Twitter has really blossomed as a powerful tool for digital marketing. With one of the largest and most active communities in all of social media, there is no denying that the service merits your attention. Any time you can reach such a massive group of people for short money, you know it’s in your best interest. And now, Twitter is stepping up their advertising game, becoming exponentially more valuable to your social media marketing efforts.

This week, the short-form media juggernaut announced an advertising tool that will enable companies to finely-hone their Tweet targeting to reach specific users. Companies can pay to advertise with Tweets that are shown to users based on their geographic location and whether they are accessing the service from a mobile device or a personal computer.

“Today we’re introducing targeted Tweets, an enhancement that enables brands to reach specific audiences on Twitter without first sending a Tweet to all followers,” said Twitter product manager Kevin Weil. ”What if your Tweet is only relevant for a subset of your followers? What if you want to make an offer just to New York Twitter users? Until today, it’s been impractical to send these kinds of highly tailored Tweets, since there was no way to reach people in New York without also reaching followers in Norway, Nebraska and Nigeria who can’t take advantage of your offer.”

Savvy users of Twitter have been able to perform different kinds of targeted advertising for some time now with various monitoring and posting services, but they have been fairly time consuming. Now that Twitter is launching this official targeting program, it will be interesting to see how companies are forced to adapt their social media strategies.

Original article about Twitter Marketing posted on Wikimoitive's Blog under the title New Targeted Ads On Twitter

In any good automotive SEO campaign you need to establish your dealership as a credible industry leading source of information. This can definitely be a handful but there are a few easy guidelines you can follow to make sure that your web content is helping your case rather than hurting it. Creating great content on a regular basis will establish your dealers credible voice and you’ll be well on your way to top Google rankings.

First, you want to write with authority, developing your writing voice can be one of the hardest things to do but communicating clearly and effectively can make a big difference in establishing your authority with readers. Make sure to present your thoughts easily and clearly and with confidence. You also want to make sure that you know the facts, provide your readers with detailed info and sources to back it up. Always be honest, your audience needs to be able to trust you, something that is hard to come by for a dealership for sure, so make sure you always convey honesty and sincerity even if it might be bad for your brand in the short term.

Consistency can be another big factor even minor design flaws in your site can give your customers and readers a reason to doubt your attention to detail and your commitment to excellence. Make sure you follow a set of guidelines whether they are official, like those defined by the Associated Press, or something of your own creation. This way every one who provides content to your site can do so easily while still maintaining the consistency of your site.

You could have the most amazing idea for the last century but if you don’t communicate it correctly, you may as well have come up with nothing. Just because you happen to be in charge and you have great ideas doesn’t mean you’re necessarily cut out to write content or blogs on a regular basis. If this is the case there is surely someone in your dealership that has great writing skills, and if not you can always hire someone who does. Handing off your writing responsibility to someone who has a gift for it is one of the best things you can do, you’ll be freeing up time for that awesome brain of yours to come up with more great ideas and  you’ll be increasing your credibility with your audience. Not to mention that writer love writing, so you would be doing one of your employees a huge favor by making one of their duties something they actually enjoy.

Original article on developing a writing voice was first posted on Wikimotive's Blog under the title Making Sure Your Web Content Is Working For You Not Against You

It’s a powerful tool, one that can truly further your business and bring in customers, but it can hurt you just as quickly. Like any tool, in and of itself, it can only take you so far; it performs based on the skill of its user. That’s why its crucial that you make sure you have the right people in charge of your social media marketing, because it can turn on you in a heartbeat.

Social media is often times the face of our company. We build our brands on Facebook and Twitter, amassing followers and fans, and sometimes forget that they have an equal voice. Sure, we can market and entice to our heart’s content, but they can come right back at us if they have any complaints. Mishandle these complaints, and you’ve just made a fool of yourself in front of your targeted audience. I’ve seen good companies take deep cuts because they’ve had the wrong person running their social media...sometimes it’s so bad, there’s no stopping the bleeding.

An amazing example of this happened just last year. A man, lets call him Richard, ran PR for a company, lets call it ABC Marketing. A customer complained about a shipping delay on a product, and Richard’s response was brusque to say the least. They started to exchange messages, but now media and social outlets were being included in the dialogue by way of email Cc, Facebook posts and Twitter hashtags. The customer was being difficult, annoying, and petulant...but sometimes customers are all those things and worse. The problem is that Richard began giving it right back, and then escalated it by saying this:

“I Don’t have my controller so I'm gonna cry to the world … Really ?? Hey take that free time and do something more productive. All you had to do was check the like everyone else , people have inquired but you’re the douchiest of them all
[sic]”

The backlash was incredible. Orders were cancelled, Richard was fired from ABC Marketing and ABC Marketing was fired by the manufacturer. The company’s Twitter and Facebook pages exploded with negative press to the point that they were forced to change their name. It has been about six months and people are still putting out the fires started by one man’s grotesque mishandling of PR and the resulting social media backlash.

Use this as an example (admittedly an extreme one). Don’t argue with customers online. Even if you’re right, hell even if you’re polite, you still come off looking bad. If the argument can’t be helped, be concise and reasonable even in the face of vitriol and assault. Try to direct the discussion to a phone call or other private venue. Email is better, but don’t be fooled into thinking it’s totally secure. Sure, Facebook and Twitter are immediately public, but it’s a simple matter to capture an email exchange and post it on social media for the world to see. You need to consider every word you put on the web, because (ideally) your message will be seen by innumerable people.

That’s the crux of the issue. You want your message seen by people, and not just any people, but potential customers. You build your network and if everything goes according to plan, every post you make is seen by your target demographic. If you perform well, you’ll gain goodwill. But if you make a mistake, that same group of people you’ve been courting and cultivating will view you in a whole new light.

So remember

Social media is a knife without a handle--a powerful tool, a remarkable tool--but one that can cut you if you don’t take it seriously.
Original article about the dangers of social media posted on Wikimotive's Blog titled Social Media: A Knife Without a Handle

Can you believe that it’s been a year since Google announced the new Google Analytics? Before now you didn’t have to make the transition if you didn’t want to but now, a year later, Google is killing version 4 and version 5 will be the only option. The link back to “Old Version - Reporting” has been removed from the footers as well meaning Google Analytics v4 is finally dead. Google Analytics v5 should help you streamline your digital marketing efforts even more.

The Google team announced this news in a blog post earlier this week. They said it was time to leave the old version behind, and offered up some links to Google analytics help center for those who are finding the transition difficult. They also mentioned a few features you should focus on for the new version.

New features in v5 include real-time analytics reports, multi-channel funnel reports for attribution tracking, a whole mess of social media tracking tools, and content experiments Google’s improved A/B testing platform.

There were reports about features missing from v5 but Google says they have addressed that. Google Analytics Director of Engineering made it clear that they have taken into account every bit of feedback they’ve received over the past few years. "We've been listening very closely and doing our best to incorporate the feedback and ideas," Muret explained. "We are continually working to improve upon Google Analytics and help provide you with tools to make better decisions for your website and marketing programs."

Do you need help making the transition? Not sure how to use all of the new features? Contact Wikimotive for help with your Google Analytics and digital marketing strategies.

Original article on Google Analytics and digital marketing published on Wikimotive's Blog titled Google Finally Makes The Full Switch To Analytics v5

Wikipedia has become the go-to resource for an increasingly large number of people. According to Alexa, it is currently the sixth most visited website both in the United States and on the planet. With such an enormous audience, it’s only natural to want your business to have its own page, and with Wikipedia’s content submission system, it’s easily possible. Being listed on Wikipedia can also give you a huge boost for your automotive SEO efforts, Should you do it yourself though?

Let’s start with the obvious; there are many upsides to having your business on Wikipedia. Do a Google search for any fortune 500 company, heck, do one for ANYTHING, and you’ll find the Wikipedia entry pretty high up in the results. It is a trusted site among all search engines and is known to be relatively spam free, so they love to direct you there. An added bonus for businesses is credibility, if your business is listed on Wikipedia (and has no associated scandals) then you instantly gain more than a modicum of trust from consumers.

Before you run off to add your business to the internet hive-mind though, ask yourself this difficult question: am I relevant enough?

It can be hard to discern sometimes, especially when your ego is yelling, “Relevant? You bet your ass I’m relevant!” It’s a necessary distinction though.  Having a thriving business is not enough. You need to have proof of your notability. Wikipedia has listed there notability guidelines, check them out and see if you qualify. For a quick answer, ask yourself if you’ve been mentioned more than a couple times in the media. Have you or your business been published in a book? Authorship, accompanied by your ISBN, is a great way to land on Wikipedia fast.

Anyone can contribute to Wikipedia, so you may be tempted to just add your page and see if it sticks. Doing that is analogous to black hat SEO tactics. Sure, it works for a bit, but when you’re caught you’ll be penalized. Your best bet is, much like white hat, to think long term. Build a reputation on Wikipedia as a reputable, unbiased source. Perform helpful edits and add pages that need adding. When it comes time that your business IS notable enough, be sure the article is impartial and informative.

No one wants to read about the CEO’s rugged, James Dean style good looks, even if it’s true.

Original article about business listings on Wikipedia posted on Wikimotive's blog entitled Should you add your business to Wikipedia?

Social Media will be playing a large role in this years 2012 Summer Olympics. During the last Summer Olympics in 2008 most of the major social media sites were still just getting started, and internet users have increased from 23% to about one third of the total world population. This year at the Olympics Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter will be running the show.

Recently an article on Mashable made an interesting comparison between the status of the top social media sites back in 2008 and where they currently stand now. In terms of users functionality and growth they’ve all come a very long way in juts 4 years and we now have a few large ones that weren't even around in 2008 like Google+ and Pinterest. Surely social media marketing will be a very big factor in during this years Olympics and while many people will be tweeting about the action and sharing on Facebook others have already started scamming.

Apparently there have already been reports of phishing and ticket scams on some social media sites and users should be wary of alerts with links that seem to come from these sites. Luckily you can go to the official site for the 2012 Olympics at London2012.com and verify the authenticity of your tickets with their “ticket checker.”

How do you plan on using social media during the 2012 Summer Olympics?

Original article about Social Media Marketing and the 2012 Olympics written on Wikimotive's Blog titled Social Media's Role In The 2012 Summer Olympics

When it comes to your advertising dollar, you always want the most bang for your buck. Google has long been a favorite, dominating the market and practically commanding every dollar of your search engine marketing budget. It has been true for so long that many companies don’t even bother with the competitors, but is that a wise decision?

Lets take a look at how the market breaks down. According to comScore.com (and everyone you talk to ever) Google is still dominating the scene, commanding a whopping 66 percent of the search market. That doesn’t leave much room for competition, but Bing is certainly trying. As of July 2012, the Microsoft owned engine was pulling 15 percent of the market.  Just behind Bing is the steadily falling Yahoo, dropping again to wind up third with 13 percent. Ask and AOL are bottom feeding with 3 and 1 percent respectively.

Looking at the numbers, it’s clear that Google still commands the bulk of your search engine marketing budget, but thats not to say it needs ALL of it. Yahoo is on it’s way down, but still has some small (and shrinking) merit. Bing is rising though, and deserves  at least a piece of your attention. Here are some things to consider:

Bing is newer, and smaller, so it’s easier to get onto the first page. Google is saturated with advertisers and it can be difficult for a small business in a big field to get any recognition.

Bing users are a different demographic. While Google is all over the map, Bing tends to be much more heavily used by the 25-54 market. Think of it this way, fans of MSN are Bing users.

Bing is standardizing their advertising based on Google. What this means for you is that the same copy and bids you use on your Google ads will transfer seamlessly to Bing, with no need to change text length or bidding strategy.

Finally, Bing and Yahoo are forming an advertising alliance. With one account, you’ll be able to advertise across both engines, effectively reaching about 30 percent of the market.

Ultimately, there are obviously no shortages of places to spend your advertising money. You may be temped to go with only Google for simplicities sake, but take the chance and diversify, you just may be surprised by the results.

Original Article about SEM strategy posted on Wikimotive's Blog titled: Where should you spend your SEM budget?

How does your website look? Is it well designed, easy to navigate, populated with a ton of great content? Now how does it look on the inside rather than the outside? All of those things are very important to automotive SEO but what's inside could be just as important. The way your site has been build and coded on the inside might not make any difference to you and me but Google will definitely notice.

For the rest of the story on how to do an SEO audit for your site head over to Wikimotive's Blog.

The business of Automotive SEO is constantly changing, sometimes it's all you can do to stay informed about recent changes, trends, and the most up to date tactics, never mind actually implementing them. SEOs tend to spend a lot of their time just researching the latest info on search engines and for good reason. There aren’t many industries where you could be on top of the world one moment and nothing the next based on the whim of another company.

For the full article on how to keep up to date with your SEO head over to Wikimotive's blog.

We have established the importance of having your business on Facebook, but once your account is set up, you’ve only just begun. Now that you have a page, you need to start attracting fans. There are many ways of growing your page, and I have picked out my five favorites below.

For the full story on how you can improve your Facebook marketing and grow your fan base head over to Wikimotive's blog.