Great points Jeff, and although I think it's better to move forward based on the value it brings in terms of awareness and differentiation, I'll take the devils advocate towards the careful approach.
One word resonates from your post, thats the word Champion. I believe this is somewhat of a conundrum because it's self defeating before giving it the opportunity to evolve into something remarkable.
Most CEO's that I know who've built technology companies literally started as a result of their blog. SEOmoz, is an example of this. Rand started blogging about his experiences trying to figure out the wonderful world of search, and as a result you see the beginnings of a company like SEOmoz form.
Jeff's brought up another good point, perhaps technology is a great place for social media and blogging but dealerships? Maybe not so much.
I think that misses the opportunity because blogging and social is all about relationships, which can be one of the largest sources of referral business (the heart of what can make a dealership extremely successful). People want extraordinary service, but they aren't going to listen to the dealership's commercial that promises it, they're going to turn to social media. Here's why.
People trust social media because it balances out. Just look at reviews from consumers about a product. Just because there are a few bad reviews doesn't mean the product is bad. What it does mean is that somebody had an experience they felt compelled to share because they thought it might help someone else whose making a similar choice.
If you want to see social media in action, try this out and you'll see what I'm talking about.
Little test I did with my wife that proves the power of social influence on buying behavior. My wife is big on brands, if I try to buy something on sale that isn't a "preferred brand" often times it's met with opposition so I decided to try something.
I went to a local store, and went to the home section where they sell towels and all kinds of stuff I don't normally buy. I called her and said, hey check this out I found a really good deal on a product. She said no thanks, as expected. I then proceed to send her to a link that was a forum of women who'd recently been discussing this great product. Within a few minutes she'd read the link I sent and responded with the message to buy.
This is where I think social media is extremely compelling, authentic and trustworthy. You can't as a seller get that into an advertisement or anything that has quite the influence, but you can be aware of this conversation and track whether it is producing favorable traffic that could become part of your online marketing strategy.
