know by importing your email address book. 
• You can also use Twitter’s general “Who To Follow” function which offers suggestions based on those you’realready following.
• And, you can select by topic of interest  when figuring out whom to follow.

Remember, building a Twitter following doesn’t happen overnight, unless you're a celebrity with a substance abuse or criminal record. If you keep at it,   make valuable contributions, add to your stream, respect your community, and show that you’re in it for the common good,  they will come.

Most people, when they hear LinkedIn, they think of a site where professionals post their resumes, maybe network, and that’s it. However, there’s more that you can do with LinkedIn than you think. According to HubSpot, in a study of 3,128 B2B customers, LinkedIn generated the highest visitor-to-lead conversion rate at 2.60%, four times higher than Twitter (.67%) and seven times better than Facebook (.39%).

Though LinkedIn now ranks behind Twitter and Facebook in monthly user activity, LinkedIn is growing at a much faster rate than both social networks, according to separate research from Compete.

How can your dealership benefit from LinkedIn? Research shows that keeping up to date with the latest business and product news and technologies is the most popular use of social networking: 61% of socially networked industrial and tech pros say they use various social channels for that purpose. In addition, such professionals use social networks to find information about products: 46% find peer reviews and recommendations, and 44% find vendors.

In order to benefit from this sector, here are some helpful tips to keep your LinkedIn profile up to par:

1. Keep your employee page up to date - Recently LinkedIn added this feature for Company Page admins. From your company’s overview page, you can see a list of all current employees. Remove any past employees that no longer work for you.  Simply click on the triangle on the side of the person’s name. Here is an example:

2. Refresh your Dealership Info - Take the time to update your dealership profile and keep it up to date with any recent blog posts or new vehicles that will hit the market.

3. Add your most popular Products and Services - Under your company overview page, there is a product and services tab.

Here you can add your most popular products and services as well as receive recommendations from your peers.

4. Update your Status - In the LinkedIn world, quality over quantity matters. You don’t have to constantly post updates like you would in Twitter. I would say two to four relevant, noteworthy, and compelling posts are sufficient for LinkedIn a day.

5. Join and Create Groups -  Join groups that your clients and potential customers are a part of. Here you can note what the industry trends are as well as develop a rapport with future customers. You can also create a group to control content and reach. The goal is to engage your audience and leverage your thought leadership to make a difference with members of your group.

6. Import Contacts-  If you’re brand new to LinkedIn or you want to start building your network without having to search for people, you should use the import function.  LinkedIn allows you to important contacts from Windows Live, Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo! and AOL.

With those tips in mind I leave you with a little quote from Chris Burke, director of business development, "Use Social Media as a way to create new streams of value for audiences, not as another means to broadcast a marketing message. Especially when targeting B2B professionals, the first step in engagement should be asking the question, 'How can we add real value to the conversation?’”

At my parent’s house my mother has a plaque that reads, “En esta casa canta el gallo pero manda la gallina.”  For my non-Spanish speaking readers, it translates to: 

In this house, the rooster sings, but the hen gives the orders. Simply put, who runs the world? Girls!

We all know mothers are very influential in the household and when it comes to major purchases, but how influential are they? According to Marketingprofs.com women make around 80% of all purchases. They buy more electronic equipment, vehicles, and home-improvement products than men do. Women hold nearly 50% of all jobs, and in dual income families, more than 30% outearn their husbands.
 

In addition, women are more likely to discuss products on social media sites and conduct research through them. According to a survey by Performics, moms are 75% more likely than other women to trust information from companies on social sites and 45% more likely to base their purchasing decisions on peer recommendations.

Daina Middleton, Global CEO of Performics states, “Brands have an opportunity to motivate moms to participate through their social media properties,” adds Middleton, “In this age of participation, moms expect a constructive, two-way relationship. To stay current, build loyalty and, in many cases, drive sales, brands must provide that meaningful connection with their customers.”

Consumers, and women especially, aren’t a static demographic to market to. Learning more about your female customers and how they buy is key. Gerry Myers is CEO, president, and cofounder of Advisory Link  says in order to reach this demographic you must understand the four new P’s: Pearls, Pumps, Purses, and Power. He explains:

• Pearls signify the prosperity the female customer represents to businesses. Her increasing discretionary dollars can make or break even large corporations, and will in the years to come. The woman consumer is truly a precious gem and should be treated as one.
• The Purse holds trillions of dollars that women will spend in the next decade. In many sports, the prize is referred to as the Purse. Think of the woman consumer as a valuable prize you need and want to secure. Without winning her Purse, you will lose not only this race but also the prospect of success in the future.
• Pumps represent the force women propel in the marketplace. She isn't afraid to put on those pumps and walk out the door if she doesn't get respect, fair prices, and professional treatment. Women today wear these pumps when shopping, climbing the corporate ladder, running their own businesses, or managing their households.
• Her Power is endless. Women have the money and the power to purchase. She should be sought after by you not because she makes up 51 % of the population but because she spends 85 % of the money. She is the buying agent for herself, her family, her business, and often her corporate purchasing department. She is both the inheritor of great wealth and the maker of it.

Andrea Learned, an expert on gender-based consumer behavior, noted that women tend to use both their left and right brains, they look at the fact and figures, but at the same time they will consider the emotional implications of a purchase. How can you implement these strategies at your dealership? Check out our ActivEngage’s helpful tips below:
1. Update Social Media Sites Often: As always, make sure your social media sites are up to date as women will be researching your brand as well as comments your customers make on your sites.
2. Dealers Are Humans Too: Create a corporate culture album/board on your social media sites to humanize your dealership and show your community involvement, interest in community events/issues, etc.
3. Market Your “Go Green” Efforts: If you have a green dealership, showcase it! Women, and moms especially, think of the long term ramifications of, well...everything.
4. Do Some Research: Women seek common ground.They gravitate towards people that share their interests so take a look at what is affecting women in your community to create that common ground.
5. Include the Entire Family: Women are constituent-driven and think of how their purchase will affect their loved ones. In part, their purchasing power isn’t just, “all about me.” Be sure to include the indirect benefits to family members and friends which purchasing from your dealership can have.

How does your dealership cater to women? Would you implement these strategies at your dealership? Post your thoughts in the comment section below!