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The Little Gopher That Could: How Being Not So Normal Paid Off Big

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Humans are competitive by nature. Throughout history, as a species, we’ve been competing in one way or another whether that’s with each other or nature. So it came as no surprise to us when one of our clients – Princeton Mini – approached us and said that they “had to” win a regional OEM contest being held in conjunction with a national sales event, and enlisted our assistance.

The “Not So Normal” sales event held by Mini was designed to advertise the exceptionally high gas mileage that Mini Coopers have. The contest itself was between the dealerships and they were given little guidance other than being creative and not so normal.

The dealership already had a huge head-start in the contest deciding on building a custom-made miniature golf course (Mini golf course, get it?). The employees themselves built this very creative and elaborate 9-hole course spending their own free time to do so. The contest was to culminate in a dealership event promoting the “Not So Normal” sale and was to be judged by the regional representatives from Mini via pictures and videos of the event.

After brainstorming with the General Manager, Robert Ogust, we came up with a “Caddyshack” theme to build up on the miniature golf course they had created. We scripted out the video based on scenes from the classic movie and incorporated the infamous gopher and make the event even less “normal”. The plot was that the gopher was going to infiltrate the dealership and they needed to get rid of it.

We attended the event and filmed the scenes needed with the employees playing the various roles and to photograph the event. The dealership really went all out for this event. It was very apparent that they had put a lot of time and effort into it. They had given each golf hole Mini-inspired name such as Mini Mulligan, Fore Wheel Drive and Cooper Chute. The employees were all wearing these, for lack of better words, not so normal golf costumes. They had music playing, catered food (including a chocolate fountain), a bounce house and even threw in some large, stuffed sumo wrestling outfits at the end. They were even successful in getting customers to participate in doing some “not so normal” things on camera!

The event was a great success with everyone attending – from employees to customers – having a great time and the dealership making sales. In the end, Princeton Mini ended up winning the contest. Instead of keeping the $3500, the staff at MINI decided to donate their winnings to the Red Cross to help the many people in NJ impacted by Hurricane Sandy. Princeton MINI’s generosity was matched by their parent company, Asbury Automotive Group, and MINI for a total donation to the Red Cross of $10,500.

It goes to show what a little imagination, commitment, elbow grease and fun can earn you. Sometimes it pays to be “not so normal”… and have a pet gopher.

…and if you’d like to see the fun video, you can check it out by clicking here!

Originally published in the January 2013 edition of the 3 Birds Marketing newsletter

Social Media 201: Beyond Facebook and Twitter

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You’ve ventured into the world of social media. You have a Facebook page, promoted it in your marketing and in your store, started posting great content and the people that started liking your page are engaging with you. You created a Twitter account, have been tweeting and re-tweeting content, built a following and are starting to get re-tweeted and mentioned. Life is great! You did it!

…whoa, hold your horses.

As the title of this article indicates, Facebook and Twitter, while a great beginning, are far from a conquest of social media. If we were playing Risk, you just conquered Australia. There are a lot of territories left and some are pretty big. Let’s take a world tour and hit on some more social media sites as you take your social media efforts to the next level.

There are literally hundreds of social media sites. Luckily, you don’t have to worry about most of them, but there are a few that you should definitely have a presence on for your dealership: Google+, Yelp, and Foursquare.

Google + is the 800-pound gorilla in this mix. It has a total of about 250 million users and, while it does not have the level of engagement or activity that Facebook and Twitter has, it is essential to have a presence here. Google has migrated from a general relevance model of delivering search results to an enhanced relevance model on an individual level by integrating a searcher’s social network. G+ has the best SEO of any sites as Google, naturally, favors its own products. Google hosts 11 billion monthly searches which are mostly people looking for relevant and timely content. It is a different platform so you need to differentiate your G+ strategy from your Twitter or Facebook marketing strategies. Google searchers are looking for timely news, offers, information, articles, etc. about not only your dealership but your brand and models. This is the site where your most visible business presence will be through Google searches so it’s important not to neglect this network.

Many businesses think of Yelp strictly as a review site. While it is an important part of your reputation management and review building strategies, there are also strong social media components which exist that could be used to fully leverage your Yelp presence.  Yelp claims to have 71 million unique visitors. Yes, there are some dealers who have strong criticisms of how Yelp holds them hostage when a negative review appears. Did you know, however, that Yelp also has strong location-based components that you can leverage to make offers to people that are near your location? It can also inform them that you are there in the first place, if they didn’t already know. Make sure to explore all the capabilities of Yelp, have a complete and optimized profile and are paying attention to more than just the reviews.

Foursquare is a location-based service which is growing increasingly valuable. Foursquare has 20 million registered users which, according to the company, “check-in” over 3 million times per day and they are about to pass 750 million check-ins total. It is another free service that is also very low maintenance and can be leveraged to not only drive traffic to your store but steal traffic from your competitors. Users can leave “tips” which amount to mini reviews at your location. These are becoming increasingly important as Bing recently integrated these tips into their map search engine. You also have the ability to create “offers” that you can leverage to attract new customers. These offers appear on a user’s mobile device when they check-in at a location. The location doesn’t have to be yours, however. It only needs to be a business in the general vicinity. If your store is in an auto mall, a customer could potentially go onto Foursquare to check-in at your competition (let’s face it, every dealer is your competition when it comes to used cars). They will see a special icon that will indicate that you have an offer. Curiosity may lead them to look at it and, if it’s compelling enough, may persuade them to visit your store.

As you can see, there is more to social media than you probably ever imagined. No one expects you to master all the sites, nor should you. But you should be cognizant of which sites are available, which sites your demographic is using, and which sites are generating traffic NOW, not last month. Remember MySpace? AOL? Social networking sites come and go. The ones that are hot right now may not be in a year. Be where your consumers are engaging and know how they want to be engaged with, no matter where that is. Digital marketing, and social media marketing by extension, is an ever-dynamic field. If you pay attention, you’ll know where you need to be and what you should do when you get there. For now, these are a good start.

Article originally published in the October 2012 issue of the 3 Birds Marketing newsletter.

Stat of the Week and In The News Compilation – December 2012

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In the News – December 1, 2012 – [LINK]

Facebook Tests An In-Store Gateway To Internet Access

In a win-win for Facebook and businesses, Facebook has begun testing a “social wi-fi” service according to this article on CNET. With Facebook supplying the router, and the business supplying the internet, it would work similar to the processes set-up in hotels in that, when a customer first connects to the wi-fi network, they would be redirected to that businesses Facebook page where they would be prompted to “Like” the businesses’ page in order to access the internet. The upside for a business is that it could increase page “Likes” and engagement through the ability to offer Facebook deals to those customers as they log-in. The benefit for Facebook is all about data. Every time a consumer completes the log-in, they are providing Facebook with valuable data which would then assist them in improving Facebook ad performance and targeting. For those consumers who do not have Facebook accounts and/or do not wish to use them to log-in, there will be an option for the consumer to log-in via a password supplied by the business. In our opinion, however, most people will trade the convenience of logging in via Facebook, and the benefit of free internet access, for a simple “Like” as people are being more and more conditioned to trade personal information in exchange for something free. The perfect place to implement this idea would be the service waiting area where a businesses’ wi-fi is most commonly used and available. As this is in the testing phase, it remains to be seen whether it will come to reality for the masses BUT, it would be interesting to see whether, if Facebook abandons this idea, a business could set this up themselves.

In the News – December 7, 2012 – [LINK]

Major Brands Love Content Marketing

Forbes published an article illustrating how 5 major brands have confirmed through practical application and use that content marketing is driving traffic and creating successful branding and engaging both current and potential customers. In their examples, they share how Virgin Mobile created an online newsroom that has grown to over 1 million unique views per month. The Head of Brand Marketing says that the online content “deepen(s) engagement” with their consumers. Marriott also created an online content site with “rich content for engaging guests…(which has seen) record traffic and exponential growth in engagement”, according to the VP of Global Marketing. In just weeks after launch of the, in this case, video content on YouTube, their channel has grown from “tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands views..with more than half staying to learn about the brand”. Some of the tips for content creation included in the article share how online content should “focus on existing customers as well as prospects” and that content marketing is not only a “great tool to create brand affinity but can also be powerful in building a new audience of potential customers.”

 

Why Social Media Degrees Are Like Throwing Money Out the Window

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Social media skills have certainly come in demand for job-seekers in the marketing field and many companies are asking that candidates have some knowledge in how to market using social media. Many colleges have been offering classes in the social media arena for a while now. In fact, I’ve taken some of them. However, according to an article in Social Media Today, some colleges have taken it to the next level and have actually created entire social media degrees. An article published by The Center for Digital Education refers to Newberry College which plans on offering social media as a separate major starting in the Fall of 2013.

While the desire to get educated in social media is certainly admirable, any classes except those taught on a broad level with very general studies would be a waste of time and useless, in my opinion. Social media is a hyper-dynamic field in which one has to constantly adapt. Social networking sites are coming and going all the time. What’s hot today is thrown by the wayside tomorrow. Even if the classes focused entirely on the big two – Facebook and Twitter – even those two sites change continuously and while Twitter hasn’t made too many major changes, Facebook is constantly changing what its delivering to people’s newsfeeds. Even seasoned “pros” that have been working in the field for a long time constantly have to learn, evaluate and analyze not only current social media sites but also emerging ones.

To offer a college degree solely dedicated to social media is pointless on several levels. First, for the most part, the people that a university would employ as professors are typically not spring chickens. In fact, according to Wikipedia, the median age of a college professor is 55 years old with “very few people attain(ing) this position prior to the age of 40.” According to one study, more than half of social media users are between the ages of 25-44. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that a 55 year old person isn’t able to “know” social media well enough to teach it to a bunch of 18 year olds. That being said, I believe most of those 18 year olds probably know (and use) social media more than their professors. As far back as 2009, there was a University that was offering a Master’s degree in Social Media. According to Mashable, “some of the students have already described the course as too basic.”

Learning effective marketing, in general, in association with business and writing skills is certainly valuable to a young person planning on going into the marketing field. However, how valuable will the social media knowledge that is taught to them in college be four years later which was, percentage-wise, not being taught by the most educated (social media-wise) professor? I’ve taken classes on social media in which I knew more about it than the professor, which was why I stopped taking them. My goal was to learn, not spend money for a piece of paper that says I’ve learned skills that are already outdated.

Social media changes constantly. Social networks come and go daily. Learning how to effectively market on any given social media platform is a continuous job filled with analysis and adaptation. Trial and error, testing and re-testing, then adapting strategies based on what works NOW, is how most social media professionals “get the job done”. If there was a magic bullet or concrete list of techniques detailing the best way to market on each platform, whoever wrote that would be rich. I equate it to offering a class on how to create viral videos… while the class may exist, there is no formula that can produce this result consistently or, again, whomever discovered that would be rich. Then, of course, if everyone knew how to create viral videos because some magic formula came along teaching them how, none of them would be considered “viral” anymore.

There is no way social media can exist as its own major and be relevant 4 years later. My advice would be to use college to fill up on effective marketing, statistics, and business courses, in general, and take extra time, on your own, doing what you’re already doing anyways – using social networks. Read and learn on your own from the people who are willing to share their knowledge and expertise online (of which there are many) and are taking the time to keep up with current trends, techniques and changes in the world of social media. You could try and secure an internship at a company that specializes in social media to gain some practical, current, working knowledge of social media marketing.

I guarantee that you will come out of college prepared to enter the job market and will not have wasted 4 years (and who knows how much money) just to learn at the end that you haven’t learned anything.

Stat of the Week & In the News Compilation September/October 2012

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September 24, 2012: “In the News” – [LINK]

Free Ride for Facebook “Offers” Comes To An End

If you’ve been using Facebook’s “Offers” feature with your business page, the free ride is over. According to the Wall Street Journal, Facebook began charging businesses last week to run new offers. The “Offers” pricing structure is similar to the “Promoted Post” feature, it will vary based on how many “Likes” you have and how much exposure you want, with a $5 minimum charge for smaller business pages. This move is certainly in line with Facebook’s need to further monetize its services to appease stockholders. While “Offers” may now cost money, the “Deals” feature is still free for businesses to use… for now.

September 27, 2012: “Stat of the Week” – [LINK]

5 million

Apple set new sales records last week, with the much-anticipated release of the iPhone 5. The company sold 5 million phones in just 3 days with 2 million phones sold within the first 24 hours, according to many sources including the International Business Times. Pre-orders for the first batch of iPhone 5s sold out inhours from Apple and all other vendors, the day pre-orders began–and that was just in the U.S. Today, the iPhone 5 launches in 22 countries with inventory already in short supply. Clearly, mobileusers–and smartphone owners in particular– have arrived in force. They are using their phones to read and write customer reviews, search for stores and inventory, and become more connected than ever on a more sophisticated

October 1, 2012: “In the News” – [LINK]

State of California to Employers & Schools, “Quit Snooping”!
California Ruling Bans Employers and Schools from Demanding Social Media Passwords

Last week, California became the third state to pass laws that restrict employers and post-secondary schools from requiring access to social media accounts. California joins Maryland and Delaware in recognizing that social media accounts are private by nature and that forcing an employee or student to grant access is an invasion of that privacy. As quoted in an article from Bloomberg, California Governor, Jerry Brown, says that California is “pioneering the social media revolution and these laws will protect all Californians from unwarranted invasions of their personal social media accounts.” This is a trend that will likely continue to expand as social media awareness and use increases.

October 12, 2012: “Stat of the Week” – [LINK]

48%

According to this article in the Atlantic, “Facebook alone refers more than 48% of small business web traffic.” If you include Twitter, which is responsible for 4% of web traffic, these two social media sites account for over ½ of all small business web traffic. It is becoming more important for small businesses to have and cultivate Facebook and Twitter presences. Just like traditional advertising, you want to be visible where your customers are but, unlike a billboard or newspaper ad, with social media you have the opportunity to engage and communicate not only with your customers but with potential customers as well. With almost 1 in 7 people in the world owning Facebook accounts, learning how to properly use it and other social networks to market your business is no longer optional.

October 29, 2012 – “In the News” [LINK]

In the News: Government & Business Embrace Social Media for Hurricane Sandy Notices

As Hurricane Sandy bears down on the East Coast today, evidence that social media as a common news source and method of instant communication is becoming more prevalent. According to Computerworld, everyone from private individuals, airlines, and Federal, State and local governments and emergency services are turning to social media to relay information. Google has setup an interactive hurricane map, Facebook itself set up a Hurricane Sandy community page, FEMA is using social media to update citizens, airlines are using it to update people on flights with over 10,000 flights cancelled today across the country and the American Red Cross has integrated social media into its “Hurricane” app which allows people to “update friends and family by simultaneously sending out messages on Facebook, Twitter, via text, and e-mail.” The hashtag #Sandy is the top trending topic in all areas affected by the storm. These actions validate that social media has evolved significantly from simply a way to let your friends know what movie you’re watching to a legitimate means of delivering news and information instantaneously to a lot of people all at once in a centralized location.

Jimmy Johns and the Customer Service Fail [UPDATED]

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Jimmy Johns is a local sandwich joint. This was our experience on Customer Appreciation Day. They deserve every bit of this criticism. You never know who that customer you’re mistreating is or what they know how to do. Spread the word and show them that they should pay better attention to social media. It’s a two-way street. You cannot control the conversation, nor can you ignore it.

Here is a picture of the sandwich she was given:

 

 

 

 

 

 

“We went to Jimmy Johns on “Customer Appreciation” Day. My friend ordered by number with NO special directions. She got a sandwich that was LITERALLY turkey on bread. Nothing else. She called to see if they’d replace it and the response was “sure, but you have to wait in line again. We have lots of other customers.” I posted to their Facebook page hoping that someone at their corporate office would care but all they did was delete my post. (edit: they responded after I wrote this). I guess they didn’t care. This was more like anti-Appreciation day. My office is in the same building as their store and we eat there A LOT. Do they care? If you want a sandwich fast that may or may not be what you actually ordered and don’t care about customer service and want to support a corporation that could care less as well, then feel free to patronize this establishment. If, on the other hand, you appreciate customer service, quality food and a caring business, I wouldn’t waste even a dollar here. The impression we have of them was completely ruined on the one day that they wanted to “appreciate” their customers. If this is how they treat customers when they want to appreciate them, it’s all downhill from there. Thank you, Jimmy Johns for caring about us, your customers, on your Customer Appreciation Day. Good thing Subway isn’t far away!”

[UPDATE 10/26: Jimmy John’s corporate office sent me a $10 gift card and apology letter. I must admit that the letter didn’t seem like a form letter so it did seem sincere. The store itself didn’t (and still hasn’t) acknowledged that the problem even happened.]

iPhone 5 and iOS 6: My Thoughts

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I’ve had the iPhone 5 and iOS 6 for 5 days now so I thought I’d write a mini-review of my thoughts on both. This is certainly NOT a comprehensive review. Many of those exist already. These are just my personal impressions.

It’s light. – The iPhone 5 is certainly lighter than any previous iPhone. I like this feature as I typically carry my phone in my pocket. It’s hard to feel and sometimes I can’t even remember which pocket it’s in. That being said, I don’t get the impression that it’s less durable. In fact, one of the biggest complaints about it, according to Gizmodo who analysed the chatter about it, is the fact that it is too light.

It’s fast. – I can tell the difference in speed between the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 4S. I also had a Samsung Galaxy S III and it is certainly on par with that. This is in line with Mashable’s recent article comparing the speed of the two.

LTE rocks. – The one thing I LOVED about the Samsung Galaxy S III was the LTE ability. The iPhone 4S still used 3G and it was very slow. Sometimes painfully so. The new LTE integration rocks. Seeing as I recently moved to Chapel Hill, NC (which has great LTE coverage presumably due to UNC and it’s student body), I have excellent LTE coverage. Being that I did not where I lived in California, I love this.

It’s unlocked out of the box. – Not that I ever want to do business with or have a phone with service on AT&T but, according to the Huffington Post, the Verizon version of the iPhone 5 comes unlocked straight from the factory. It’s nice to know but I doubt I will ever need it. However, that being said, when the iPhone 6 (or 5S) comes out, I have double the market of people to sell it to, which is nice. Personally, if I were going to pay full price for the phone and I had AT&T service, I would buy the Verizon version and use it on AT&T since it comes unlocked whereas the AT&T version does not.

Facebook Integration. – Being a social media guy, this was a huge deal for me. The iPhone Facebook app sucks. Really sucks. It’s painfully slow. The ability to post to Facebook straight from my phone is great. It’s easy and painless. You can also use Siri to do it just like you can with tweets. I don’t really use Siri but it’s nice to know that I could if I wanted to. Another benefit to the Facebook integration is authorizing apps. In previous versions of the OS, when you wanted to authorize an app to access your Facebook account, it would flip open a Safari page and you had to type in your e-mail address and password to complete the authorization. In iOS 6, it still flips open a Safari page but because your Facebook account information is on your phone, it authorizes it and returns to the app, similar to what happens with logging into a website or connecting a website to Facebook while logged in to Facebook on your computer.

Do Not Disturb – I love this! It’s very nice to be able to set DND for specific times and not get an e-mail received alert at 2am (since the early morning hours are typically when retailers seem to think is the best time to send e-mails). If you add people to your favorites, it will allow those calls to come through (like your wife, kids, or whomever else you like) and block the rest.

Maps. – Suck. Yes, they do. Very much so. I attempted to get directions to a place that was about 5 miles away or less. It gave me directions to a place in Texas. Yeah, big fail. No matter how hard, or how specific, I got. Texas came up every time. Apparently, Apple is a Texas fan. Maybe it is because everything’s bigger there or they didn’t want to mess with Texas.

App Store – I like the new presentation of the iTunes/app store. It’s easier to navigate and you get more information without jumping back and forth between the search results list and actual information about an app. You just flip through the search results similar to how you would in the Music app on the phone with the information right on every result.

EarPods – I have yet to open or try these but they look cool and come with a storage case. It’s hard to want to use them in lieu of my Beats by Dre Studio headphones. Just saying.

New connector – Personally, I don’t have any issues with it. Yes, I know it is inconvenient and forces you to pay $29 for the adapter (assuming you want to use your old accessories with your new iPhone). I like that you can insert it into the iPhone 5 any way (ie. there’s no “right way” as there is with the old connector. My guess is that Apple got sick of replacing damaged iPhones from people attempting to force the 30-pin connector upside down. Of course, it could also be about money. Or both.

Cases (or lack thereof) – I’m not a fan of cases so I don’t really care. If you’re a case fan, I’m sure there will  be plenty of cases available for you soon. Personally, I think the iPhone 5 is very well designed and nice looking as is. By adding a case, you increase the phone’s weight and that is one of the features I like the most. If you tend to drop your phones or are just a paranoid person, buy the insurance from your phone carrier (typically $8-$10/mo) OR and even better (and cheaper) way to insure your phone is to add it to your homeowner’s policy as a rider. In the past, I have added my previous iPhones to my State Farm policy with a zero deductible, replacement value policy for $24 PER YEAR. Beat that.

Screen – It is longer. The best benefit of this is that you can have 5 rows of apps on a page versus 4 from before. For those who have a lot of apps or have a lot that they use often, it is nice to be able to stick those extra apps on the home screen. As for “brighter” and “more vibrant” – well, I can’t really see much of a difference. It’s still a nice screen like the iPhone 4S, however, and it seems a little more responsive since the touch functionality is integrated into the screen now rather than being a separate layer.

iCloud – I had this on my 4S. I paid the $25. It’s nice that it backs everything up and, when I got my iPhone 5, I was able to immediately restore all my apps and settings via iCloud over wi-fi so I didn’t have to wait until I got home to sync my phone. One of the features that I don’t like (and never have) is the inability to actually sync your music and physically have it on your phone without having to stream it and/or download every freakin’ song straight to my phone from iCloud. It would be much faster and more convenient to just be able to put it on my phone, as you could in the past, and not be dependent on having a wi-fi connection or eating up allocated data over LTE.

Anyways, those are my initial impressions. It ended up being longer than I anticipated, and there are plenty of features I didn’t cover, but that’s mainly because I have never used them – like AirPlay and AirPrint, etc.

Should you upgrade from your iPhone 4S? That’s up to you. It’s very similar to the decision you may, or may not, have had to made when the “New iPad” came out and you owned an iPad 2. I, personally, chose to keep my iPad 2 and NOT upgrade it. In this case, however, I chose to upgrade (obviously). Partially because I use my phone WAY more than I use my iPad and partially because I like having the newest technology (I am an early adopter. Very much so.). The choice is up to you but there are TWO features that made my decision quite easy: lighter and LTE. That was enough for me.

 

Social Media and OEMs: the Flaw in the Machine

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I remember a few years back when OEMs started pressuring their dealers to develop a social media presence. “You have to have a Facebook page.”, and “You need a Twitter account.” They sent their contracted digital marketing consultants to their dealers and beat them senseless until they complied. They started grading their dealers’ online presence and critiquing it’s absence.

On the flip side, manufacturers were developing and building healthy and thriving online presences. I get that. Their job is branding and promoting. That’s awesome. Some manufacturers were better at it than others. Some took their time joining the game. Some were ahead.

As most of you reading this know, one of the goals of social media is exposure outside your networks. That’s difficult to achieve for most dealers, especially dealers not paying attention and putting forth just enough effort to say they are “doing it”. Some are effective and others aren’t.

The thing that puzzles me is that, for the most part, many manufacturers have large audiences – some in the millions. Their public face is all about reassuring customers and branding. You hear phrases and messages that say things akin to we value you as a customer. Wait a minute now. Who, exactly, is a manufacturer’s customer? I don’t know any manufacturer’s that sell cars direct to consumers. The only people that buy cars from manufacturers are car dealers. In my opinion, that makes car dealers the manufacturer’s customer but that’s beside the point.

Many manufacturers spend a lot of time watching, learning and responding to consumers on various social media channels – which is awesome. That being said, if you are social media savvy at all, you understand the value of a retweet or mention from a “person” with a large following – whether that be on Facebook, Twitter or wherever. While I’m sure it’s probably happened at some point in time, I have yet to see any car manufacturer put any concerted organized effort into identifying tweets from their TRUE customers – the car dealers – and using their considerable online presence to retweet and mention those dealers. You’d think they’d want to support a dealer’s social media effort.

If a dealer is putting out great content and saying positive things, why wouldn’t a manufacturer want to spend meganbarto@gmail.com or skeetle@me.com and effort into assisting the dealer gain exposure and increase their networks to the relevant people within their audience? I mean, THEY are the ones that pushed dealers into the social media world.

If your customer – the dealer – is doing a great job, reward them by interacting with THEM as well as with the end buyer. It would be a great way to support your franchises, reward them for their efforts, which, for the most part, are also going to be promoting the brand itself, which is completely in line with your goals anyways. YOU want engagement. YOU want to be retweeted. Why is it unreasonable for to assume that your dealers do as well?

I challenge a manufacturer to devote as much effort into integrating social media support for their franchises into their operations as they do supporting themselves. There are less franchises than consumers so it wouldn’t take a lot to accomplish. A retweet here and there would be easy, appreciated, rewarding, and relevant.

Oh, and don’t try the whole “we don’t want to play favorites” excuse – even if you truly believe it might be interpreted that way by your franchises. If your dealers have an online social media presence, support it. Maybe that would encourage your dealers who do not to jump on the bandwagon.

Practice what you preach and support the hand that feeds you.

 

The Only Way To Do Social Media Right

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Yeah, Yeah… I know what you’re thinking. Here’s another social media “expert” that’s going to say “this is how you do it”. Actually, I’m not. (As an aside: What does it mean and can anyone really be an “expert” in a field that’s relatively new.)

I, like any other social media person, have my opinions, methods and strategies that I believe work well. I believe these methods work well through many tests and practical implementation. These are, obviously, what I teach and advise. That being said, there are many other social media “experts” that have different opinions, different methods, and different strategies. Whether I agree with them or not is irrelevant. In most cases, when I hear other social media people say “this is how it should be done”, I cringe inside.

Because of the ambiguousness of what it means to be an expert in combination with the fact that this field is constantly changing and new, many dealers (or clients) don’t really know how to judge/evaluate whether a social media consultant/company is “good” at what they do. The easiest way (and how many dealers do it) is to judge a person or company by their own social media presence: How many “likes” do they have? How many followers? Etc.

I personally, don’t believe that either one of these things constitutes a valid assessment point when considering who to partner with in your social media efforts. “Likes” and “followers” can be bought. Does that mean they’re good at what they do? No. It just means they have money to spend. The same philosophy I have in regards to using “likes” to determine the success (or not) for a client’s social media identities applies. You can have a million followers but if none of them would ever do business with you, you’re wasting your breath and your efforts are worthless and a waste of time. If you are a dealer (or business) in Florida, would you pay for traditional advertising in California? Why not? Exactly.

I’m not going to go into what my philosophies are as that’s not the point of this blog post. The point is that there IS no single way to do it right. Numbers of likes and followers or a consultant’s/company’s Klout score don’t mean anything. If you’re looking for a social media partner, for the love of God, please do not use these factors in your decision-making process.

Find a partner who fits well into your company’s strategy, is willing to integrate with your existing marketing, collaborates with you and, most importantly, is willing to make a personalized plan and strategy geared towards your specific audience, not one who fits YOU into THEIR cookie-cutter template process.

If their sales pitch centers around how many “likes” they’ll get you and how many more followers they’ll get you and the reasons they give you for hiring them in any way involves how many likes or followers they have, run away. As fast as you can.

Keep in mind, this person/company is you in the online space. There is no differentiation from a customer’s perspective.

You better be sure that the voice they use is YOURS, not THEIRS.

Foursquare Launches Local Updates for Businesses

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If you haven’t heard, foursquare announced yesterday the launch of what they’re calling “Local Updates”.

What are these and how can you use them?

Essentially, Local Updates will allow businesses to push messages to consumers who have either “liked” their business or frequent it. Updates can include things like specials, pictures of a new car (or a used car you just got in stock), it can include coupons, service specials, or whatever else you’d like your customers to see.

Your customers will be able to see these updates while in the same city as you. While certainly not as geo-targeted as it could be (like in the auto mall or within 10 miles of your dealership), being in the same city is a start.

In the past, the only way (or type) of message you could put out there for consumers on foursquare were “special offers” which required a check-in. While you can still make an offer to a customer, the ability to simply provide updates to consumers is another way of engaging them and staying top of mind.

Here’s an example of what an update would look like:

With nearly 1,000,000 business pages claimed and 10,000,000 users, foursquare is simply something you cannot afford to ignore. It’s fairly low-maintenance when set up and, since its free, the benefits vastly outweigh the possibility of lost business. Engaging your customers (or potential customers) is something that’s not only necessary but integral to increasing customer loyalty and retention.

The Local Updates feature will be rolled out to businesses that have claimed their page this week sometime so stay tuned.

Here is a brief video intro created by foursquare:

 

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