Here is an email that I sent to my dealers - I'm 99% confident that it fell on deaf ears and since no one ever responds to an email on the dealer level I thought I would share it here since it's relevant and links to a decent article in eMarketer.
I understand I might be a little over the top in this email but I was merely trying to get a message across.
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Interesting article on social media and branding. With in a short time, social will could replace our previous forms of "traditional media". Think about that every time we budget for a newspaper ad, radio ad or an ad in a local magazine. are we spending our money wisely?
Case in point. Today during our Toyota meeting we were reviewing last years website analytics. Last year this month we had 2 people visit youngertoyota.com <http://youngertoyota.com> on their phone. Only 1 year later, we had over 400 visits from a mobile phone. Only 1 year.
Marketing has turned into a highly fragmented target. Where will we be next year? Mobile and social needs to be in our radar.
I encourage you to have a keen understanding of our social presence and brand. Take ownership and start cultivating your sales and service for this month, next year. Let's continue to get our happy customers photos for facebook and positive reviews on dealerrater.
I also encourage all, if you have not yet done so, to open a personal facebook account. If for the only reason, is to grasp a better understand of this highly targeted and influential marketing medium.
How Important is Your Facebook Brand Page to Your Social Media Strategy? - The eMarketer Blog
3 key point to this article:
* Consumers are more willing to interact with branded pages. It’s time to banish the idea that brands are ignored in social media. Brian Solis predicts in his blog that because of Facebook’s position as the center of social interaction on the web, by this time next year, marketers will spend “more time and resources on Facebook than you will on Twitter.”
* Interactions with branded pages will be a key metric to watch in 2011. As Singh’s question indicates, it’s one thing to know how many Likes you have, but how often do those fans actually interact with your page? The top brands on Facebook may have millions of followers, but the more important metric will be their actual interactions with the brand (and, of course, the effect of those interactions on product sales).
* The Like button isn’t just for social media. Jennifer Van Grove, writing on Mashable, described how the Golden State Warriors basketball team increased its Facebook “like” base by 20% by sending e-mail marketing messages asking fans to like the team in exchange for an opportunity to win tickets to preseason games.
- I realized that this most likely will never occur with my facebookers. Why? Because I already have an established relationship - at least one that makes them want to "like" me on FB. 
