The discussion taking place regarding social media is fascinating. It’s a very predictable conversation as a business jumps into this new exciting media channel.
It goes something like this.
“WE HAVE TO GET INTO SOCIAL MEDIA!”
“I agree we can’t be left behind and it might be a silver bullet!”
“HOW DO WE DO IT?”
“I have a friend who’s into social media or we can use our internet guy.. he’s a wizard on Facebook. Let’s get one of them to set it up and run it.”
“HAVE WE SOLD ANYTHING?”
“No not yet. I’ve been posting deals of the week and nothing sold. But, I haven’t looked at it in a few days.”
“HOW COME WE ONLY HAVE A FEW LIKES?”
“I don’t know. I told you this was a waste of time!”
This scenario has taken place thousands of times. All you have to do is look and you’ll see Facebook skeletons littering the internet. All the sights look the same, very few likes and no post for months.
Here’s the problem! Narrow thinking and a lack of social media knowledge. It’s not the media! It’s the driver. It’s a new media AND very few people understand how to make it work.
HERE ARE SOME TIPS
1) Review your social media platform.
You must have a blog but it shouldn’t appear to be a sales site.
2) Integrate your blog into digital and traditional media!
The blog gives you great content every month for an e-newsletter. Put 4 blogs into the newsletter and send it out. Add fixed ops offers and encourage them to engage your social pages.
Each blog you publish enhances your Organic search rankings. You’re becoming more relevant!
The blog gives you editorial content to run in local newsletters for churches and other local organizations, community newspapers, and internet sites. Everyone needs free content!
3) Integrate Social Media into your sponsorships!
Don’t sponsor one more event or organization without creating a social media event out of it.
For the first time you can actually get value out of every donation you make. In fact you’ll see returns you never thought possible. When one of these opportutinites goes viral look out. The added exposure of TV, radio or newspaper exposure can be significant.
4) Integrate Social Media into your media negotiations.
Social Media should be apart of every media negotiation you do in the future. Look for opportunities to tap into the media’s social networks. Ask how do we create a dynamic social program with this promotion. If you really want some added value out of your next media buy include social media.
OK… Social Media WORKS! The problem is the discussion is usually centered around the wrong topics.
You shouldn’t be asking is it working. You should be asking…..
”How do I Integrate Social Media into everything we do?”
Last thought>>> Stop thinking of Social Media as a stand alone media. It’s a critical communication channel for your customers. Make it a big part of yours. Integrate!
Put a Post-It note right where you can see it and write down:
Marketing Is About To Get Really Hard! What Am I Doing About It?
It’s the calm before the storm.
Are dealers about to be caught unprepared? The answer is a resounding YES!
If you thought marketing was challenging in 2009 watch the next few years closely!
HERE’S SOME BREAKING NEWS
There’s a dealer or two in your market who is preparing to dominate your market. They’re developing an integrated marketing strategy that focuses on relevancy. They understand the change in the air.
Here’s what they know! The market place wants you to be relevant to their information needs and their communication preferences.
Many experts are calling it circle marketing or small town marketing. Either way the consumer wants more relevant information and on their terms.
For example this is going to affect:
How you approach Google Ad Words
Where you send your consumers
What offers you make
How you connect via Social Media, Digital or Traditional Media
Every message and path needs to be Integrated!
Social Media has forever changed the landscape. It has empowered people to get relevant information and to share their experiences. They’ve discovered they can dictate how they wish to be communicated with.
Stop and write down Social Media is my friend not my enemy. It’s the missing link. The link that will allow you to fully integrate your marketing efforts. It will allow you to reach the circles and to be the leader in small town marketing.
Don’t think I’m talking about Facebook. Facebook is only a tool. I’m talking about the entire social media world. It’s a place not a tool.
Integration strategists understand by expanding your frequency and interaction between media channels, you’ll expand both your reach and your frequency while maintaining your brand and retail message.
Remember this>>> “The early adopters of integration strategies are thrilled about the reluctance of it’s competitors to keep pace.”
Don’t stick your head in the sand. Marketing is about to get REALLY, REALLY HARD!
If your automotive ad agency is not taking to you about integration they might just be too old school. Don’t let their lack of vision affect your future. Ask about small town marketing. Ask about relevancy.
Give me a shout if you want to talk integration.. I love it!
Is it possible to have love and automotive marketing in the same sentence?
Yes it is….
Really it is. We’ve been trained for years to think of each individual media as it’s own silo. You don’t fall in love with any marketing plan if you’re constantly evaluating each effort on it’s own merit.
Did the mailer work?
Did the TV spot drive traffic?
Did my web site create leads?
Is Social Media driving any sales?
What’s this have to do with LOVE?
(Note: There’s nothing wrong with tracking and holding your marketing effective.
I’m sure your spouse is good at something, not so good with others, brilliant with some but when you put this all together you have someone you can’t live without.
You could find different people whom are brilliant at certain things. You could spend time with the good cook when your hungry. Call the good dancer when you’re ready to go dancing. And you call the spiritual one when you’re ready to attend church on Sunday.
The problem is you won’t LOVE any of them. You’ll change them out like pieces in a puzzle before you would ever know if they might be a good match for you.
Marketing is the same way. If you want to love your marketing you must integrate all aspects of your marketing into one great plan. A plan with everything rolled up into one incredible automotive marketing effort.
Take your traditional advertising and integrate into digital and social.
Take your digital marketing and integrate it into social and traditional advertising.
Integrate everything into one complete plan.
STOP… treating every marketing opportunities as stand alone options.
The question you need to be asking is can I integrate this into other advertising channels and can it make something else more productive. If you answer yes…. add it to the mix. Don’t let your automotive ad agency keep you from integrating! So many do without even realizing it! They maybe be too small and don’t have the resources or they just focus on one particular media.
Traditional negotiations of a television buy consisted of the number of spots you could get for your budget. You’d also look at reach and frequency in an effort to hit some minimum numbers. You’d look at the cost per thousand as you targeted a specific demographic. Finally, if you didn’t like the programming it was usually eliminated.
It’s time to now integrate social media into your television, radio or print negotiations.
Yes, social media is a high priority with most local media properties. The obstacle for most stations is how do they leverage thier media with advertisers most auto client don’t have a vibrant social program?
The answer is they can’t!
This is great news for you! (You do have a social media program don’t you?)
There are two dynamics working here. The stations are looking for partnerships with dealers who have a social media program and a media budget. The stations have two strong motivating factors.
1) To get your ad dollars 2) To show some value in their social networks
For example WFAA here in Dallas Fort Worth has over 23,000 likes on facebook and over 18 twitter accounts. About 16,000 on one account alone.
Here’s how you do it… ASK!
Ask how can we tie your social network into theirs. Can we do some joint social promotions? Can we tie into some events you have scheduled? Can we tie into your local programing? Can we offer your social networks something exclusive?
For no extra cost you’re potentially connecting into another 40,000 targeted individuals simply by participating in social media. Just ask! You have a motivated partner.
Integration of social media into your media negotiations is a must. Leverage, leverage and more leverage!
If you’re wondering the impact YouTube has had on America take a look at these numbers.
Remember, YouTube is just a tool and not a magic pill. Posting a video, to just post a video will not help you obtain your marketing goals. However, put the right plan in place with the right videos…… WOW! What an audience!
Make sure your Automotive Ad Agency has a plan to capitalize on the growth and power of YouTube.
Advertise your own web page or something on Facebook like a Page or an Event.
Choose to pay per click (CPC) or impression (CPM) in your local currency.
Optimize Your Ads
Track your progress with real-time reporting.
Gain insight about who’s clicking on your ad.
Make modifications to maximize your results.
Here is the main reason i think this can work for you and your dealership! Below are the list of filters you can use.
Target Your Audience By:
Location
Age
Sex
Keywords
Education
Workplace
Relationship Status
Relationship Interests
Languages
I have used this program with good success. The costs are very reasonable.
But like any ad, be sure your automotive ad agency has a well thought out plan before you spend any money. It is not a silver bullet! Just another good tool.
Anyone that has spent time on the internet has noticed banner ads. Banner ads come in different sizes [generally 3 sizes] and vary in appearance and subject matter. But they share two basic functions:
1) When you click on the banner ad, you will go the Dealership’s website.
2) Your advertising message and branding message will reach internet users in the form of ad views or ad impressions. It is these impressions that determine how much you will pay for banner ads.
Dealerships generally have three options if they want to purchase banner space from websites to place banner ads.
Approach the web sites yourself and negotiate a price – limited and time consuming. Because you don’t have bargaining power, you will generally pay higher prices.
Employ an advertising agency – An automotive ad agency will seek suitable websites [called publishers], negotiate the price of banner space, and do most of the work of posting banner ads on your behalf. They will also help with online advertising campaigns and supply creative artwork. This comes with a cost and will increase your CPM.
Utilize Ad Networks – Banner ad networks basically act as brokers between the advertisers/dealerships and publishers/websites. Ad networks take care of placing ads, negotiating prices, tracking and can offer additional features important to automotive dealerships.
Features such as:
o Behavioral Targeting – Determining an internet user’s behavior, psychographics and preferences based on what websites they visit. Then place ads in front of them as the browse the internet.
o Contextual Targeting – Serving an ad to an internet user based on the content they are currently viewing.
o Retargeting – Targeting internet users that have visited your website and then placing ads in front of them as they browse the internet in order to bring them back to your site.
o Geographic Targeting – Serving ads based on the internet user’s physical location.
Ad Networks give dealers a greater access to reach internet users, provide flexible payment models, offer low costs and provide targeting abilities. Thus, Ad Networks are hard to beat for Dealerships.
I have found this to be the best path for dealers to take!
What have you found out? What do you think of banner ads?
Think about taking some TV:30′s and breaking them into TV:15′s. The timing might be just right!
I don’t need to say it but here goes anyway. The world of advertising is changing! How you ask? In more ways than I can count. But if you can count to 15 you might have a media strategy at your finger tips that will drive dealership traffic.
Media operates on a supply and demand cost formula. Back in the good old days it was more of a demand transaction. What ever the media outlets demanded they got because the supply was so limited due to demand. That’s why 15 second spots were often priced at 75% of the value of a TV:30.
Strategically 15′s made sense when one was trying to raise frequency. Economically, they didn’t. It’s hard to justify spending 75% of the cost of a TV:30 in an attempt to raise frequency. Today it’s a little different!
First, the internet has opened some doors for you.
We’ve found 15 second spots are a great way to encourage and promote people to visit a web page or to a promotional landing page. The landing page can have coupons, discounts and other transactional items to drive traffic.
The internet allows us to extend that 15 second spot into an unlimited interaction between the customer and the dealership. (It’s also trackable!)
Your automotive ad agency needs to be looking at this next item right away.
Negotiating….. The demand at stations or lack of demand is allowing for great negotiations if your willing to plan. If you get your base strategy in place you’ll be able to really leverage some opportunities with local media. Most automotive dealerships are still playing it too close to their vest. Don’t be the dealer making every critical marketing decision at the last minute. Your throwing out the leverage you may never see every again.
Here’s what you’ll gain taking action today!
You’ll be able to get TV:15′s at about half the price of a thirty. If you ask! .
You’ll increase you retail frequency which we know is critical to automotive advertising.
More frequency, less cost, and a message that is gateway to getting consumers shopping you on the Internet!
Let me know the kind of deals your getting from the media this year. We’re finding some free weeks out there so be sure to look close.
Where is print going? There are many opinions and only time will tell. However, newspapers can still provide a good ROI to dealerships. Even with circulation numbers down.
The cost to run an ad is much lower and the competition for consumers eye balls is far less than just a year ago. But, even so, many feel newspaper and print is dead.
If you think print is dead you need to look at the video below. Newspapers and others won’t be far behind.
Online resources such as Mashable help me stay ahead of the upcoming communication trends. This excellent read and video that was posted by Mashable writer, Stan Schroeder, on the possibilities of Apple’s Tablet on the future of magazines.
This Sports Illustrated demo is very impressive and deserves your attention. It’s amazing that magazines are already anticipating the possibilities of a Kindle version that could become mainstream. Already 35% of Amazon sales are going to Kindle.
This should generate some ideas on how to use this technology to promote your dealership. Let me know what you think or how you could see using it.
Ron, Wheeler, Founder/CEO, Wheeler Advertising, Tel-Edge, and the Wright Edge Advertising.
The Integration of today's marketing channels is the single most important task you have as a retail marketer. This blog is designed to assist you in discovering ways to integrate traditional, digital and social media into a dynamic free flowing marketing program. Up Your Ups is "An Integration Think Tank" and we look forward to your interaction with us.
If you have questions or if you have suggestions on how I can improve this site, please don't hesitate to email them to me at rwheeler@wheeleradvertising.com
