SOURCE CREDIT: The following was written by Katie Urbain and posted to a blog that I moderate. The content below was posted here on SMT via an RSS feed that I submitted for moderation. Katie Urbain's original blog and source of this post: http://www.automotivedigitalmarketing.com/profiles/blogs/marketing-benefits-of-reaching
My colleague wrote a fabulous blog post last week about community outreach, and it is really making me think about how I approach social media marketing.
It's a common idea in social media marketing in general to be sure to comment about and promote others more than you promote yourself. This idea while fabulous is not always easy to implement, especially in the car selling business. It's a fantastic start to post useful content through your Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn pages but unless you go out there and join the conversation in forums and on other groups pages your not going to reach new potential clients. By reaching out you are going to gain valuable insights to the customer's perspective allowing you to address issues you could improve upon. Not only do you have to get out there and reply to others posts providing helpful feedback, you have to do it without putting the Sell in there.
This process is a long term strategy. It most likely won't send a buyer to your showroom that day, but over time the impression you leave will be of quality, trust, and helpfulness which will push a customer your direction when they are ready to feel safe in making the big money purchase of a new or used car. They will also feel confident that you know what you are talking about and won't lead them astray when they come to your showroom.
I urge you to read the post by Mitch Lipon, he makes an excellent case for getting involved with your community, joining the discussion, being helpful, charitable, and present. I think this strategy if applied across the board in all marketing endeavors can change the face of a dealership giving them a long term boost and a safer position in the community when bad times do occur. But it has to be sincere with real care for your local and online communities.
What forums have you been a trusted resource on lately? How much time did you spend listening (reading), and how much time did you spend talking (writing)?
SOURCE CREDIT: The above blog was written by Katie Urbain and originally posted to a site that I moderate, then re-posted here at SMT via an RSS feed that I submitted via my SMT profile. Katie's original post and source of above, is at: http://www.automotivedigitalmarketing.com/profiles/blogs/marketing-benefits-of-reaching