While watching TV the other night, I caught a commercial from Toyota of Newnan in which they announced a contest where viewers could win $5,000 in cash. All they have to do is create a video about their Toyota or about their experience with Toyota of Newnan and post that video on YouTube.
As consumers post videos
in hopes of winning the cash, Toyota of Newnan is creating
awareness for their location at a very low cost. The beauty of social
media is that it gets your customer to do the selling for you. The
contest videos - which are created, edited and submitted by consumers -
have already seen more than 2,000 views. That's over 2,000 people, many
of whom live in the Atlanta area, who now know about Toyota of Newnan.
Of course, the campaign doesn't stop with YouTube. There is also a Toyota of Newnan Myspace Videos page. And, in true social media style, the consumers creating the videos are sharing them on Facebook and other vid sites like Boxxet and AOL Video. With a bit more proactive social bookmarking, plus strategic blog and board seeding, Toyota of Newnan could see even greater rewards from an already impressive campaign.
In developing social media strategies for our clients at Fletcher Martin, I know how hard it can be for a company -- much less an individual franchise owner -- to take the leap into social media. So, I am extremely impressed with this dealership's forward-thinking attitude. I sincerely hope the campaign is a major success for them. And, even though they aren't my client, I plan to let some of the other Franchise Marketing blogs and dealership media know about these efforts.
So, well done, Toyota of Newnan. I look forward to hearing about the total results at the contest's conclusion.
Jennifer A. Jones
Franchise Marketing Blog