When in late 1989 the Canadian Alannah Myles made her debut in the music world with the sultry and bluesy song "Black Velvet" the "experts" were sure - here comes a new Mega-Star for the 90's. The song was a number one hit in the States in 1990 and took over the airwaves. Miss Myles even won a Grammy that year for “Best Rock Female Performance.” But as fast as it had happened - as quickly it was over and her career ended even before it had really begun. How can we now - the progressive "Stars" of the automotive retail world - the eCommerce Directors, Internet Sales Managers, Dealer Marketing Managers and even Dealer Principles avoid to relive the same destiny? No, I am not talking about singing and marketing your jingle or melody on the local radio commercial or TV ads, but most likely refer to use proper promotion in what we are "tweeting" and posting about our business. I came up with my Top-Ten list of Twitter topics and original posts, which can make you NOT a Grammy nominee but a desired Car Dealer to follow or even better - to visit.

1.) @bhyundai Awesome!!! RT @jeffTomascak: Photo of the year http://tweetphoto.com/9365802

It does not have to be always car related. This tweet shares a moment in time people will appreciate and makes you definitely very likable. @bhyundai - Thank you for sharing and retweeting. I am a new follower to see what else you will post.

2.) @CableDahmer Really looking forward to the release of the new Chevy Volt this November! 50mpg ----- http://gm-volt.com/about/

Great to create another Buzz on some products soon to come. Capture enthusiasts and fans of particular models and let them know what is going on, and when they can expect their new 'toy".

3.) @CincinnatiMINI Alright MINI lovers, check out our blog for a great offer - you won't be sorry! http://blog.cincinnatimini.com/ http://bit.ly/5drD28

Instead putting in your 140-character post sales numbers and interest rates, refer to your Blog (you have hopefully started). Like this dealer, who provides a vast of photos of the new MINI Countryman and even let all their MINI Motoring Advisers have their editorial input of this fantastic car. I like the branding and certainly the SEO they are capturing through their deep content.

4.) @PacificAudi Join us for a free In-N-Out lunch today from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. For service customers-see details with this link http://ow.ly/ZCQn

A real commitment from this dealer to give something for free, no not an oil-change or free loaner but Lunch. How about that. Marketers are already speaking about the "New decade of Free", which will allow businesses to attract visitors with "free of .....". So the idea is, even when not in the market for a car, let's go have some burger and check out how the dealership looks like. And who knows what is offered for dessert.

5.) @BostonToyota Toyota Recalls 2.3 Million Vehicles - Examiner.com http://ow.ly/16p4rk

Certainly not a pleasure to admit mistakes or flaws but in this case a great service to their customers in case they did not hear about the news in T.V., radio or press. It looks like that this dealer wants to be as transparent as possible, and in my opinion it will pay back positivity to show this kind of sincerity.

6.) @PorscheHeritage imagine this style interior in a Porsche 912 1969 type4 200HP http://bit.ly/536z0P#Porsche #OutLaw

Clever to use # (hashtags) in front of the desired category words Porsche and OutLaw, which automatically will attract Porsche enthusiasts, who are searching for the keyword "Porsche", and will find this dealer immediately. The link refers to a photo, which is displayed in the photo-sharing website Flickr. Here the same the keywords and tags used as "finding-elements" in SEO will help to gain more exposure and possible followers for this Porsche dealer. Imagine...

7.) @bmwoforlandpark How to Prepare your Car for Freezing Temperatures http://www.ehow.com/how_5874565_prepare-car-freezing-temperatures.html

"How To..." articles and post are fulfilling the promise and duty of Social Media Marketing engagement at its finest - sharing knowledge and information. My suggestion would be having these How-To article also embedded in your dealer website as a sub category of let' s say the Service Department page and call it for example "the Tech Corner". Congrats on this dealer and his/her strategy to convince more followers to follow them on Twitter.

8.) @andykleinmazda Download our free iPhone App from itunes.com and schedule service, test drives and more!! http://bit.ly/6A8lqW

With smart-phones and in particular the rise of iPhones application this dealership has a great opportunity to catch clientele they had may be not on their radar so far. Offer of courtesy elements like this app to schedule a service appointment is a beautiful new element your dealership can provide and should be definitely be tweeted.

9.) @wittlm Congratulations to Samantha Oropisa!!! You are the lucky winner of an Autographed LaDainian Tomlinson Football!... http://bit.ly/8NQlqM

Raffles, Lotteries, Tombolas and so on are perfect "disguise" to promote your business to the public. Congrats to the winner and next time I'd consider to hashtag (#) the words like #Football and #Tomlinson to attract more hits and possible subscribers for future tweets.

10) @ButlerToyota Mr. Tommy Hinson just drove all the way to Butler Toyota to contribute to the Haiti Relief fund.......We truly... http://bit.ly/7evUyC

I have to admit, I clicked on the link and landed on their Facebook post. The tweet did what it was suppose to do, it awakened curiosity and this is one of my favorite ingredients when using Twitter as your PR and Communication platform. The only advice would have been here to have the post shown "Mr. Hinson contributing" with a picture and then posted on Facebook and possible Flickr. Otherwise job well done - it had really opened me up to make the click.

So, having revealed my Top-10 Things-To-Tweet-About I would be interested about what you consider as a absolutely "must-Tweet". Just drop me a comment or ideas you have and I will display them here as well. Thank you for following also my Social Media Buzzer Blog!

What is your New Year’s resolution? “Stop Smoking”, “More Family-Time”, “Losing the 15 pounds you added on your weight since Thanks-Giving”? It doesn’t matter what you try to achieve to get these things done – we are all clear hear. You have to start somewhere and follow the Motto of the Oregon based Sport’s authority – “Just Do It”. So why not as a Dealer Principle, e-Commerce Director, Internet Manager, etc. make your dealership a part of these New Year’s resolutions and tackle what needs to be done – The 3 easy ways to get your dealership start with the Social Media phenomenon. A recent study, compiled by Ad-ology reveiled that small business owners are still very hesitant to invest time, people and money into Social Media. Good things first: Social Media should actually cost not one dime, when getting started and set-up right. The study further conducted a survey of 1,000 Small Business Owners (small businesses defined in the survey as having <100 employees). The results were eye-opening and mind-boggling at once:

• 31% of the responses did not see Social Media as a High Priority with their argument that their client bases “just are not using Social Media”. [VJ’s thoughts: How do you know? Isn’t it that particular in our automotive industry more than 90% of vehicle buyers going first online and using channels to find out about their desired car, the features, the best prices and who has the best reputation of the car dealers out there?]
• 29% claimed to have just not enough time or staff to get things started and/or makes a proper entrance into the Social media arena. [VJ’s thoughts: How long do you think you need to show engagement? It takes actually not more than 20 minutes a day to engage, to listen and to respond, when set up right. Build a process around your daily schedule, which will allow you to prioritize and focus on the daily tasks.]
• 52% of all answers showed that the interest is there and it is in plan to devote more funds into Marketing. [VJ’s thoughts: It appears that there is a clear misperception about cost and spending on Social Media as I’d mention in my entry statement above].

Seeing these figures it appears to me that these 1,000 participating businesses are afraid because of not knowing what Social media is all about. Lacking of time and staff is an understandable reason not to act right away, and as mentioned can be reversed into a call-to-action, when applying new processes and procedures. I am more “disturbed” with the 31% of participants, who “knew that their clients are not online”. Well for these, who want to follow through with their New Year’s resolution and get their dealership started on “Social”, here are 3 easy, first steps to get your name out there.

1. Find out where you are on this Map

Of course look in the search engines Google, Bing, Yahoo if you are getting mentioned anywhere on the first 2 pages of the search results (I am not speaking of your SEO ambitions but most likely from 3rd party posts like reviews or anything similar). Check your company name on dealerrater.com, yelp.com, merchantcircle.com and ripoffreport.com to see if anybody had something to say about your service and sales organization – Good or Bad. Last but not least use the search.twitter.com and Facebook applications to observe any mentioning’s. Also when you are not ready to respond right away on these 3rd party posts, you NEED to know what your customers are saying about you to develop based on the results your next action of reputation management.

2. Don’t get your good name “brand-jacked”

Reserve your brand name! Go to the social sites Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, LinkedIn and set up your accounts. It is okay when you are not immediately start micro-blogging and posting threads, photos and videos on these accounts, but it is important to have them reserved for you and your future Social Media Marketing plans to come. It is almost like the time during the Klondike Gold Rush, when you are first to stack your claim, you own what it is under the surface. At the time I was still an eCommerce Director I was the first in Georgia who “claimed” AtlantaBMW and AtlantaMINI on Twitter, and believe me my competition was not happy to find out later, when they were ready to go “Social”.

3. Work on your profile and show Who, What and Where you are

Okay, okay…I know you are still hesitant to get into the Social media ring to take your first fight, and that is okay, because you need to prepare a little bit more. Take your time to create your complete profile on the mentioned Social sites in point 2. Set up your Hours and Direction to your location (Facebook), Dealer URL link, Photo (of you or your dealership – Tip: People buy from People and not particular from a brand logo), talk about what makes your dealership unique. Example: My BMW, MINI and Acura dealership was offering for its service customers free V.I.P. parking at the Atlanta Airport during the car got serviced. You park the car at the airport, fly to your vacation and /or meeting, come back and find it at the same spot, only this time it is serviced, washed and has a newspaper of the arrival date on the passenger seat. Talk about your uniqueness – see…this could be already your first post or message shouting out into the Social media world. Alright now…get your trainings gear on and start 2010 right and keep in mind “You Just Need To Do It” Good Luck.

This post was first issued at the SocialMediaBuzzer Blog

Written by Volker Jaeckel (a.k.a. VJ)

Who has recently heard from their peers, friends, colleagues one of the following statements, and if so please raise your hand:

“We need to get on Facebook” or “What are you tweeting?”

And? Do I see a hand? C’mon, don’t be shy now. You are a car sales guy, and I guess you have had chosen this brilliant career, because you a) want to make a good living, and b) YOU LOVE TO DEAL WITH PEOPLE, right?! So why is it then that you are still trying to figure out why and if “YOU” should join the buzz around the Facebook and Twitter phenomenon? May be the list below will make some impact and can convince you that it is never too late. I have listed the Top 10 Great Opportunities you and your dealership will have, when joining the Social Networking Circle. Let the party begin – Let’s join the circle of trust: 1. Branding Opportunity: Here you have the opportunity to be consistent in the face with your logo, pictures, name; slogan etc. when you actively engage in one or more of these social networks – the good thing -it won’t cost you a dime. 2. Specialist Opportunity: What an opportunity to get your advice, your particular Unique Selling Proposition in front of your potential customers. Example: You’ve a collision center attached to your dealership and all certified mechanics received highest OEM certification scores – then talk about it. 3. Human Capital Opportunity: When you still have real human beings running your dealership then see that you put their names and face out there. People are still buying from people. So why not having your key sales and service advisor people having their own Business related fan pages at Facebook? 4. Transparency Opportunity: This tip connects with the prior idea. Ever wondered why service customers are suspicious about charges and time their spent during their service visit? May be giving them (customers) an opportunity to learn more about the work performed on their car. I hear about dealerships having initialized a YouTube Channel dedicated to routine maintenance jobs only to help the customers to understand, what kind of work and time really goes into it. Check this company here out (YouTube Video), which specializes in Car Stereo, gives their potential customers installation tips, and believe me, when you see how much work this really is, you possible end up to bring it to them, because they know how to do it. 5. Reputation Opportunity: Are you known as a family dealership with an extensive record of loyal customers coming back year after year? Then please engage with these loyal customers and friends directly and ask them to do you a favor and to leave a “raving fan” review “how perfect the whole car buying process” at your dealership was. Guide them with links directly to sites like yelp.com, dealerrater.com and others. 6. The “Good Guy” Opportunity: Planning a promotion or an event for a Good Cause? Distribute your Event message to these Social channels. People love to be engaged in being a part of a Good Cause. Let them know what you have planned in particular. For BMW dealership as an example, the year by year occurring Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation - DRIVE FOR THE CURE is this kind of an opportunity to show your community that you indeed care. Each Mile driven throughout the Nation’s BMW franchises will be honored by BMW North America with $1/per mile driven. Year after Year, Millions of Dollars finding their way to the research laboratories to get closer to defeat this terrible disease. 7. Huge SEO Opportunity: Thinking about writing a dealership blog, a journal, dedicated to your cars and service you are selling. If so, and you show all theses nice pictures of new upcoming models, include some spy photos you gathered from other online communities and car enthusiast sites – please – DO NOT FORGET to link particular keywords, pictures and even phrases to 3^rd party sites and of course here and there to your inventory pages. Because a new blog post is a relevant “news article” in the eyes of the search engines, clever linked words or images will raise far much faster and further up than just your “static” dealership website. This particular example shows the search text “2011 BMW 5 Series Atlanta”, assuming a Georgia resident was looking on Google for this new upcoming model. May be he could find a few more info and picture on it, and even could nail down a dealership with pricing information…the picture will tell the story…My BMW Blog, which I had started for the BMW dealership I worked for catapulted us almost every time on page one in all kind of Search Engines and generated all-in-all more than 130.000 unique visitors in a time frame of less than 15 months. Can you imagine now, now SEO and Social are inseparable twins? 8. Business Intelligence Opportunity: What is my competition doing? Are they doing anything? What are they talking about? Well, Internet Managers are pretty familiar with this candor due to their (hopefully) contingent routine to “mystery shop” the competition. Now with several Social Media tools and Google Alerts you have a vaster array of opportunities to find out when, what, how, who and where things “are cooking” and you may have the chance to react even faster on their moves. 9. One Hit Wonder Opportunity: It always comes to my mind when I think about how dealers I have had worked for in the past suddenly need to have their clerks printing out hundreds of pages of the dealership’s Lease Returns lists. Did we miss here something in the past? Did we forget about the customer, who got her new car from us 36 months ago? Why did we not do a better job in winning her as a new “fan” at the time she was leaving the lot? Here is our chance to make these “one hit wonders” to a “record platinum album”, as soon the customer leaves the lot we need to a) send out an email as a thank you note in combination with the question to have them send you a picture of them and their new ride in front of their drive-way”. When you get a response and hopefully a picture, post it on your dealers/sales person’s Facebook, and then again share it with the customer, who had just helped you to create content. Invite them to be part of the “happy xyz dealership owners club”, which comes automatically with the benefits of free car washes at each service visit and special seasonal offers on maintenance. Throughout your constant engagement and follow-up with this former “one hit wonder” clientele, you earn over the period of time to ask for referrals, which I know will come easy after you pampered your new fan. 10. Fishing Opportunity: One of my heroes’ - Chris Brogan, author and renowned “Trust Agent” is talking about “Fish where the Fish are”. I remember times when our sales manager sent out his cohort of sales people to the close by mall and hand out Business Cards, with the catchy lines of “Hi, I am Peter, and I am a Car Sales Guy. When you and somebody you know is in need for a new car…here is my card.” Wow – how crazy is that? Sounds to me like going dynamite fishing on the Hudson River. The fish which will show up after the detonation was already dead due to pollution. Instead try to fish a little bit smarter. With Twitter, and/or other car enthusiasts forums you’ll be able to follow conversation, which are taking place near to you and your city, b) where people are speaking about your Make and Models you sell and c) where “tweeple” (the citizens of Twitter) actually starting to follow you! Yes you, the only thing what you need to do is to engage in their conversation. It doesn’t matter if you comment on their posted car photo, answer a question about car specs or just contribute with a worthwhile news article link about the new Hybrid path your OEM is willing to take. PLEASE PROMISE ME ONLY ONE THING!! Do not talk (when you are going "social") about your great inventory you have on your lot, your huge sale you are having this weekend or that the 0.9% APR financing ends this evening. Social Media is not a Monologue. Remember the old sales training phrase: “Shut Up and Listen!”

...released first on SocialMediaBuzzer - by Volker Jaeckel (a.k.a. VJ)