Automotive Dealers looking to connect with Car Buyers using Email Marketing or Social Media Marketing might want to take a look at Facebook’s "Modern Messaging System." This new Messaging Platform uses @facebook.com addresses to allow users to send messages to people using conventional e-mail and Facebook urges that their new messaging system is anything but conventional e-Mail. Facebook looks to integrate Text Messaging, Email Messaging, and Instant Messaging into one organized place. This will allow users to see the conversations that they have had with anyone.

Conventional E-Mail Marketing may be threatened, but is still a very valuable asset to any Automotive Marketing Campaign. Facebook’s new approach to messages would only allow a user’s friends to communicate. This means that Salespeople need to be more active in the Social Media Community to keep communication open with potential car buyers on Facebook’s Messaging System.

Now with Facebook’s Messaging System the threat of your Dealership’s Message going unread is even more likely. The best way to combat this is urge salespeople at your dealership to be active in their social media communities and to keep the relations open with potential car buyers. Your sales people may be your best Dealership’s best in with the car buying community.

The Modern Messaging System announced by Facebook really values personal relationships over commercial relationships between businesses and consumers. As Facebook continues to evolve this issue may be addressed. However, the Potratz Team encourages Car Salespeople to focus on building their network of professional connections with their profile in addition to the Dealership’s Public Profile.

We encourage you to continue reading our Exclusively Automotive Blog to keep up to date with all of the emerging trends in Social Media and E-Mail Marketing.  We also invite you to check out our schedule of upcoming Automotive Marketing Webinars and feel free to contact us for more information.

Paul Potratz

Automotive Dealers looking to connect with Car Buyers using Email Marketing or Social Media Marketing might want to take a look at Facebook’s "Modern Messaging System." This new Messaging Platform uses @facebook.com addresses to allow users to send messages to people using conventional e-mail and Facebook urges that their new messaging system is anything but conventional e-Mail. Facebook looks to integrate Text Messaging, Email Messaging, and Instant Messaging into one organized place. This will allow users to see the conversations that they have had with anyone.

Conventional E-Mail Marketing may be threatened, but is still a very valuable asset to any Automotive Marketing Campaign. Facebook’s new approach to messages would only allow a user’s friends to communicate. This means that Salespeople need to be more active in the Social Media Community to keep communication open with potential car buyers on Facebook’s Messaging System.

Now with Facebook’s Messaging System the threat of your Dealership’s Message going unread is even more likely. The best way to combat this is urge salespeople at your dealership to be active in their social media communities and to keep the relations open with potential car buyers. Your sales people may be your best Dealership’s best in with the car buying community.

The Modern Messaging System announced by Facebook really values personal relationships over commercial relationships between businesses and consumers. As Facebook continues to evolve this issue may be addressed. However, the Potratz Team encourages Car Salespeople to focus on building their network of professional connections with their profile in addition to the Dealership’s Public Profile.

We encourage you to continue reading our Exclusively Automotive Blog to keep up to date with all of the emerging trends in Social Media and E-Mail Marketing.  We also invite you to check out our schedule of upcoming Automotive Marketing Webinars and feel free to contact us for more information.

Paul Potratz

MySpace, attempting to regain its former popularity as a social network, is now letting people sign up with existing Facebook credentials. This new MySpace Mashup feature will supposedly encourage Facebook users to get on, or back on, MySpace. Whether people will really head back to MySpace is the question.
 

Myspace has seen a significant drop in users over recent years, with its traffic dropping by half from 2009 to 2010. Will this move help to bring users back to MySpace? Only time will tell. As Facebook has grown more popular, many people have left their MySpace accounts dormant and switched over to Facebook. Recently, MySpace has integrated with Facebook in other ways, such as letting people update statuses on both networks.

Should auto dealers focus their efforts on MySpace as well as Facebook? Even if the Mashup feature does take off, all of these people are already Facebook users. It’s better to focus time and effort into developing an active Facebook following and a content-filled Facebook page than to get spread out and disjointed across multiple networks and not have a unified message. Spend your time refining an auto dealership Facebook page and building a following there.

Right now, Facebook is dominant. Though that dominance may change over time, you can reach the most people, and the most active people, with your automotive marketing message on a Facebook page.

Paul Potratz

MySpace, attempting to regain its former popularity as a social network, is now letting people sign up with existing Facebook credentials. This new MySpace Mashup feature will supposedly encourage Facebook users to get on, or back on, MySpace. Whether people will really head back to MySpace is the question.
 

Myspace has seen a significant drop in users over recent years, with its traffic dropping by half from 2009 to 2010. Will this move help to bring users back to MySpace? Only time will tell. As Facebook has grown more popular, many people have left their MySpace accounts dormant and switched over to Facebook. Recently, MySpace has integrated with Facebook in other ways, such as letting people update statuses on both networks.

Should auto dealers focus their efforts on MySpace as well as Facebook? Even if the Mashup feature does take off, all of these people are already Facebook users. It’s better to focus time and effort into developing an active Facebook following and a content-filled Facebook page than to get spread out and disjointed across multiple networks and not have a unified message. Spend your time refining an auto dealership Facebook page and building a following there.

Right now, Facebook is dominant. Though that dominance may change over time, you can reach the most people, and the most active people, with your automotive marketing message on a Facebook page.

Paul Potratz

As the holiday season approaches, auto dealers seek ways to take advantage of the holiday spirit to promote their dealerships. One way to do this is to choose a charity to donate money to and then use Facebook and Twitter pages to encourage people to give. For example, Chevy dealers are running the Chevy Gives More campaign and integrating this with Facebook. A charity promotion is a good opportunity to help those in need as well as to build fans on a Facebook page.

To encourage people to like a Facebook page, dealers can commit to give $10 or another amount to charity for each new fan on the page. To push this promotion, a full campaign includes Facebook ads, pay-per-click display ads on other websites, and web panels on an auto dealership website. When running a promotion, the dealer should post frequently on the page to keep people coming and giving.

Dealers need to show a personal side to encourage people to come to the dealership and give.

Salespeople should take pictures and video at the dealership, showing themselves and any donation boxes. People can come to the Facebook page and watch as the boxes grow fuller.

If you are running a donation to charity this holiday season, do not miss the opportunity to promote your efforts on social media. Build your Facebook page as you encourage fans to give.

Paul Potratz

As the holiday season approaches, auto dealers seek ways to take advantage of the holiday spirit to promote their dealerships. One way to do this is to choose a charity to donate money to and then use Facebook and Twitter pages to encourage people to give. For example, Chevy dealers are running the Chevy Gives More campaign and integrating this with Facebook. A charity promotion is a good opportunity to help those in need as well as to build fans on a Facebook page.

To encourage people to like a Facebook page, dealers can commit to give $10 or another amount to charity for each new fan on the page. To push this promotion, a full campaign includes Facebook ads, pay-per-click display ads on other websites, and web panels on an auto dealership website. When running a promotion, the dealer should post frequently on the page to keep people coming and giving.

Dealers need to show a personal side to encourage people to come to the dealership and give.

Salespeople should take pictures and video at the dealership, showing themselves and any donation boxes. People can come to the Facebook page and watch as the boxes grow fuller.

If you are running a donation to charity this holiday season, do not miss the opportunity to promote your efforts on social media. Build your Facebook page as you encourage fans to give.

Paul Potratz

Let’s face it: not too many people want to like a Facebook page that’s purely “sales-y.” If all you do on your car dealership Facebook page is post lists of prices and cars, you’re missing the point of social media. People join Facebook for the chance to interact personally with their friends and come to expect the same casual approach from the pages they like.

There is a much better chance of gaining fans on your page if you post pictures, interesting facts and news, and statuses that may or may not relate to the cars you sell. Comment on things like the weather or sports games to get people to interact on the page. The more people see interaction on your page, the more likely they will think your page looks interesting and will want to join in.

Giveaways for items like iPads are a surefire way to gain fans, but you can pump up giveaways even more if you show pictures and videos of people who won past giveaways. Also, take pictures of smiling customers with their cars and salespeople. Let your Facebook fans see a personal side of your employees—get salespeople posting on the page. Involve managers in posting about their latest specials as well as about general topics of interest.

Build a relationship with potential customers by making your page show your dealership as a group of people and not just a business. Make your auto dealership Facebook page be a page that people want to like!

Paul Potratz

Let’s face it: not too many people want to like a Facebook page that’s purely “sales-y.” If all you do on your car dealership Facebook page is post lists of prices and cars, you’re missing the point of social media. People join Facebook for the chance to interact personally with their friends and come to expect the same casual approach from the pages they like.

There is a much better chance of gaining fans on your page if you post pictures, interesting facts and news, and statuses that may or may not relate to the cars you sell. Comment on things like the weather or sports games to get people to interact on the page. The more people see interaction on your page, the more likely they will think your page looks interesting and will want to join in.

Giveaways for items like iPads are a surefire way to gain fans, but you can pump up giveaways even more if you show pictures and videos of people who won past giveaways. Also, take pictures of smiling customers with their cars and salespeople. Let your Facebook fans see a personal side of your employees—get salespeople posting on the page. Involve managers in posting about their latest specials as well as about general topics of interest.

Build a relationship with potential customers by making your page show your dealership as a group of people and not just a business. Make your auto dealership Facebook page be a page that people want to like!

Paul Potratz

Google is now integrating Promoted Tweets into Google Realtime Search. Twitter allows advertisers to pay for Promoted Tweets that will show up above the others in search results, similar to Google AdWords. Twitter itself only just unveiled Promoted Tweets, which the company is running on a trial basis with a select group of marketers, but eventually will open up to anyone who wants to advertise, including car dealers.

Not too long ago, Google rolled out Realtime Search, showing results from Twitter statuses that update in real time on the page. Now, paid-for Promoted Tweets will get prime position in Google results. Though this is a feature in progress of rolling out, car dealerships need to watch and see when and how they can take advantage of this new method of social media promotion.

As of now, these results will not show in regular search results but only in the Realtime search category (click “Updates” along the left side of search results to see). This integration with Google marks a continued cooperation between Google and Twitter and a new opportunity for interactive automotive advertising.

Paul Potratz

Google is now integrating Promoted Tweets into Google Realtime Search. Twitter allows advertisers to pay for Promoted Tweets that will show up above the others in search results, similar to Google AdWords. Twitter itself only just unveiled Promoted Tweets, which the company is running on a trial basis with a select group of marketers, but eventually will open up to anyone who wants to advertise, including car dealers.

Not too long ago, Google rolled out Realtime Search, showing results from Twitter statuses that update in real time on the page. Now, paid-for Promoted Tweets will get prime position in Google results. Though this is a feature in progress of rolling out, car dealerships need to watch and see when and how they can take advantage of this new method of social media promotion.

As of now, these results will not show in regular search results but only in the Realtime search category (click “Updates” along the left side of search results to see). This integration with Google marks a continued cooperation between Google and Twitter and a new opportunity for interactive automotive advertising.

Paul Potratz