Do Car Dealers Need to be Social Networking?

[Jeff Kershner]

Why aren’t dealers social networking?

When I attended the 2007 J.D. Power Roundtable a few months back, every time I turned around someone was talking about dealers and SOCIAL NETWORKING!

"Dealers need to be social networking!"

"Why aren’t dealers social networking?”

There are many reasons why dealers are not social networking and I’m not totally convinced that all dealers need or should be social networking. But, rather than writing why dealers shouldn’t be social networking let's look at a few of the advantages why maybe they should be.

1. Branding and Awareness Opportunities for your dealer

It can be important that your dealer secures its name and brand/message on the more popular social networking sites. I had initially set up a myspace page for Mercedes-Benz of Hagerstown and while I was adding friends, I had several people respond back with "I had no idea there was a Mercedes dealer in Hagerstown".

Social networks like myspace, facebook and now Twitter, can help get your dealers name and branding out to others that could otherwise not be aware that your dealer even exists.

2. Search Engine Saturation

Tired off all the other websites (like the infamous automotive.com,  invoicedealers.com and now dealer rating sites) showing up on the first page of the search engines, or better yet, first placement when someone Google’s your dealers name?

When you sign up for many of these Social Networking sites, if you set it up correctly, it will include your dealers name in the URL (i.e. www.myspace.com/yourdealersname, http://youtube.com/user/yourdealername, etc.). Your dealer name is many times also used in the title tag of your social profile page.

But why is this important?

Having a number of profiles spread out among various social media sites will help you to have better control over the first page (or more) of search results for your dealerships name. This will help you keep your competitors and 3rd party lead sites like automotive.com from sitting on the first page. Even if they do make it on the first page, you have a better chance of drowning them out.

This can also help prevent flogging!

3. Build Link Popularity

Websites essentially need three things if they are to experience first page visibility in the search engines.

1. Great Content
2. Great SEO
3. Great Incoming Natural Links.

One way to obtain natural links is to link back to your dealers web site within your social network sites. Many social media sites will allow you to include a paragraph or so about your dealer but MOST IMPORTANTLY, many allow you to add links to your dealer’s website. Once your dealers various social networking profiles are indexed in the search engines, many will count as inbound links to your main site. This will give your dealerships website site a small push in the Search Engines.

4. Traffic to your dealers website

Though I personally think this could be of the initial lesser reasons for dealers using social media and networking websites, it can send traffic to your dealer’s website. Unless you have a powerful analytics tool, it's hard to track how good the traffic is and if it's truly resulting in any conversion or sales.

There are ways of using social networks like YouTube and myspace to attract and drive traffic to your dealer website. One example of a dealer really missing the boat with traffic (and viral marketing) is Johnson Autos and their Badger Commercials. They have some great branding commercials that even promoted their dealers website. If they were really smart, they would have uploaded these commercials to YouTube and used the videos on several social networking sites (and their own dealer website). Luckily for them, some "Joe" decided they were funny enough to get onto YouTube and took it upon themselves to record and upload the Badger Videos for the world to see. I'd love to know what kind of traffic spikes Johnson Auto group is getting as these videos continue to circulate.

However, even if Johnson Autos would have known how to take full advantage of placing their badger videos online; how relevant would the website traffic be? I know I personally went to their website with no intention to buy.

5. Interaction with the Public - Online Dealer Reputation

The reason why it’s called "social" is because it allows people to socialize or interact with each other. I would venture to say this has been one of the biggest fears keeping dealers from embracing social media (other then ignorance). “Talking” to your customer is totally different then having to "interact" with them.

Dealers fear customers talking bad about them, and from the dealers perspective, rightfully so. Car dealers and car sales people are already under great scrutiny and it's up to each consumers own interpretation to how well they are being treated. I have literally given cars away and treated the customer with the utmost respect (while building value in my product) only to find out they still felt as if they could have saved more money or thought I moved the numbers around to benefit myself and the dealer.

However, if this is what you fear then I have news for you; chances are your customers are already talking so you may as well join the conversation. IMPORTANT: Be sure you have the right person at the dealer to interact with these conversations! It’s not easy knowing how to deal with a consumer’s negative feedback.

Having the ability to interact with consumers is not just about dealing with the bad but also taking advantage of bringing further attention your dealer’s products and services. Using social media to show consumers that your dealer employees REAL people, gives back to the community and operates a business under ethical standards shows that you care and can help the consumer feel more comfortable doing business with you.

Don't be afraid of social network or media sites. In many ways it can set you apart from the competition. Rather than ignore it, be creative as to how your dealership can benefit from it.

 

[Bonh]

Wow it's so crazy that you mention this, I was just actually thinking myself how much this could benefit a dealership. I want to add that forums can also play a big part in this and if the forum allows, place the link in your signature and participate. This did a lot for one of my personal websites. Hope you don't mind me sharing this inbound link stat from yahoo as an example:

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siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com

 

[Chad Polk]

Jeff -

First off, love your blog! Keep up the great work and community.

I'm glad you brought this up. I actually just wrote an article for Digital Dealer Magazine that spoke to this subject directly (should see it in a week or so). I have also posted many times on the AutoRevo blog regarding LinkedIn, blogs, social networking, YouTube, Twitter, and much more.

In reading another comment in your SEM category the comment said it perfectly, "Dealers are about 2 years behind any technology curve." Social Media Marketing will become a huge area of the future in the car business. And with that many dealers will see companies offering these types of services to get them up and running. The hardest part will be getting dealers to post on their blogs, but such is life.

I welcome this opportunity in the auto industry, but for now I'm just an evangelist.

Chad Polk
AutoRevo

 

[Jim Wagner]

Jeff,

Great insight.

Social working is the buzz right now in many industries. New social sites with specific themes are appearing everywhere as the entry costs and level of difficulty decreases.

I'm specifically involved in the special finance arena. Subprime auto customers are very loyal, given that they are treated well by the dealership they bought from. As their credit improves they will soon reenter the marketplace for another automobile. If you've already developed a relationship with that customer through a social network they are more likely to return to your store when they are ready to trade.

I have written in my blog that dealers need to be more consultative with their special finance customers and keep in touch with them and their family and friends. This might be new a way to do so. Having a social site that gives tips on credit repair and other issues relating to the subprime industry may generate a sizeable amount of traffic for a store.

Best Wishes,

Jim Wagner
TheSubprimeReport.com

 

[bhoecht]

Jeff's Dealer Refresh blog here is a great testament to the usefulness of social media, blogging, etc.

Ryan Gerardi left HomeNet a year or so ago to start up a business to help dealers master the social media space and blogging in particular. autoconversion.net He remains the best that I know at it.

Car dealers that blog that I know are:

earlstewartoncars.com
followupforsuccess.com
davidthomasautogroup.blogspot.com/
blog.checkeredflag.com

As Jeff points out, you don't do this to generate leads. It is where the word of mouth, the brand, the networking, the CSI, the reputation, and the goodwill in the community happens these days.

Unfortunately (my opinion), most dealerships remain highly transactional based, so relationship / marketing / goodwill / branding efforts tend to be haphazard, inconsistent and fit in "when time permits" by staff with transactional responsibility. It is not criticism, just an observation and as always there are exceptions and excellence in places you do not always expect to find them.

An industry blogger in Hagerstown? Jeff Kershner... who would have thought.

An entrepreneur dedicated to helping dealers execute social media, Web 2.0 and blogging strategies? Ryan Gerardi... in Pennsylvania?

A car dealer who blogs in Florida? Earl Stewart.

A car dealer Internet Director who blogs and figures this stuff out on his own time? Chris Hanson in Dallas-Ft. Worth for the David Thomas Auto Group.

Others who can't but help spill out how they feel the industry needs to change? Shaun Raines from Dealer Advisor. dealeradvisor.blogspot.com/

And the list goes on. As I wrote in my company's weekly newsletter earlier today:

"There will always be people who are ahead of the curve, and people who are behind the curve. But knowledge moves the curve." -- Bill James, legendary baseball statistician/strategist.

Brian Hoecht

 

[Mitch]

Damn Brian, how many SERPs do I have to monopolize before I can get on your short list of dealers blogging?

Plain and simple, the reason dealers don't take advantage of social networking/marketing is because they don't have someone like Jeff (or the rest of us reading here) on-staff.

You've got an industry full of people whose library of marketing knowledge begins and ends with "go $10 lower than the other guy in next week's print ad". They're never going to start an Internet marketing revolution in their stores... and if they're lucky enough to stumble across a good third party who offers such services, and if that party is lucky enough to actually convince the dealer that it's worth their while, the dealer STILL isn't going to be where they ought to be in this day and age.

Sure, it's great to say, "my dealership's on MySpace", or "we've got a blog"... but if it's a third party posting that content with minimal input from the dealer, then the dealership is digging a trench on both sides of that endeavor:

On one side, it's not hitting customers the way social networking is meant to hit them - a B.S. blog post about how great the dealership is, with canned verbiage from an outside vendor, is a stink that Internet users can smell a mile away. You're saturating the SERPs and getting your name out there, sure... but what social marketing REALLY does is prepare your store for the next big craze (and I can't believe I'm about to call this a craze): actual, real life, attention to customers' needs, creative value-building, and quality relationship forming.

On the other side, what the third party can't give you is that everyday freshness in the approach to the business that I'm sure Jeff's owner can get from him every time he pulls up a chair. You need someone on the inside who knows exactly what, for instance, your Service Department lacks in, and how that can be remedied with a combination of social marketing, customer follow-up, and the addition of a quality third party tool. The people who really know Internet marketing in this industry transcend their immediate job position, and bring value to the store not just as an Internet Manager, but as a fresh, creative mind on tap 24/7.

 

[Alex Snyder (blog)]

I'm a huge fan of social networking! I think I'm LinkedIn with quite a few of the regulars on Dealer Refresh and have been an avid forum participant since I bought my first S2000 (S2Ki.com is one of my favorite net-hang outs). I love the new communication areas the net has given us!

Maybe I can play a little devil's advocate here.....not because I want to, but because I've had to deal with this.

Branding, SEO, and transparency are all great reasons to engage in the latest social networking programs, but how do you filter out the bad? I caught one of our salespeople on MySpace "representin' da Flag" (our dealership's name is Checkered Flag) with all kinds of photographic paraphernalia; which certainly did not reflect the Checkered Flag image nor any other franchised dealer for that matter. He worked at our BMW store and had non-compliant BMW logos all over the place. If you knew this person, you'd never expect the MySpace page this guy had up. Of course, any sensible human being would look the other way on associating that MySpace page with Checkered Flag.....or would they?

Does MySpace become a work-related site now? Should we allow all of our employees to spend hours on the clock, playing on MySpace? I know MySpace is one extreme, but it does fall into the social networking cloud/category.

This question carries into other areas: employees making their own websites, putting the dealership name in their personal email signatures, etc. The Internet is either viewed loosely or strictly depending on who is viewing it. Government regulation is still years away. Is the answer education? Do you have time to educate your staff?

I'm rambling now. I'll end this post by stating, this is just a thought.

 

[Mitch]

No Alex, you're right on point with that issue. I just received an Internet lead via our dealer website a few months ago that stated in the comments:

"Someone at this dealership keeps spamming our forum. Stop trying to sell us your s**t!"

Of course, no name, no phone number, not even a reference to which forum was being affected. So that helped a lot.

Alex's point of contention is quite valid... though to be fair, it's no different than your salespeople putting their business cards at the local bagel shop, or putting a sticker on their personal vehicle promoting your store... but the element of anonymity through the Internet makes things a bit less clear about who precisely is behind the marketing.

Don't get me wrong, I'd just as soon tell a salesmen that his thank you card is a horrid representation of our store, and work with him to make it more professional... you want a little bit of that "street team" attitude in your staff, but you still have to manage the content that's being put out there.

Of course, that's the big x-factor in social marketing anyway, right? Even if you have full authority to represent your company, you still could end up putting your foot in your mouth and seriously damaging the company's reputation (see: WholeFoods Inc. CEO blog).

 

[Ryan Gerardi]

Well, right now these questions can only be answered theoretically. There isn't any data to show where and how online branding social networking impact your bottom line because it really is only just now starting to occur.

We could get in to a whole theoretical discussion about these things, but one area where blogging and social networking can impact dealerships in a tangible and measurable way is through SEO.

And thank you Brian for the kudos. Enjoy your weekends fellas.

 

[Lao Shi]

This is a great example of one way to see the use of the Social Networking solution; Homepage. Check out the management tab and click on the bio of the three listed. This is the type of advertising company the industry needs to move out of the old world and into the new. I have a feeling we will be seeing more of this worldwide as the "OEM's" search for company’s like this for marketing solutions to reach the new generation of consumers.

Any dealer can use this Social network solution with very little effort. The reason given for the excuse many dealers have: "Plain and simple, the reason dealers don't take advantage of social networking/marketing is because they don't have someone like Jeff (or the rest of us reading here) on-staff."

The tools that some of these sites offer and there are a number of them is a resource that is inexpensive and easy to use. Where else can you feature videos and information content that costs you less the more it is used? Feature your dealership, service, product, message, and staff?

Where the secret lies is hiring people like Jeff and others who are leading the way to develop the scripts and programs. Many dealers just fill job openings. A skills profile is developed, usually reflecting past needs and a person is hired to fill the slot.

Dealers must hire the "best of breed" in whatever field of IT you can find them. Professional teams go for the best athlete and build a team around them. You must bet on the universal skills of very bright people. If you look too narrowly to fill an immediate job need, you will likely get a person who has limited future value and can only be deployed on narrow assignments.

Hiring the "best of breed" is a difficult transition for a company that just fills job slots and accepts mediocrity. But once you have a good, bright person and build around them, you will see how the successful team develops.

This is the strength of the "New Breed" of dealer management and where we will be able to lead the industry. Rather than waste time dragging the old into today’s market we need to focus on the tools that are becoming available and lead the way.

Maybe the first thing many of the "new breed" need to learn is their value in the market place and to assume a more direct leadership roles in the ecommerce segment of the industry. The future of the industry will lie in the development of e-dealerships, this will develop very soon, alas it is happening now and the “New Breed” will be the industry leaders.