I was chatting with a social media marketing buddy of mine in Dallas earlier today when he told me a funny story. He knows that I'm in the automotive industry and he found it humorous that two dealers in his area shared the same image onto their Facebook pages at the exact same time. He followed both as he follows many local businesses and checked to see who posted it first and who reshared it.

To his surprise, it wasn't a case of one dealer liking and sharing the content that another dealer posted. It was a simultaneous post of the same image by two different dealers in the same metro.

This is awkward.

This is lazy.

Clearly, they were using the same social media vendor. Clearly, the vendor didn't believe in posting different content to different pages. He also noted to me that the image was cut off, so "add sloppy to my list of complaints," he told me.

I received what equated to a lecture about how "my" industry was doing it wrong. I assured him that we would never do something like that, not because it's a big deal but because we don't believe in automating our clients' interactions. It makes it impersonal and lowers the credibility level of any dealers who are pulling from a content pool, particularly when they're in the same city.

There's nothing wrong with sharing content that you find on the internet. There's nothing wrong with sharing another dealer's content; if it's interesting and relevant, Facebook is the perfect place to share and reshare. We do it all the time.

However, make sure you're not sloppy about it. Make sure that if you're having a vendor do the posting for you that they're not pushing the bulk send button on your behalf. Your goal is to stand out on Facebook, not act as a group posting the same thing that countless other dealers are sharing.

Be different. Be original. Don't settle for posting the same tired content just because your vendor has a lot of other dealers to post for as well. You deserve better.

I was chatting with a social media marketing buddy of mine in Dallas earlier today when he told me a funny story. He knows that I'm in the automotive industry and he found it humorous that two dealers in his area shared the same image onto their Facebook pages at the exact same time. He followed both as he follows many local businesses and checked to see who posted it first and who reshared it.

To his surprise, it wasn't a case of one dealer liking and sharing the content that another dealer posted. It was a simultaneous post of the same image by two different dealers in the same metro.

This is awkward.

This is lazy.

Clearly, they were using the same social media vendor. Clearly, the vendor didn't believe in posting different content to different pages. He also noted to me that the image was cut off, so "add sloppy to my list of complaints," he told me.

I received what equated to a lecture about how "my" industry was doing it wrong. I assured him that we would never do something like that, not because it's a big deal but because we don't believe in automating our clients' interactions. It makes it impersonal and lowers the credibility level of any dealers who are pulling from a content pool, particularly when they're in the same city.

There's nothing wrong with sharing content that you find on the internet. There's nothing wrong with sharing another dealer's content; if it's interesting and relevant, Facebook is the perfect place to share and reshare. We do it all the time.

However, make sure you're not sloppy about it. Make sure that if you're having a vendor do the posting for you that they're not pushing the bulk send button on your behalf. Your goal is to stand out on Facebook, not act as a group posting the same thing that countless other dealers are sharing.

Be different. Be original. Don't settle for posting the same tired content just because your vendor has a lot of other dealers to post for as well. You deserve better.

We are compiling a list of Google+ accounts for anyone in the automotive industry. Testing shows that Google+ relies almost entirely on quality rather than quantity which makes it extremely important to network properly.

This is extremely important. Getting involved requires nothing, but the benefits (particularly by 1st quarter of 2013) can be dramatic.

It's not Facebook. Despite similarities in the platform functions, the ways that people and businesses engage on Google+ are completely different. The benefits are likewise different; with Google+, there is much more of a search and social hybrid function happening where engagement on Google+ both at the page/profile level as well as the website level can yield stunning results.

To those who think it's a ghost town, check again. They have made strong steps towards adoption over the last 3 months and it's starting to show signs of life.

What To We're Doing

We will be publishing a list of Google+ URLs for dealers, vendors, and individuals in the automotive industry. Through this list, the networking function that Google craves from Google+ will be applied and everyone who participates actively will benefit from it.

We have done this sort of thing outside of the automotive industry through our Hasai product line for several years now and it has yielded strengths that could never be achieved through individual efforts alone.

Basically, active players on Google+ will follow the other active players. Our combined engagement will translate into increased engagement outside of our personal networks and create an opportunity for the virality and trust elements that are driving both rankings on the search engine as well as traffic (to some extent). There is no need to go into details about why it works - the important part to understand is that it definitely does work and when properly organized can help everyone who is involved.

What YOU Need to Do

I'm compiling the list through my personal account rather than the business accounts (so nobody thinks this is a ploy to get followers for the company). Simple follow my account and I will follow you back.

Once the list is adequately large enough, I'll publish it here. After you follow my account you can also post your profile and page URLs in the comments so those who are already active can get a head start and follow you.

I'll send instructions to everyone who participates, but it isn't hard at all. Check Google+ at least once a day. +1, comment, and share content that you find interesting, particularly if it's from someone in the industry. The feed will "learn" based upon your actions and start displaying the profiles and pages you like the most at the top of your feed very similar to how Facebook does it.

We will stay perfectly aligned with what Google wants. Everything will be natural. We're networking. We're building an automotive network of like-minded people and businesses who all have the same basic goal - rank better and drive traffic to our sites.

Please don't dismiss this. It's really a no-brainer. If you're spending any time at all on Facebook, you should be spending at least a very small portion of it on Google+ as well. In the very near future, Google+ will demonstrate through their Local service (reviews), through search rankings (social signals), and through the adoption associated with both mobile and everything else Google that those who engage properly and strive for quality on their services will rise to the top.

Keep in mind that participation and results are intertwined, so there's no "risk" involved with getting on the list. If you're active, you'll be rewarded. If you become inactive or simply don't find the value, your lack of participation will not hurt you, it simply won't help you. There is literally nothing to lose.

Follow my account. I'll show you how to make it work for everyone, most importantly you.

We are compiling a list of Google+ accounts for anyone in the automotive industry. Testing shows that Google+ relies almost entirely on quality rather than quantity which makes it extremely important to network properly.

This is extremely important. Getting involved requires nothing, but the benefits (particularly by 1st quarter of 2013) can be dramatic.

It's not Facebook. Despite similarities in the platform functions, the ways that people and businesses engage on Google+ are completely different. The benefits are likewise different; with Google+, there is much more of a search and social hybrid function happening where engagement on Google+ both at the page/profile level as well as the website level can yield stunning results.

To those who think it's a ghost town, check again. They have made strong steps towards adoption over the last 3 months and it's starting to show signs of life.

What To We're Doing

We will be publishing a list of Google+ URLs for dealers, vendors, and individuals in the automotive industry. Through this list, the networking function that Google craves from Google+ will be applied and everyone who participates actively will benefit from it.

We have done this sort of thing outside of the automotive industry through our Hasai product line for several years now and it has yielded strengths that could never be achieved through individual efforts alone.

Basically, active players on Google+ will follow the other active players. Our combined engagement will translate into increased engagement outside of our personal networks and create an opportunity for the virality and trust elements that are driving both rankings on the search engine as well as traffic (to some extent). There is no need to go into details about why it works - the important part to understand is that it definitely does work and when properly organized can help everyone who is involved.

What YOU Need to Do

I'm compiling the list through my personal account rather than the business accounts (so nobody thinks this is a ploy to get followers for the company). Simple follow my account and I will follow you back.

Once the list is adequately large enough, I'll publish it here. After you follow my account you can also post your profile and page URLs in the comments so those who are already active can get a head start and follow you.

I'll send instructions to everyone who participates, but it isn't hard at all. Check Google+ at least once a day. +1, comment, and share content that you find interesting, particularly if it's from someone in the industry. The feed will "learn" based upon your actions and start displaying the profiles and pages you like the most at the top of your feed very similar to how Facebook does it.

We will stay perfectly aligned with what Google wants. Everything will be natural. We're networking. We're building an automotive network of like-minded people and businesses who all have the same basic goal - rank better and drive traffic to our sites.

Please don't dismiss this. It's really a no-brainer. If you're spending any time at all on Facebook, you should be spending at least a very small portion of it on Google+ as well. In the very near future, Google+ will demonstrate through their Local service (reviews), through search rankings (social signals), and through the adoption associated with both mobile and everything else Google that those who engage properly and strive for quality on their services will rise to the top.

Keep in mind that participation and results are intertwined, so there's no "risk" involved with getting on the list. If you're active, you'll be rewarded. If you become inactive or simply don't find the value, your lack of participation will not hurt you, it simply won't help you. There is literally nothing to lose.

Follow my account. I'll show you how to make it work for everyone, most importantly you.

As I look at the social media presence of various dealers, I noticed that many are either automating or have abandoned Twitter all together. Is this trend based upon lack of effectiveness or is it simply not a hot topic anymore?

We've seen dealers that have been effective on Twitter, but they are few and far between. Has Twitter become too thin? Is there simply no valid way to generate leads, communicate with customers, or find new prospects?

I'm asking because I still believe in Twitter. I know that there are ways to find potential customers on Twitter. I know that people do communicate with dealers on Twitter and often get disappointed when they don't get a reply. The question is: do you believe Twitter is worth it?

As I look at the social media presence of various dealers, I noticed that many are either automating or have abandoned Twitter all together. Is this trend based upon lack of effectiveness or is it simply not a hot topic anymore?

We've seen dealers that have been effective on Twitter, but they are few and far between. Has Twitter become too thin? Is there simply no valid way to generate leads, communicate with customers, or find new prospects?

I'm asking because I still believe in Twitter. I know that there are ways to find potential customers on Twitter. I know that people do communicate with dealers on Twitter and often get disappointed when they don't get a reply. The question is: do you believe Twitter is worth it?

All too often I see dealers (and just about everyone else) posting images multiple times in the same day using a single tool. It could be Instagram, Hootsuite, Buffer, KPA Local Engage, Path, or any of dozens of great tools out there that can post images to Facebook.

The challenge with this is in how Facebook batches images into albums on the news feed. You can look at your Facebook page and everything looks fine, but the way that multiple images posted from the same tool in a 24 hour period looks in the news feed of your fans is completely different. They get batched as an album that does not have a like button.

Let me repeat. It does not have a like button on these auto-generated albums when viewed from the news feed. In other words, for your fans to interact with your image content they will have to click through to the individual image in the album.

They won't. They might think, "Oh, that's cool," but because there is no like button in their feed they'll skip it and continue scrolling.

Even the scheduling tool withing Facebook itself does this.

If you post images through mobile or directly to your page through Facebook.com, this isn't an issue. There's even a like button when you intentionally create an album through Facebook.com. It's in using any tools or the scheduling feature that the challenge arises.

This content can actually hurt your EdgeRank and make your content appear lower on the news feeds if at all. Already, only 16% of your fans are able to see your content at all in your news feed. There's no need to make that number go down even further by scheduling multiple images in a 24-hour period from the same tool.

We get around this and are able to get tremendous engagement on our page by using multiple tools. It doesn't apply for links or videos (which you should post sparingly anyway based on their penalties in the news feed), but more than one image from a tool in a 24 hour period makes it difficult for your fans to engage even if they want to.

Check out our Facebook Page. You'll see that we get strong interactions from our fans and are able to post multiple images a day because we split the image posts between the various tools. On the page or in the image above, you'll see that we use up to 5 different tools (including Facebook.com itself) at any particular time to make sure that Facebook doesn't auto-batch our posts into albums that cannot be liked directly from the news feed.

Try it out. Utilizing a single tool is easier but it can decrease engagement if you're posting more than 1 image a day. If you're posting less than one image a day, you're missing out on a lot of potential that images offer in Facebook. It's a visual medium. Be visual!

All too often I see dealers (and just about everyone else) posting images multiple times in the same day using a single tool. It could be Instagram, Hootsuite, Buffer, KPA Local Engage, Path, or any of dozens of great tools out there that can post images to Facebook.

The challenge with this is in how Facebook batches images into albums on the news feed. You can look at your Facebook page and everything looks fine, but the way that multiple images posted from the same tool in a 24 hour period looks in the news feed of your fans is completely different. They get batched as an album that does not have a like button.

Let me repeat. It does not have a like button on these auto-generated albums when viewed from the news feed. In other words, for your fans to interact with your image content they will have to click through to the individual image in the album.

They won't. They might think, "Oh, that's cool," but because there is no like button in their feed they'll skip it and continue scrolling.

Even the scheduling tool withing Facebook itself does this.

If you post images through mobile or directly to your page through Facebook.com, this isn't an issue. There's even a like button when you intentionally create an album through Facebook.com. It's in using any tools or the scheduling feature that the challenge arises.

This content can actually hurt your EdgeRank and make your content appear lower on the news feeds if at all. Already, only 16% of your fans are able to see your content at all in your news feed. There's no need to make that number go down even further by scheduling multiple images in a 24-hour period from the same tool.

We get around this and are able to get tremendous engagement on our page by using multiple tools. It doesn't apply for links or videos (which you should post sparingly anyway based on their penalties in the news feed), but more than one image from a tool in a 24 hour period makes it difficult for your fans to engage even if they want to.

Check out our Facebook Page. You'll see that we get strong interactions from our fans and are able to post multiple images a day because we split the image posts between the various tools. On the page or in the image above, you'll see that we use up to 5 different tools (including Facebook.com itself) at any particular time to make sure that Facebook doesn't auto-batch our posts into albums that cannot be liked directly from the news feed.

Try it out. Utilizing a single tool is easier but it can decrease engagement if you're posting more than 1 image a day. If you're posting less than one image a day, you're missing out on a lot of potential that images offer in Facebook. It's a visual medium. Be visual!

Most dealers have gotten involved in some way in Facebook at some point. Many are doing exceptionally well. Others are not. Some have abandoned it. Others have started but haven't really "started" all the way.

For those who have either not started or are not really sure what to do, Adam Ross posted an excellent guide to help dealers get their Facebook going. For those who are doing well or on the verge of doing well, here are some advanced Facebook posting tips just for you. We give examples as well as tips on why, how, when, and what to post. Find it on Dealer Webinars or watch it below.

It's long, but it's worth the time...

Most dealers have gotten involved in some way in Facebook at some point. Many are doing exceptionally well. Others are not. Some have abandoned it. Others have started but haven't really "started" all the way.

For those who have either not started or are not really sure what to do, Adam Ross posted an excellent guide to help dealers get their Facebook going. For those who are doing well or on the verge of doing well, here are some advanced Facebook posting tips just for you. We give examples as well as tips on why, how, when, and what to post. Find it on Dealer Webinars or watch it below.

It's long, but it's worth the time...