Twitter - How Do You Use It?

[Katie]

Just my 3 cents. (inflation)

That made me laugh.

I agree with you on the benefits or lack thereof of dealerships using Twitter. It might be worth it for the one sale you get...sometime down the road, but in the regular scheme of things, it doesn't do much.

I think Automotive Service Providers benefit more from Twitter, IMO.

 

[KoreyB]

GeoChirp - Twitter Application | Twitter Mashup | Map Mashup | Geo Chirp Twitter Map Mash up| Google maps mashup

Might change how you use Twitter.

Search ideas: brand, "oil change", "used car", "buy car". All about the conversation and building a brand.

 

[NickCybela]

There's one major utilization for Twitter that's often overlooked-- the social monitoring and response.

For example, I was recently in Lynnwood, WA and looking for a Thai place. Within five minutes of posting to Twitter, someone from the city of commerce actually responded with a direct suggestion.

Another example is Best Buy's "Twelpforce"

When I was working on the dealership level we would coordinate our efforts with charitable endeavors and community involvement-- but really got the best feedback and response by monitoring with tools like Google Alerts and HubSpot and responding promptly to feedback. There's a surprising amount of people that are willing to talk about when they're in, or left a dealership. With more advanced tools emerging, there's new ways to search on a local basis daily.

Otherwise, a basic step for anyone should be to set up Google Alerts and at least create a Twitter account to be able to respond to feedback for both yourself and competitors.

 

[Katie]

@Nick - I think Twitter is amazing for some things. I even connected with someone else who was raising money for the MS walk that I'm doing next week (Shameless Plug: Here) - and we donated to each other. It really does have it's benefits.

Google Alerts is an amazing tool, thanks for bringing that up, that's another tool I was wondering if folks in the biz used.