The Emporer Has No Clothes?

[joe.pistell]

The Emperor Has No Clothes?

Are there ANY measurable sales coming from your efforts that you can trace back to FaceBook or Twitter?

Can anyone show me examples of what a sucessful money-making example looks like?

 

[joe.pistell]

Re: The Emperor Has No Clothes?

I've been totally dragging my feet on committing time or recources to Facebook or Twitter. I just don't see a high value connection from social media to a car dealer’s customer. Is social media just a branding exercise? Is there any output to measure?


Here's how I see it:

• When shopping for a landscaper, would reading his twitter have any value when his web site, pics is really what you're after? The only other "social connection" I see after this is looking for online review of his past customers.
• What would have a higher ROI, improving the content and marketing of his homesite or FB'ing in his spare time?
• Is Twitter/FaceBook any thing more than just tying up your shoppers time, in the hopes that you become a finalist by eating up their clock

Does it help retain consumers?

• Would you read your grocer’s twitter? (more than 15 seconds?)
• Would you read your dentist’s Facebook (more than once?)

See where I am going with this?

Call me stupid, but I just don't get it. Our time is FINITE. Is anyone here only working 40hrs a week? We all work a lot of hours, I'm easily at 70+ hrs p/wk and there are sooooo many other tasks that I can invest my time in that sell cars... I just don't see the ROI.

 

[Alex Snyder]

We have not sold a single thing on Twitter, but have had a few transactions that started on facebook. In both cases we are just feeding things we already do to both sites - they're automatic feeds so it really isn't adding anything to our day. However, with the facebook app on my Blackberry, I do spend some extra time there responding to people's comments and updates. It is really easy to hit Viigo (RSS reader on BB), Tiny Twitter (to catch-up on my personal account), and facebook while waiting in line at the grocery store, waiting for a meeting to start, etc.

The trick to all of them is that you join the conversation and when you're starting your own conversation it is not an advertisement. Whether people want to read about what's happening at your dealership is irrelevant if you make most of your messages purely informational about the industry - or write about your opinion on something (that gets the most action).

We had one transaction that took place entirely on facebook and that was for a set of foglamps on a VW Jetta. A guy named Jason in Indiana happened across our facebook page and wanted to see if he could keep his hometown dealership honest with pricing - we beat their price by $30 and did everything but get his credit card number over facebook.

Now, I hear you Joe - it is a lot of time and effort for the handful of business you may get off one particular social media....but is it? I am a firm believer in branding. These social medias are simply interactive bill boards that don't cost anything but a little time here and there. Sometimes your bill board will get a lot of attention and other times people just drive by it racking up the "mental clicks". When the day comes to visit the dealership, the "mental clicks" are thought up and they say - let me check out Checkered Flag. Maybe you'll get lucky and have an advertising-conscious customer who tells you it was the stuff you did on facebook mixed with those TV ads along with some banner on a website somewhere, but most of the time you'll never hear this.

Here's something that blew my mind when we originally switched to iMagicLab ILM over 4 years ago. We were receiving over 3,000 Internet leads over all sources back then and working all 3,000 in AVV's Webcontrol. because of iMagicLab's duplicate lead checking features we were able to dwindle the 3,000 down to around 1,200 true number of single customers who submitted leads. Over half the leads were submitting multiple leads from multiple sites on different days (this is still true today, but we're just dealing with different numbers). We'd receive a lead from Cars.com one day, then one from Edmunds the next, then a week later we'd get one from our own website and at that point the customer finally started responding. Was it the banner ad on Cars.com? Was he just trying to keep us honest by checking again from Edmunds? Maybe we did something right to finally hear from him off of Checkered Flag.com or it was the entire combination of things that finally did it - he got enough "mental clicks". This is a more direct way of looking at things, but it is the same game when looking at all your advertising & PR efforts.

 

[Alex Snyder]

Since my last post we have officially made Christine (the very talented young lady in our videos) our Social Media Queen. This has made a HUGE difference in what is happening. I'm now working to break down the IT Department's paranoia of these sites so all of our employees can engage at work. We're experimenting with one store right now and I have to say the results are very encouraging!

Let's say social media doesn't translate to business for most. Let's say it is another niche marketing arena that requires serious effort. Let's say it sucks. Okay....now let's say that there is a younger generation who doesn't use email. They barely instant message. I'm watching my younger brother (16) and cousins (19 - 5 years old) and they have absolutely zero interest in touching a computer. They all want cell phones (or have them) and do all communication by text message or facebook. I think we're moving into a whole new form of communication platforms - whether it sells cars, get visitors to your website or not, your customers are there!

 

[CAORYAN]

Joe,

There really isn't a way to track billboards but dealers use them all the time. Why? Does business come from it? Is it branding? You say, well we can track it....we use a ghost domain and a toll free tracking number. You can do all those things on a social media site. I suggest getting a facebook friendly domain and forwarding it to your main domain. This will help you track how many referrals you get from people typing it in and you can promote that domain on your site. Now, every person that goes to that domain you know is form Facebook....directly or indirectly.

Just an idea.

 

[joe.pistell]

Ryan,

YES, there is value to a billboard.
YES, there is value to FB.

SO WHAT?


I challenge you to re-read this thread and address REALITY. I am talking management of precious resources and getting the highest ROI. IMO, Address FB only after you've maxxed out the rest of your Internet marketing game plan.

WHY INVEST IN A BILLBOARD WHEN YOUR LOT LOOKS LIKE...

This is business101.

 

[joe.pistell]

A "TIME IS FINITE" EXAMPLE:

My Chat volume has fallen month over month and needs me to rev it up. Like FB, chat is "people powered" and eats time and talent. IT NEEDS TO BE WORKED. In this scenario, what's more important, chat or FB? CHAT by a factor of 1000!

 

[CAORYAN]

A "TIME IS FINITE" EXAMPLE:

My Chat volume has fallen month over month and needs me to rev it up. Like FB, chat is "people powered" and eats time and talent. IT NEEDS TO BE WORKED. In this scenerio, what's more important,chat or FB? CHAT by a factor of 1000!

Joe....the comparison between chat and FB is extremely different. FB is advertising and chat is a conversion tool. Chat takes no more of your time than you allow it to. Chat is monitored to work only when you are at your computer. Chat is also tracked and integrates with your CRM. I am sure some really cool cat out there can make a system to integrate your FB friends with your CRM but it is totally different. The only reason you made that comparison was because you knew I would read it.

Funny guy!

 

[Brent Palen]

Joe,

What "time" are you talking about!? Facebook takes no time!!! If you want to post something it takes you about two minutes. Yes, a billboard is all it is when your talking about a fan page. However, my salespeople have PLENTY of time on their hands and I do ask that they spend 15-20 minutes a day on some sort of social media. Why? My dealer principle still doesn't get it which is funny. He wants our salespeople out on the town at least once a day knocking on doors and seeing people where they work. This is called social networking right? What is Facebook...SOCIAL NETWORKING!!!

Here's an example. One of our salepeople is a 60 year old guy thats been in the business for about 8 years. He has been divorced 3 times and is currently single. For as long as I have known him his social life has consisted of sitting on a bar stool at the local pub. He had a great following down there and would sell a car or two per month. Well...he quit drinking. Now what? He isn't too close to his family and most of his friends are at the bar. So he goes home at night and watches TV until he falls asleep in the recliner. How do you fill that void? I set him up on FB and all of the sudden he is in touch with a ton of people. A side benefit is his daughter who is deaf has found another outlet to communicate with dad. That's very hearwarming but what I am getting at is that he will eventually sell a car to one of these people just like he did at his prior social outlet.

Do you understand FB now Joe? No its not a lead generator and its not something a ISM has to spend any time on. It is social networking and social networking is VERY important for people in sales.

 

[CAORYAN]

Ryan,

YES, there is value to a billboard.
YES, there is value to FB.

SO WHAT?


I challenge you to re-read this thread and address REALITY. I am talking management of precious resources and getting the highest ROI. IMO, Address FB only after you've maxxed out the rest of your Internet marketing game plan.

WHY INVEST IN A BILLBOARD WHEN YOUR LOT LOOKS LIKE...

This is business101.

I agree!