Obtain more "Follower" using a viral social media campaign with “Contest Burner”


Step 1: Get Prepared!

You caved in and decided you are going to jump in head first on the Social Media bandwagon.  You’ve read all the blogs, forums, and assassinated the latest copy of “Facebook for Dummies”.

Amidst the chaos of a new marketing campaign, don’t forget to write down your new username and password for your dealer’s:

• Facebook Fan Page
  
• Twitter Account
  
• Wordpress Admin (Blog)
  
• Youtube Channel
  
• TubeMogul

Step 2: Decide to Move forward

Along with your dealership employees,  a few random friends from your local baseball team, college alumni, and family members, you “like” the Facebook fan page.  You are tweeting like a dog in heat, but you still only have 39 followers and they’re all of your vendors! The Youtube videos that took hours to upload and create only have 12 views and you’re pretty sure they were all from your mother.  It’s at this is the point that your interest and momentum start to fade and you either:

a) Give up
b) Spend thousands of dollars to work with the latest and greatest social media guru.
c) Contest Marketing

The correct answer? c) “Contest Marketing”.  It just makes sense.

Step 3: Contest Marketing—what is it?

Social Media surf bum Brendan Wenzel puts it this way:

“Contest marketing is crowd sourcing at its best. It gives your readers, customers or fans incentives to share you with their friends, write content for your site and possible anything else you’d like them to do.”

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Contest Burner was developed by marketing guru, Bill Macintosh.  The concept is to allow individuals and businesses an easy way to develop and manage their own online contests to increase site traffic and brand awareness.  By awarding your contestants points for promoting your dealerships channels, you can potentially increase:

• Links to your site/blog
  
• Facebook Fan “Likes”
  
• Twitter Followers
  
• Youtube views and channel subscriptions
  
• Newsletter sign ups

Step 4: Run a contest with the Wordpress plugin “Contest Burner”

The best part of the Contest Burner plugin is that it not only creates your online contest, it manages it too.  Everything from the amount of points awarded to participants to the creation of a motivational “leader board”, the Contest Burner application requires little input from you.  And, for a small fee, you can become a premium user and take advantage of features like running multiple contests at the same time.

How do contestants gain points?

The plugin is designed to track and award points to users for performing certain actions.  It goes something like this:

• Become a fan of ANY DEALER Facebook Fan Page: 50 points
  
• Follow ANY DEALER on Twitter: 50 points
  
• Comment on an ANY DEALER Youtube video: 100 points
  
• Subscribe to ANY DEALER YoutTube Channel: 100 points
  
• Anyone that clicks on your personal url (drawing new traffic to the contest): 150 points
  
• Writing a blog post about the contest and using “Toronto Toyota Dealer” as the anchor text : 500 points
  
• Create a YouTube Video and use http://www.anydealer.com as the first part of the description: 750 points

You can make the contest as simple or complex as you want.  I suggest getting your feet wet by running a small campaign that focuses only on gaining Twitter Followers.  This will allow you to get a feel for the program and plan for the big barn burner after you have gained a solid amount of followers  who are actively engaged in your social media offerings.

Step 5: Deciding on the right contest prize:

Your contest does not have to award a brand new car (but imagine the buzz!), but the prize should add value to your target audience.  General prizes like ipads, ipods, and cash are sure to get things moving in the right direction, but by offering multiple prizes,  you increase the chances of your participants putting in some serious devotion.  And, adding prizes that are specific to your local dealership market will garner attention and participation from future clients in your area.

Step 6: Maintain client interest

Just because the contest is over doesn’t mean the work is! Announce the winner—include pictures if you can—and keep followers guessing by hosting regular contests with meaningful rewards. This will gain customer loyalty while attracting new followers with their eyes on the prize.

Brendan Wenzal’s Social Media Marketing Machine Contest:

This post was inspired by reading a Tweet from one of Brendan’s followers which drove me to the You Tube Video he had done for this contest.  By posting this video, this participant is going to gain some serious points but also anyone who clicks his specialized url in the video description is counted as...you guessed it more points!  Check out the contest here for full details.  Here you can see what the contest leader board will look like.

Disclaimer: I have not personally used Contest Burner and have no affiliation with the product.  I would advise to check your state laws on contests.  The concept appears to have all of the right stuff to get the viral love that the gurus are preaching in their seminars.

Have you used viral campaigning to get more social "followers" for your dealership?

Dale Pollak Webinar | Engineered Inventory
December 15th at 11:00 am – 12:00 pm CST

While it’s understandable that dealers are having a difficult time finding the right cars that can be purchased for the right money, the right perception that it can’t be done is absolutely incorrect.  In fact, many of the nation’s top dealers are sourcing the hottest vehicles for the right money; it just simply requires a new strategy and a different approach. Dale Pollak will review and demonstrate the strategy of Engineered Inventory using the free agency approach.  Webinar participants will see a live demonstration using an actual dealer’s market of how to identify the best vehicles and purchase them for the right money.  This Webinar is an essential lesson for dealers, GM’s and used car managers.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/516821315

Did you attain your Goals for 2010?





Have you set your Goals for 2011?

Although there are many people more versed on the creating, tracking and focus of goal setting…I do believe in having and attaining goals, and I believe that those who do likewise will have a significant increase in their success. I’m going to give you my views, not as an authority on goal setting but as a person who has seen the effects having goals provides. It is my intention to help those without goals to see how important they are and to help those with, to continue in their pursuit of setting and achieving goals.

One of my favorite sales managers I've worked with gave the classic December “Goal setting meeting” every year and since he has passed on, I would like to dedicate this post to him.

Larry was very “New England” in nature and presented things in a “here’s the facts” manner, which made him hard for some to take and easy for those like me to understand. I say this because I believe that you need to be brutally honest with yourself when it comes to goals and know both what they are and the work needed to achieve them to have any real success as a goal setter.

To get things started, Larry would question everyone in the room as to what goals they had attained and which ones they fell short on for the current year. Next Larry would highlight a few goals of his own, both successes and failures. You see, if you hit all your goals have you really set worthy goals? I for one think anyone who tells you they have reached all their goals is either lying or doesn’t have the right goals. Balance is key to life and part of that balance should be setting goals that make you reach beyond comfort or what you know you can achieve. Sometimes that balance means falling short or even failing momentarily before dusting yourself off and starting back on your path to success.

Why do we need goals?

I hope you’re not reading this and asking this question, but if you are...goals are important to keeping us moving forward. Goals are the fuel that keep winners winning and help those that have never won strive to win. Goals for anyone with a commission income are an absolute necessity to our survival. Without goals, people go through life hoping, wondering, praying and just letting life take it’s own course. All of these things are complacent actions and say that we don’t have any control in what happens in our lives. Goal setters conversely are action takers and rule their life with planning, tracking, methodical work and constant course corrections in order to attain the life and goals they want.

There are many great resources for in depth goal training and I recommend that anyone serious about their life read and listen to goal setting material on an ongoing basis. Some of my personal favorites are Brian Tracy, Zig Ziglar and Grant Cardone (great for us car guys). These are just a few and there are many more great writers and speakers that you can learn from.

One of the lessons that are taught by all who teach goal setting is that you must have clearly defined, written goals. Daily writing of these goals in a positive, first person manner as though you have already reached that goal is also universal for goals trainers. As an example, if one of your goals is to make more money you shouldn’t just write down “I want to make more money” it needs to be written as “ I make X amount of money (hourly, daily, monthly etc…)” In order to achieve our goals our mind needs to believe in them and this technique does just that.

I hope to have everyone at least thinking about goals and how they determine your success.

I will leave you with a couple of my own goals both attained and fell short of for 2010 and some for 2011 that I don’t intend on losing site of. One goal that I hit was to read 10 business books this year, although I do read this was a hard goal for me but one that got checked off. One of the goals I fell short on was to exercise weekly, I had good intentions and even blocked out the time in my Blackberry to make it happen but lacked the commitment and came up with all the normal excuses of why this didn’t happen. So for 2011 the exercise goal is back on and since I’m writing it here for all to see it should be harder to let slip. I also will be reading 12 books in 2011 and for work we will collectively be the number one retailer of certified used Toyotas in the Boston Region for 2011….you read it here first!

Have you begun your 2011 goal list yet or do you keep a running list?

Did you attain your 2010 goals?

What has been your best methods of setting, tracking and adjusting your goals both personal and professional?

CARFAX LAUNCHES WEBINAR SERIES TO BOOST DEALER PROFITS

CENTREVILLE, Va. (December 9, 2010) – Carfax is launching a free, year-long webinar series designed to help dealers improve their business operations. The Carfax ‘PowerUp’ series provides attendees with valuable information on the latest industry trends, best practices and emerging technologies that drive used car sales and ultimately increase store profits. The first webinar, focused on wireless technology for vehicle acquisition, takes place on Dec. 17.

“I’ve been thoroughly impressed by the information presented in Carfax webinars,” said Bruce Allen, dealer with A&T Chevrolet Subaru in Sellersville, Pa. “Six of our employees, myself included, all recently attended one and came away with helpful tips that we implemented right away and saw real results. It’s encouraging to see companies like Carfax supporting dealers by providing resources like these webinars that help us sell more cars and make more money.”

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Carfax teams with other prominent names in the automotive industry for each webinar, beginning with eCarlist on Dec. 17. Each webinar focuses on a different aspect of dealership operations, such as pricing, advertising or social networking. There are a total of 18 webinars in the Carfax ‘PowerUp’ series.

“It can be difficult to keep up with the constant changes within the used car market,” said Lance Vickery, director of dealer business at Carfax. “These webinars are an easy way for dealers everywhere to gain more knowledge but also share their thoughts and questions with peers who likely are experiencing similar issues. Together with other industry experts, we’re sharing information we know helps dealers stay on top of their game.”

The 45-minute Carfax ‘PowerUp’ webinars are held at noon on at least one Friday a month until Dec. 2011. Registration is open to anyone and is free. To register, go to http://carfax.webex.com/eventcenter.

About Carfax (www.carfax.com)
Millions of used car buyers and sellers each year rely on Carfax, the most trusted provider of vehicle history information. Using the unique 17-character vehicle identification number (VIN) found on vehicle dashboards and title documents, Carfax instantly generates a detailed Vehicle History Report on any used car or light truck. Carfax Vehicle History Reports™ provide valuable information that helps used car buyers and sellers make better decisions. For more information or to become a Carfax-subscribing dealer, visit www.carfaxonline.com.