Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov famously tantalized his dogs by ringing a bell to alert them that food was about to be served. The dogs, soon wise enough to associate the sound of a tinkling bell with a big juicy steak, began to salivate each time the bell tolled.

This associated behavior is known as “classical conditioning,” and the parallel between the doghouse and the dealership cannot be clearer. Obviously, the incoming lead is the “ringing bell” in your dealership, and the dealers are the hungry dogs pouncing on the lead.

Right? Wrong.

Instead, what I hear all too often in my visits around the nation’s dealerships are lackluster lead responses like “Ahh, that can wait a little bit.” or “Somebody else can take the phone call.” Over the past four or five months, I’ve noticed this non-responsive attitude toward leads becoming more common than ever.

What happened to the urgency? Shouldn’t every Internet sales person know by now that the first fifteen minutes are the most critical when it comes to new automotive leads? Why are all the Internet sales processes taught in OEM seminars and Dealer Group guidelines going out the window?

To understand this seemingly irrational behavior, we must return to Pavlov’s dogs.

In the same experiment, Pavlov began ringing the bell WITHOUT providing food, to see if the dogs would still respond with salivating and pouncing. Result: Without the food (stimuli), the bell elicited less and less “drooling” and, after a while, the behavior became extinct.

The moral of the story? For a variety of reasons, Internet Sales Managers have stopped associating leads with sales. As a result, sales urgency is out and “lead lethargy” is in. In order to understand why, we must identify the reasons and establish best practices around digital automotive lead management.

Why Automotive Leads “Overflow” is Turning Alpha Dogs into Lapdogs

Why have so many dealers stopped associating leads with sales? Believe it or not, one key reason is the sheer abundance of leads. Digital automotive marketing has done its job almost too well, and as a result, there is an unprecedented flow of leads and lead sources. Like Pavlov’s ringing bell,today’s Internet Managers are inundated with nonstop chimes, buzzers, pages and calls, all alerting them that leads are pouring in.

With “too many” leads for one Internet Salesperson to handle; the reward for selling a car will be still there, but the closing ratio will drop. This drop will probably defeat company’s policies (closing ration >10% and so on). If a dealership has an average of 200 leads coming in per month, even if an Internet Salesperson sells 18 cars a month, they will still not be able to make a dent. Realizing this, the salesperson begins “cherry picking,” handling the lower hanging fruit (e.g the rare used car in inventory with tons of inquiries), and neglecting the fresh 3rd party leads, most likely the leads w/ the highest cost per sale ratio.

How to Yank the Leash on Automotive Lead Management Apathy

1.Staff up. Many managers hear this story and think the answer is to decrease leads. Instead of canceling leads, I suggest converting one or more salesperson into your Internet team and supplying them with the lead “overflow.” By sharing the wealth, you get to keep all your leads and still make sure each one gets the attention it deserves.

2.Limit leads per person. Even a dog faced with 2,000 juicy steaks can’t eat them all. Sharpen sales concentration by limiting the number of start-to-finish leads to 80-90 per person/month.  If they are an absolute pro, 120 start-to-finish leads may be doable, but don’t risk it unless you are sure this person is well-versed in your internal process.

3.Correlate effort and reward. To keep that urgency going, you have to make sure the stimulus is there. Let your team know “This next incoming lead will be the only one for today.” Limiting leads will stretch the necessity to handle each lead with thoroughness, according to your automotive  lead management process. Needless to say, it was also increase staff motivation. All of a sudden the dog who was sitting with his tail between his legs will be streaking after the tennis ball.
 

These lead management practices work, I can assure you. I have turned around 3 franchises in the last 6 months to #1 CPO in state, #2 CPO in the country, and #1 New Car dealer objective, and so on. By integrating these practices, I have helped dealership realize the most Internet department sales ever, not by minimizing lead count, but by allocating the right resources in my eCommerce departments.

In conclusion, while I do not expect Internet Sales people to start drooling and pawing when an Internet Sales phone page comes across, these lead management practices should urge them to get out of their chair and “take care about business” right away.

And? Did this post ring a bell?

VJ - The Social Media Buzzer

PHOENIX  -  ATLANTA

Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov famously tantalized his dogs by ringing a bell to alert them that food was about to be served. The dogs, soon wise enough to associate the sound of a tinkling bell with a big juicy steak, began to salivate each time the bell tolled.

This associated behavior is known as “classical conditioning,” and the parallel between the doghouse and the dealership cannot be clearer. Obviously, the incoming lead is the “ringing bell” in your dealership, and the dealers are the hungry dogs pouncing on the lead.

Right? Wrong.

Instead, what I hear all too often in my visits around the nation’s dealerships are lackluster lead responses like “Ahh, that can wait a little bit.” or “Somebody else can take the phone call.” Over the past four or five months, I’ve noticed this non-responsive attitude toward leads becoming more common than ever.

What happened to the urgency? Shouldn’t every Internet sales person know by now that the first fifteen minutes are the most critical when it comes to new automotive leads? Why are all the Internet sales processes taught in OEM seminars and Dealer Group guidelines going out the window?

To understand this seemingly irrational behavior, we must return to Pavlov’s dogs.

In the same experiment, Pavlov began ringing the bell WITHOUT providing food, to see if the dogs would still respond with salivating and pouncing. Result: Without the food (stimuli), the bell elicited less and less “drooling” and, after a while, the behavior became extinct.

The moral of the story? For a variety of reasons, Internet Sales Managers have stopped associating leads with sales. As a result, sales urgency is out and “lead lethargy” is in. In order to understand why, we must identify the reasons and establish best practices around digital automotive lead management.

Why Automotive Leads “Overflow” is Turning Alpha Dogs into Lapdogs

Why have so many dealers stopped associating leads with sales? Believe it or not, one key reason is the sheer abundance of leads. Digital automotive marketing has done its job almost too well, and as a result, there is an unprecedented flow of leads and lead sources. Like Pavlov’s ringing bell,today’s Internet Managers are inundated with nonstop chimes, buzzers, pages and calls, all alerting them that leads are pouring in.

With “too many” leads for one Internet Salesperson to handle; the reward for selling a car will be still there, but the closing ratio will drop. This drop will probably defeat company’s policies (closing ration >10% and so on). If a dealership has an average of 200 leads coming in per month, even if an Internet Salesperson sells 18 cars a month, they will still not be able to make a dent. Realizing this, the salesperson begins “cherry picking,” handling the lower hanging fruit (e.g the rare used car in inventory with tons of inquiries), and neglecting the fresh 3rd party leads, most likely the leads w/ the highest cost per sale ratio.

How to Yank the Leash on Automotive Lead Management Apathy

1.Staff up. Many managers hear this story and think the answer is to decrease leads. Instead of canceling leads, I suggest converting one or more salesperson into your Internet team and supplying them with the lead “overflow.” By sharing the wealth, you get to keep all your leads and still make sure each one gets the attention it deserves.

2.Limit leads per person. Even a dog faced with 2,000 juicy steaks can’t eat them all. Sharpen sales concentration by limiting the number of start-to-finish leads to 80-90 per person/month.  If they are an absolute pro, 120 start-to-finish leads may be doable, but don’t risk it unless you are sure this person is well-versed in your internal process.

3.Correlate effort and reward. To keep that urgency going, you have to make sure the stimulus is there. Let your team know “This next incoming lead will be the only one for today.” Limiting leads will stretch the necessity to handle each lead with thoroughness, according to your automotive  lead management process. Needless to say, it was also increase staff motivation. All of a sudden the dog who was sitting with his tail between his legs will be streaking after the tennis ball.
 

These lead management practices work, I can assure you. I have turned around 3 franchises in the last 6 months to #1 CPO in state, #2 CPO in the country, and #1 New Car dealer objective, and so on. By integrating these practices, I have helped dealership realize the most Internet department sales ever, not by minimizing lead count, but by allocating the right resources in my eCommerce departments.

In conclusion, while I do not expect Internet Sales people to start drooling and pawing when an Internet Sales phone page comes across, these lead management practices should urge them to get out of their chair and “take care about business” right away.

And? Did this post ring a bell?

VJ - The Social Media Buzzer

PHOENIX  -  ATLANTA

Good news for early adapters in our so beloved automobile industry. When you are one of the pioneers using in your ads, Maroni stickers, or even on Business cards the two-dimensional barcode like images – a.k.a. quick-response codes or in short QR-Codes – you past the stage of  prior “thinking out of  the box” with flying colors.

As you know adaptable smartphone apps are able to scan and then convert the code into a picture ad or other information you would love to share with your potential clients.

Advantage for the consumer: Recalling “what was shown or said in an ad” with a push of a button.

Advantage for us dealerships: Unlimited "air" time - 24/7/365

The MGH group conducted a survey to see how consumers are adapting to the “new” technology, which is actually now out for more than a year. Here is the great news and opportunity for us dealers:

• Almost 75% of smartphone users are very likely or at least somewhat intrigued to recall   advertising and marketing messages with QR codes
• Awareness among smartphone users rose to 65% (have seen a QR Code)
• 56% recognized the two-dimensional images on product packaging
• 45% recalled to have seen them on magazines and (ATTENTION PLEASE) on coupons
• And more than a quarter of the users saw the QR’s in newspaper ads (is your dealership still doing off-line advertising in your local newspaper? If so “jam” a QR code into your ads!)

So, the question here is “what did the smartphone users use their code for?”

The top-3 contenders are:

• 53% want to find coupons or discounts on their products or services they want to obtain from a business
• 52% want more product or service information (did your OEM already convert their new car price stickers and show the QR code? You should check because it is on almost every manufacturers agenda to “put it out there”)
• 33% just scanning it to have the opportunity to win in sweepstakes

The rest of usage reasons are: accessing videos, making actually purchases, signing up to receive more information and last but not least interacting with social media networks.

One of the more important reflections of the survey (especially from the business owner standpoint), which was held in February 2010 via the Vision Critical America panel, is showing an indisputable fact and a huge opportunity for everyone who wants to play in this “QR league”.

70% of the first time QR code users and those who used it already having following motivation to do so:

• They want to find deals and/or discounts (87% !!!)
• They want to play and enter into sweepstakes (64%)
• They want to have access to more information (63%)
• They actually are ready to purchase right away (60%)
• They enter their information into your database to receive more information from you on the products or services you offer (53% - here comes the good old permission based email marketing in my mind)

So, I hope I provided you with some brain teasers to make you even more think if and when you should join the “QR-force” and get your business another (two-dimensional) platform. In my opinion, this should be a no-brainer for you.

Good news for early adapters in our so beloved automobile industry. When you are one of the pioneers using in your ads, Maroni stickers, or even on Business cards the two-dimensional barcode like images – a.k.a. quick-response codes or in short QR-Codes – you past the stage of  prior “thinking out of  the box” with flying colors.

As you know adaptable smartphone apps are able to scan and then convert the code into a picture ad or other information you would love to share with your potential clients.

Advantage for the consumer: Recalling “what was shown or said in an ad” with a push of a button.

Advantage for us dealerships: Unlimited "air" time - 24/7/365

The MGH group conducted a survey to see how consumers are adapting to the “new” technology, which is actually now out for more than a year. Here is the great news and opportunity for us dealers:

• Almost 75% of smartphone users are very likely or at least somewhat intrigued to recall   advertising and marketing messages with QR codes
• Awareness among smartphone users rose to 65% (have seen a QR Code)
• 56% recognized the two-dimensional images on product packaging
• 45% recalled to have seen them on magazines and (ATTENTION PLEASE) on coupons
• And more than a quarter of the users saw the QR’s in newspaper ads (is your dealership still doing off-line advertising in your local newspaper? If so “jam” a QR code into your ads!)

So, the question here is “what did the smartphone users use their code for?”

The top-3 contenders are:

• 53% want to find coupons or discounts on their products or services they want to obtain from a business
• 52% want more product or service information (did your OEM already convert their new car price stickers and show the QR code? You should check because it is on almost every manufacturers agenda to “put it out there”)
• 33% just scanning it to have the opportunity to win in sweepstakes

The rest of usage reasons are: accessing videos, making actually purchases, signing up to receive more information and last but not least interacting with social media networks.

One of the more important reflections of the survey (especially from the business owner standpoint), which was held in February 2010 via the Vision Critical America panel, is showing an indisputable fact and a huge opportunity for everyone who wants to play in this “QR league”.

70% of the first time QR code users and those who used it already having following motivation to do so:

• They want to find deals and/or discounts (87% !!!)
• They want to play and enter into sweepstakes (64%)
• They want to have access to more information (63%)
• They actually are ready to purchase right away (60%)
• They enter their information into your database to receive more information from you on the products or services you offer (53% - here comes the good old permission based email marketing in my mind)

So, I hope I provided you with some brain teasers to make you even more think if and when you should join the “QR-force” and get your business another (two-dimensional) platform. In my opinion, this should be a no-brainer for you.

It appears to be that Chevy has learned its lesson and glimpsing over the fence with the hope figuring out how Scott Monty and Ford has become the “role model” for Automotive involvement in Social Media. Looking at all the indicators what made Social Media what it is today – a powerhouse and a media revolution initialized by a group of Gen-Ys or let’s call them Millenials – Chevrolet decided exactly to target this consumer group with its newest stunt.

They Idea:

Having their newest models driven by students of the University of Southern California and the Stanford University (as they offered it to several other West Coast universities).

The hook:

Make it an “Geny-Y I like it” approach was not just invite the participants for “test-drive” but most likely for joy rides or better called “FREE RIDES”. The models were not Tahoe or Corvettes, which are models defining more the Babyboomer clientele. Chevrolet instead went for new, fresh and modern looking models like the all-new Chevy Cruze, late Gen-y and early Gen-X favorite Cross-over Chevy Equinox, the presumed Toyota Corolla Killer – the Chevy Malibu and of course America’s new favorite Muscle Car the Chevy Camaro. Figuring out, what would make students even more click to sign up for these “free rides”, Chevy “value-sized” its offer by spending approximate $8/person and offered carb-bombs served Taco Bell, McDonald’s or other fast food chains of their participant’s choice.

Hope of going viral:

Last but not least Chevy employees lend flip-cams to the drivers asking them to create and compose a song about their driven Chevy, and posting it with them and the car in it onto YouTube (where else!) This idea is actually not new. Nissan did this kind of composing and song-writing contest in Canada and invited artists, song writers and musicians to be creative with the new upcoming model of the Nissan Cube. Grand Prize here was that the most creative chosen pieces and participants won their own Nissan Cube. Nissan gave away 50 Nissan Cube's during this event in 2009.

Here lays the hope of the Chevy Marketing Executives. Similar to the success of Nissan and its launch via YouTube contests, Chevy looks for an inexpensive way to have these videos going viral and promote the American Brand among the upcoming and hopefully affluent Gen-Ys. Toyota and Honda are still outselling Chevy Malibu even so the Chevy Cruze is up to a great start according to the reported sales numbers.

My Opinion:

I believe Chevy is on the right track, considering to invited younger college kids to “Free Rides” having in mind that you need to be 21 years old even to rent a car from a rental car location. It will help Chevy to gain brand acknowledgement under the youngster and may plants the seed early on to have “Chevy on my mind”. Bon appetit... need to head out and get some fries! ~~VJ

It appears to be that Chevy has learned its lesson and glimpsing over the fence with the hope figuring out how Scott Monty and Ford has become the “role model” for Automotive involvement in Social Media. Looking at all the indicators what made Social Media what it is today – a powerhouse and a media revolution initialized by a group of Gen-Ys or let’s call them Millenials – Chevrolet decided exactly to target this consumer group with its newest stunt.

They Idea:

Having their newest models driven by students of the University of Southern California and the Stanford University (as they offered it to several other West Coast universities).

The hook:

Make it an “Geny-Y I like it” approach was not just invite the participants for “test-drive” but most likely for joy rides or better called “FREE RIDES”. The models were not Tahoe or Corvettes, which are models defining more the Babyboomer clientele. Chevrolet instead went for new, fresh and modern looking models like the all-new Chevy Cruze, late Gen-y and early Gen-X favorite Cross-over Chevy Equinox, the presumed Toyota Corolla Killer – the Chevy Malibu and of course America’s new favorite Muscle Car the Chevy Camaro. Figuring out, what would make students even more click to sign up for these “free rides”, Chevy “value-sized” its offer by spending approximate $8/person and offered carb-bombs served Taco Bell, McDonald’s or other fast food chains of their participant’s choice.

Hope of going viral:

Last but not least Chevy employees lend flip-cams to the drivers asking them to create and compose a song about their driven Chevy, and posting it with them and the car in it onto YouTube (where else!) This idea is actually not new. Nissan did this kind of composing and song-writing contest in Canada and invited artists, song writers and musicians to be creative with the new upcoming model of the Nissan Cube. Grand Prize here was that the most creative chosen pieces and participants won their own Nissan Cube. Nissan gave away 50 Nissan Cube's during this event in 2009.

Here lays the hope of the Chevy Marketing Executives. Similar to the success of Nissan and its launch via YouTube contests, Chevy looks for an inexpensive way to have these videos going viral and promote the American Brand among the upcoming and hopefully affluent Gen-Ys. Toyota and Honda are still outselling Chevy Malibu even so the Chevy Cruze is up to a great start according to the reported sales numbers.

My Opinion:

I believe Chevy is on the right track, considering to invited younger college kids to “Free Rides” having in mind that you need to be 21 years old even to rent a car from a rental car location. It will help Chevy to gain brand acknowledgement under the youngster and may plants the seed early on to have “Chevy on my mind”. Bon appetit... need to head out and get some fries! ~~VJ

Okay, okay I am guilty as well pinning down the autotrader or cars.com rep in regards to “what is my click-through-ratio?” (CTR) or “I don’t know if these banners really do anything for me”, every time they wanted to make an up-sell for ”better exposure” of the brand. There was just too much doubt and not knowing in me to easily pass on these spins – until today (well, may be).

The Online Publishers Association a.k.a. “OPA” was possibly sick and tired of all these objections they heard from their clientele all over the world and decided to put an end to the discussion between as-seller and ad-buyer.

The mystical entity “Banner-Ad” needed to be researched to find out if actually your consumers are taking a look at it. To present even to OPA’s most doubtful critiques and skeptics concrete facts that Banner ads are indeed working for brands and companies, the organization tested conducted a very thorough research.

The study participants had been sat in front of computers and browsing pages with embedded banner ads, randomly selected. If now the participants actually noticed and viewed these occurring ads, OPA decided to connect "these human genuia pigs" with the latest eye tracking technology. Further - additional biometric testing equipment was chosen. The biometric instruments could give the scientist of OPA indications of any emotional response by monitoring breathing and heart rate, similar to a lie-detector test pointing out negative or positive emotional responses.

THE RESULTS ARE IN

I don’t know if I need to apologize to my entire ad reps roster in the past (probably not) but the results conceived during this research opened my eyes and will change my perception how to see banner ads. Actually 96% did indeed pay attention to the upcoming ads during their browsing sessions. Intriguing was that 90% of the test participants noticed the ads right away - in less than 1 second during the page loading.

The OPA further noticed that almost all candidates were looking at the banner ad multiple times. Average number here (please sit down…) – participants had “starred” on the ads 15 times. So, how were the results showing on the “emotional involvement” on the displayed banner ads? (are you still sitting down?) Test candidates responded to the ads almost similar as when they looked at the other parts of the pages.

Even so when users glimpsed a second or third time on the ad (on average after the first 10 seconds) an elevated emotional response was noticed. When the participants were asked to grade these seen ads after the trial, the advertisements got an average of 6.3 points out of possible 9.

ALL IN ALL IT LOOKS LIKE IT IS WORKING

So it appears that OPA’s results and research discovered an important fact. Instead just focusing on the CTR outcome of banner ads and possible tracking figures (like all the prior research indicated to focus on), the OPA’s study shows us now a totally different angle.

Fiction is now Fact: An attractive banner ad will possibly still attract consumers – even so it is not always CTR what counts - it can be at least L.O.V.S – Love On First Sight.

Do you believe in it? ~~VJ, The Social Media Buzzer

Okay, okay I am guilty as well pinning down the autotrader or cars.com rep in regards to “what is my click-through-ratio?” (CTR) or “I don’t know if these banners really do anything for me”, every time they wanted to make an up-sell for ”better exposure” of the brand. There was just too much doubt and not knowing in me to easily pass on these spins – until today (well, may be).

The Online Publishers Association a.k.a. “OPA” was possibly sick and tired of all these objections they heard from their clientele all over the world and decided to put an end to the discussion between as-seller and ad-buyer.

The mystical entity “Banner-Ad” needed to be researched to find out if actually your consumers are taking a look at it. To present even to OPA’s most doubtful critiques and skeptics concrete facts that Banner ads are indeed working for brands and companies, the organization tested conducted a very thorough research.

The study participants had been sat in front of computers and browsing pages with embedded banner ads, randomly selected. If now the participants actually noticed and viewed these occurring ads, OPA decided to connect "these human genuia pigs" with the latest eye tracking technology. Further - additional biometric testing equipment was chosen. The biometric instruments could give the scientist of OPA indications of any emotional response by monitoring breathing and heart rate, similar to a lie-detector test pointing out negative or positive emotional responses.

THE RESULTS ARE IN

I don’t know if I need to apologize to my entire ad reps roster in the past (probably not) but the results conceived during this research opened my eyes and will change my perception how to see banner ads. Actually 96% did indeed pay attention to the upcoming ads during their browsing sessions. Intriguing was that 90% of the test participants noticed the ads right away - in less than 1 second during the page loading.

The OPA further noticed that almost all candidates were looking at the banner ad multiple times. Average number here (please sit down…) – participants had “starred” on the ads 15 times. So, how were the results showing on the “emotional involvement” on the displayed banner ads? (are you still sitting down?) Test candidates responded to the ads almost similar as when they looked at the other parts of the pages.

Even so when users glimpsed a second or third time on the ad (on average after the first 10 seconds) an elevated emotional response was noticed. When the participants were asked to grade these seen ads after the trial, the advertisements got an average of 6.3 points out of possible 9.

ALL IN ALL IT LOOKS LIKE IT IS WORKING

So it appears that OPA’s results and research discovered an important fact. Instead just focusing on the CTR outcome of banner ads and possible tracking figures (like all the prior research indicated to focus on), the OPA’s study shows us now a totally different angle.

Fiction is now Fact: An attractive banner ad will possibly still attract consumers – even so it is not always CTR what counts - it can be at least L.O.V.S – Love On First Sight.

Do you believe in it? ~~VJ, The Social Media Buzzer

We all know Facebook is right now for dealerships around the nation the #1 choice when trying to engage with customers off-site, next to the biweekly or monthly ownership email marketing “blast” (my God do I hate this term “blast”) and/or dealer newsletter provided by IMN, Outsell, 3Birds Marketing or OnStation.

But I could discover throughout my held trainings and seminars that we as dealers very rarely know about the motives of consumers, why they are following us or a brand – why do they like us. What make fans and followers click?

A recent conducted research of Co-Tweet and ExactTarget came closer to provide an answer. The following motives and answers will possibly help dealerships to adjust their engagement level on Social Media Networks. It will help us further in creating new approaches to “catch” potential customers’ attention.

Here the Top 10 Motivations why Consumers “Like” a Brand on Facebook and Follow

1. 40% want to receive discounts and promotions

2. 37% want to show support for the brand/company to thers

3. 36% hope (want) to get free samples, a coupon (a.k.a. freebies)

4. 34% want to stay informed about the activities of the company

5. 33% want to get updates on future products

6. 30% want to get updates and information on future sales

7. 27% like to get fun and entertainment out of it

8. 25% want to get access to exclusive content

9. 22% mentioned they were referred by someone to follow this brand/company

10. 21% want just to learn more about the company

Wow, would you have guessed it. Consumers actually like to receive update and information on future sales!

And by the way, don’t feel bad when you do not have too many interactions, shared thoughts and ideas or provided feedbacks from your “fans, followers and likes”.

The survey found out that indeed only 13% want to interact directly with the company.

So, my suggestion would be: Take the numbers, share them with your sales and management team and start to tailor a Facebook Marketing plan around the findings.

Happy reading, planning and executing...VJ the Social Media Buzzer

We all know Facebook is right now for dealerships around the nation the #1 choice when trying to engage with customers off-site, next to the biweekly or monthly ownership email marketing “blast” (my God do I hate this term “blast”) and/or dealer newsletter provided by IMN, Outsell, 3Birds Marketing or OnStation.

But I could discover throughout my held trainings and seminars that we as dealers very rarely know about the motives of consumers, why they are following us or a brand – why do they like us. What make fans and followers click?

A recent conducted research of Co-Tweet and ExactTarget came closer to provide an answer. The following motives and answers will possibly help dealerships to adjust their engagement level on Social Media Networks. It will help us further in creating new approaches to “catch” potential customers’ attention.

Here the Top 10 Motivations why Consumers “Like” a Brand on Facebook and Follow

1. 40% want to receive discounts and promotions

2. 37% want to show support for the brand/company to thers

3. 36% hope (want) to get free samples, a coupon (a.k.a. freebies)

4. 34% want to stay informed about the activities of the company

5. 33% want to get updates on future products

6. 30% want to get updates and information on future sales

7. 27% like to get fun and entertainment out of it

8. 25% want to get access to exclusive content

9. 22% mentioned they were referred by someone to follow this brand/company

10. 21% want just to learn more about the company

Wow, would you have guessed it. Consumers actually like to receive update and information on future sales!

And by the way, don’t feel bad when you do not have too many interactions, shared thoughts and ideas or provided feedbacks from your “fans, followers and likes”.

The survey found out that indeed only 13% want to interact directly with the company.

So, my suggestion would be: Take the numbers, share them with your sales and management team and start to tailor a Facebook Marketing plan around the findings.

Happy reading, planning and executing...VJ the Social Media Buzzer