GOSO

By: Chris Garrett Co-Author of Best Seller of ProBlogger, our celebrity blogger, Chris has helped thousands of individuals, non-profits, small businesses and blue chips make the most of the web.

Gather everyone you know under the age of, say, 50. Ask them how they communicate with their friends and colleagues. Also ask their preferred methods of communication from companies, services and brands.

Be prepared for a whole bunch of answers, but I can guarantee none of them will say “letter, post card, telephone call while eating dinner”.

It’s a proven fact that we deal more often, and more gladly, with people who we know, like and trust.

OK, it might be a tough call for an auto dealership to become a friends, but some of the qualities can be applied. Essentially your company needs to be as familiar and approachable as you can possibly make it.

Return trade is super important for any company, but when you are relying on routine maintenance, servicing, oil changes and the like to pay for your fixed operations, then you need to be communicating with your customers on a regular basis and in a way that will not annoy them.

Your clients have so many distractions that it has never been more true that “out of sight equals out of mind” than today.

First you need to ask your customers how they like to be communicated with. Mobile is increasingly becoming the communications tool of choice for not just the youngsters but for the general population. More and more people are seeing their phone as a device that allows them access to Twitter and Facebook, along with the likes of SMS text, emails and calls.

Are you alerting customers when their service is due using their preferred communication medium?

Once you have that figured out, you need two different approches to compliment your direct “alert” type communications:

1. Awareness content – What are you going to provide that keeps you top of mind, while not irritating the customer? How are you going to win over new customers who might currently prefer a competitor? Perhaps you can provide top tips, videos, and car-related news?
2. Offers – What are you sending out that could tip the balance in your favor when it comes to their wallet? Are you targeting customers, groups and seasons with offers? Could your offers spread via word of mouth, or mouse? Free oil change if you tell three friends? Half price winter package offer to your soccer team?

Most of all, while you are sending stuff out, you need to listen. Do not broadcast, open up conversation!

You need to be a proactive company that shows care and attention more than any competitor. The accessible friend that is there for advice, and has timely, relevant offers.

Don’t you want to be thought of as the friendly, expert, attentive dealership that offers great value?

Put yourself in your customers place – Why would you choose one company over another?

By: Chris Garrett Co-Author of Best Seller of ProBlogger, our celebrity blogger, Chris has helped thousands of individuals, non-profits, small businesses and blue chips make the most of the web.

When I look at auto dealer marketing there are some things that stand out as trends in the industry.

• Preference for in-person sales
• Reliance on traditional print advertising
• Inventory based communications
• Differentiation around price and service
• Increasingly price-concious consumers

Agree? Disagree?

Either way, where am I going with this?

The thing is, if you follow the trends of the industry, and do what has always been done, then your profits are going to suffer because of that.

You need to go where your customers are. Follow them to where they hang out and engage them there.

Increasingly your customers are going to look to their social connections for recommendations. They are hearing news through social networks rather than the media. Even the way people search the internet is changing.

Here is a question for you. We all know Google is the world’s biggest search engine. Which is the second most popular?

If you said Yahoo! or Bing then, sorry.

According to ComScore …

“YouTube continues to be a standout contributor for Google generating 2.73bn searches in the U.S., up 8.5% from 2.52bn last month and up 114% from 1.28bn in November 2007″

BN. That’s billion. That’s a lot of searches. YouTube isn’t even a dedicated search engine, it is a social video site!

So, OK, YouTube might be an exception to the other social media sites? No, think again.

Did you know FaceBook has a community bigger than many countries? Back in April 2009 FaceBook registered its 200 Millionth member. To put it in perspective, FaceBook might now be more populous than France, UK and Italy combined.

You need to ask yourself a couple of questions and get good answers:

1. Where do your customers congregate? What media do they consume? How do they behave and interact? What are they saying?
2. How can you engage them? What content and information do they want/need? Which networks and techniques will attract them best?

Let us go back to my findings about how traditionally automotive dealers market and how social media is changing things:

• Your customers are unlikely to start their search for their next car in your dealership.
• Print advertising is going to miss all of the community that no longer reads newspapers or direct mail.
• Communications need to be more than specs and prices if you want to get noticed.
• Price and service matter, but increasingly trust and relationship are major factors.
• Price-concious consumers are not the only market out there.

Bottom line? If you are ignoring social networks then you might be overlooking a large part of your market. If you are not visible where customers hang out then you might as well not exist.

By: Liz Presson Brand Evangelist for GOSO, social media advocate, writer, PR, marketing professional. Central Michigan University Alum and food lover-Arlington Restaurant Bars Examiner.

Facebook Public Profiles (Pages) allow businesses of all kinds the opportunity to engage an audience with a long list of tools. Public Profiles are easy to create, but a solid understanding of new features and promotions policies can be a great asset when trying to maximize exposure.

It’s important to recognize that a Facebook Page/Public Profile differs from individual profiles, and Facebook groups.

Status Updates

Status updates are a new key feature on Facebook that companies can capitalize on. Each time an update is posted to the Page wall, it also appears on the homepage of every fan. Fans can then comment on the status, therefore sharing the update and comment with the fan’s friends. This feature allows for online word-of-mouth to take place.

The @ Symbol

Facebook has also enabled the capability to tag Pages, friends, events and groups in the status or wall post with the @ symbol. This allows fans to talk about your Page and link their friends to the Page. It also allows the business to directly interact with fans in an open manner verses through private “messaging.”

i.e. Check out @MyGOSO ’s informative article.

Photos and links that are posted to the Page’s wall will also appear on the homepages of fans.

Building Fans with Promotions

Promotions, such as sweepstakes and contests, are a sure way to build a Page’s fan base. But, Facebook has recently launched a set of new promotions guidelines. Some important policies are listed below, but Facebook clearly defines the new promotions guidelines.

• One crucial change is that promotions now must be approved by a Facebook account representative. Therefore, those who do not have written consent must utilize a third-party application to execute the promotion. In order to have a promotion approved by a representative, a complete set of material must be received by Facebook 7 days prior to the start date of the promotion.
• The Facebook name may not appear on any materials relating to the promotion without written consent from a Facebook representative.
• Contest may not be executed primarily on the Facebook wall.
• No product in the category of gambling, tobacco, dairy, firearms, prescription drugs or gasoline may be promoted.
• No social actions can condition entry into a contest. i.e. Post 10 pictures, be entered to win!

Any promotion outside of Facebook may be promoted via Facebook, so although the new policies may change the way Page are used to do promotions, they surely will not change the fact the Pages are a must have for any business.

Learn more about Facebook Public Profiles by becoming a fan of Facebook pages.