August 23rd, 2011 -
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!
June 17th, 2011 - 
What does Integration mean to you?
More Traffic
More Traffic, Less Spend
More Traffic, Less Spend, More Prospects
More Traffic, Less Spend, More Prospects, Greater Market Share
MORe Traffic, Less Spend, More Prospects, Greater Market Share, and a
HUGE Competitive Advantage!
The results are in. Integration of traditional, digital and social media is the perfect storm. Yes, the market will always be fluid but when you harness the power of integration you really have something.
Integration requires you to look at things differently. You must stop evaluating traditional, digital and social media as independent silo’s. They can no longer be single tools. They must interact! They must be connected.
The power of integration is simple. You stay connected with your prospect and customer through the buying cycle. Your marketing is more viral, more interactive, more responsive and more effective.
Here’s how Wikipedia describes integration.
Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) is the coordination and integration of all marketing communication tools, avenues, functions and sources within a …..
You Get The Picture!
Here’s your starter rules to get started.
- Stop treating each media channel as a stand alone tool.
- Ask your self how can I integrate this.
- Live by the motto… I Integrate Everything!
Believe me there’s a way to integrate everything. All you have to do is ask the question!
Ask your automotive ad agency or search google for more help. But what ever you do start integrating today!
April 28th, 2010 - 
Scouts needed! Not the traditonal scout on horse back leading the way through rugged country. No, you need scouts to venture through the ever changing world of social media.
Not everyone is a scout and not everyone is cable of being a scout. So choose your scouts wisely. One thing is for sure you’ll need more than one scout. Your scouts need to be ahead of the curve. They need to see what’s coming and direct you down the right path. Scouts will be critical to ensuring your continued success in social media.
Here is a chart we use at Social Motive our social media division. On the left hand side are the titles. The center column would identifies who the primary scout is for this subject. The far right is a short description of what the scout is responsible for.
The continual learning that is needed in each one of these areas is critical.
One person can’t possibly be the scout in all these areas. Make sure your Automotive Ad Agency and your Internet staff are on board.
For example I have high lighted in red where the internet staff in most stores thrive as a scout.
There’s so much depth in each of these areas. Each scout must become the repository of the best practices taking place in social media. This is the kind of expertise you need to have in front of you leading the way. The stakes are too high.
Don’t get ambushed! Get your team in order.
Where would you put your internet staff?
April 19th, 2010 - 
Want to show your Automotive Ad Agency how much advertising value you’re getting out of facebook?
Let’s do the math!
According to a recent study by Virtue your facebook fans is worth $3.6 to you in advertising value.
Here’s how you can figure out what your fan base is worth in advertising impressions.
A wall post to a fan ratio has been determined to be equal to a 1: (.96 ratio). The actual range was .44 to 3.6. We’ll use a 1:1 ratio. The greater the niche the higher the value.
This means one fan is equal to one impression with each wall post. If you have a three wall post per day strategy you would triple the impressions.
Here’s an example:
2000 fans = 6000 impressions
6000 impressions x 3 posts per day x 30 days = 540,000 impressions
540,000 impressions / 1000 x $5 CPM = $2,700 worth of value
$32,400 annually
With good content they say you can double or triple this number.
If you provide good content and stay away from retail offers you can expect your fan base to be worth between $64,000 – $97,200 annually in advertising value.
Bottom Line: More Fans More Value. Your actually cost is static.
Remember, this is just one value point of a strategic social media program. Other value points:
- Twitter Impressions
- SEO Rankings
- Pubic Relations
- Word of Mouth
- Media Connections
- Re Posts
- Re Tweets
- etc.
What is the overall value of a strong social program? One thing for sure everyday it grows in value. Make sure your automotive ad agency is on top of social media!
Let me know what you think your program is currently worth and I’ll tell you what I think.
Social media is easy to justify when the advertising value of just one segment is far greater than the actual spend.
Social Media should be part of every dealers marketing plan.
March 31st, 2010 - 
There are two simple questions you need to ask yourself regarding Twitter.
Can I really grow a twitter network and are they really my target audience?
Without a big YES to both of these you’ll be wasting a lot of time and energy.
Dealers usually fall into one of three categories.
1) They don’t understand Twitter and how to use it and thus don’t believe their customers are using Twitter.
2) They’ve stuck a toe into the Twitter world and found it difficult to get followers. After a few months and only 200 or so follower they just lose confidence and quit.
3) They’ve done their research and know the market is right and they can grow a social network on Twitter.
If you find yourself falling into one of the first two points here’s a couple pieces of relevant information you should be aware of.
 Men and women are using Twitter and the highest indexing age brackets are right in our sweet zone.
If you think you can’t grow a Twitter network take a look at this success story below.
 32,515 Followers! WOW!
As far as automotive retailers go East Coast Auto has highest number of followers I have found to date. My guess is they have successfully used Tweet Adder to grow there network. I highly recommend this software to help grow your network.
If your not engaged get started immediately. Your competition knows the market is there and they’re growing their networks. Don’t get to far behind. Get your automotive ad agency on the ball.
If you have more followers let me know. I’m looking for the world record.
February 17th, 2010 - 
Simple truth is no. So here are some stats on Social Media that you should be aware of.
Is Social Media here to stay?
Yes, if you believe this information.
- 230 million -posting each and every day to social media websites
- +83% – the growth of time between 09 and 10 that people in US spent on social networking sites
- +145% – the growth of US Facebook users from 2009 to 2010
- +3712% – growth of US Twitter users from 2009 to 2010
- 25% –One in four US Internet page views occurred at one of the top social networking sites in December 2009, up 83% from 13.8% in December 2008
Here’s another stat that should put a fire underneath you.
What are your competitors doing?
In 3 Hours of announcing our Social Media Webinar we had 25 registrations.
Your competition is hungry for information. Most automotive ad agencies are not engaged in social media. That’s why dealers are searching for the right program and approach on their own.
I have never seen this kind of response. I’ve been doing webinars for over 12 years and this really blows my mind. I knew dealers were wondering and watching but the sleeping bear is awaking.
Here is my final piece of advise. If you’ve been reading up-your-ups for long you know I provide valuable information and relevant information to the dealer world. So here goes, don’t let your competition get ahead of you. Get on the move!
Wait… another 10 dealers just signed up!
If you would like any information on webinars on Automotive Social Media shoot me a message.
January 27th, 2010 - Statistics say 8 out of 10 car buyers now use the Internet during the car-buying process.
Recommendations from online customer reviews and social media have replaced family and friends in importance. eMarketer, June 2008
But can banner advertising reach these internet shoppers and provide a solid ROI? Can banner advertising effectively reach car buyers looking to buy with a call-to-action message? The answer is YES!
First, your banner ads should only target people who have been identified as in the market. This is done through behavior and re-targeting programs. Otherwise I suggest you stay away from banner ads.
Banner advertising can act like TV or Radio advertising.
Picture the banner advertising as basically the first 5 seconds of a TV or Radio ad. We need to engage them and to get the hand raisers attention. If you get thier attention two positive things happen.
1) The in market shopper visits the Dealer’s website. By clicking the banner ad the internet user is linked to the Dealership’s website. In this case, the banner ad has brought the Dealership a potential car buyer to their website that they would not have had otherwise.
2) They give Dealerships a way to promote brand awareness and generate exposure on the internet. The impact of delivering millions of advertising impressions to potential car buyers is very powerful. Remember your banner ad is only be viewed by those that are in the market for a car.
Here is how the targeting of car shoppers works!
A main feature in banner advertising is the ability to target internet users with specific online behaviors. This allows a Dealership to place banner ads in front of internet users targeted as auto shoppers.
This is done by collecting data on the websites internet users’ visits. When they visit automotive related websites, read automotive content or perform Google searches with automotive keywords, they’re targeted as automotive shoppers. Now when they browse the internet, your Dealership’s banner ad is placed in front of them and only them.
Here’s some information you should know!
Banner advertising account for 21% of all online advertising and but fallen over the last couple years [Search Engine Advertising at over 50% is the number one source for online advertising].
In addition, Click-Thru-Rates [CTR] have also fallen for banner ads over the last two years. Studies from comScore showed a 50% drop in CTR from 2007 to 2009. 32% of internet users clicked on banner ads in 2007 to only 16% in 2009.
However, this is only part of the story. Case studies conducted by comScore from over 200 ad campaigns showed quantifiable impact and awareness from online ad exposures from impressions:
- Incremental online sales of 27% and offline sales of 17% following online exposure.
- Increased visitations to the advertiser’s website following online exposure – 65% lift the following week and 45% increase over four weeks.
- Search queries also increased with online exposure – 52% increase in searches the week following the first ad exposure.
Online advertising can offer a compelling value proposition to reach internet users and is something you need to look into. But remember only if you target should you consider banner advertising.
Let me know your opinion of banner advertising?
January 13th, 2010 - 
If you want to get a cross promotion going with a local business start with a personal email.
The more homework you do the better your chances of success.
Remember you’re not the first business to approach them with a cross promotion idea.
The person you’re prospecting is human. So let’s make our communication personal.
If you build a relationship you’ll find your success ratio will improve.
Before you go for the deal build that relationship.
Follow them on Twitter
Comment on their Blog if they have one
Find Articles that relate to their business
Don’t talk about yourself during this first step, show an interest in what they’re doing. This activity needs to start weeks even months before you plan to throw out your idea.
Some ideas might be a quick sale but other will need this step. Start this step anyway because you never know when you might have an idea that will require a relationship to get done. Begin by identifying some prospects at various venues or companies and start a dialog.
Make your proposal simple and easy to understand.
People you’re attempting to reach are usually busy and have little help with their daily duties.
They don’t have time to figure out your proposal.
The easier you can make it for them to understand and see the value in your proposal the more successful you’ll be at putting together cross promotions..
Presentation That Stand Out
Provide your blog site and Web site for reference
Provide a special landing page for the concept with a distinct URL
If you can connect with them on the Web you don’t have to work for that first meeting
Put pictures or video on the site to sell your idea
Send a special mail piece enticing your prospect to go to the landing page built for them with your idea
Don’t Push Just Be Different
Don’t push your idea so hard that you harm your relationship. Remember, your timing just may not be right. I find more success when an idea is unique, the presentation is well thought out and presented in a unique fashion.
Key Points
1) Grab Their Attention Through Social Media, Build a Relationship
2) Make a Unique and Meaningful Proposal…
3) Relate the Benefit To Your Prospect….What’s In It For Them?
4) Ask for an Answer or Response… Or Set A Timeline
Make an annual plan of cross promotion ideas you would like to do during the year. Begin to build those relationships and begin with an email. Your success will be greater than just relying entirely on a phone call and your charm.
Let me know what you think or any great cross promotions you’ve done.
January 5th, 2010 - Let’s to review some numbers on Social Media? These numbers will encourage you to make a place in your marketing plans for Social Media. This blog is based on a document called “The Broad Reach of Social Technologies“. The author is Sean Corcoran, with help from their data expert Cynthia Pflaum.. It really shows Social Media is apart of your life whether you like it or not.
 Starting with the book “Groundswell” and continuing now for three years running, we’ve analyzed consumers’ participation in social technologies around the world with a tool called the “Social Technographics Profile.” The profile puts online people into overlapping groups based on their participation (at least once a month) in the behaviors shown in the ladder. We’ve kept the ladder categories consistent to allow us to make comparisons year-to-year, across ages and genders, and across geographies. This provides something that’s often sorely lacking in analysis of online social phenomena: perspective.
The headline: in 2009, more than four out of five online Americans are active in either creating, participating in, or reading some form of social content at least once a month. In a bit more detail:
- In the US, social technology Creators and Collectors grew slowly, and Critics didn’t grow at all. Creator activity appeals only to those who like to create or upload content, and regardless of the ease of blogging and YouTube uploading, this doesn’t apply to everybody. If you believe in the future that everybody will be creating or organizing content, we disagree — it’s a matter of temperament, not technology. As for Critics, those who react to content, this group hasn’t grown at all. Looking deeper into the data, this is a result of a small but actual decrease in the number of people contributing to discussion forums. Why? Probably because much of this activity has been sucked into social network sites like Facebook.
- At the same time, Joiner activity exploded and Spectators became nearly universal. The explosion in Joiners from 35% to 51% of online Americans reflects the appeal of Facebook, as both press coverage and invitations from friends suck more of us into social networks. Meanwhile, Spectators — those consuming social content — reached all the way to 73% of online Americans, which should end any remaining skepticism about whether this social thing is real. Soon, with the level of social content being put out there, it will be virtually impossible for an online consumer not to be a Spectator. Marketers, if you’re not doing social technology applications now, you’re officially behind. We expect a wave of Web site reorgs and redesigns to include social activity.
 Looking at the data by age, we now see that participation among those under 35 is nearly universal (less than 10% Inactives) and even among those 55 and over, about two-thirds are participating. The trend is clear, soon, if you’re online, you’ll almost certainly be consuming social technologies.
So the question is what are you doing about it? Don’t sit and wait! Get in the game today. You simply can’t afford to get left behind.
Are you going to get after it this year? Let me know if that’s a big YES!
December 7th, 2009 - 
A special note to any small or large car dealerships: This post should help motivate you to start climbing the mountain. This is a prime time for car dealerships and automotive ad agencies to excel. According to Forrester consumers now spend nearly as much time online as they do watching TV. Just think of the possibilities of reaching your best prospective clients online.
Razorfish “Digital Brand Experience Survey” shows that even though consumers are more empowered than ever before, they still desire a relationship with a brand, and a brand has a major say in that relationship.
It’s just that automotive dealerships need to shift their thinking from one-way advertising to two-way consumer experiences if they want to take advantage of the attributes of the digital world.
I’m grateful to my friend Michael Gass who passed on this Razorfish research and his key takeaways:
Consumers are not shutting out brands – they’re interacting with them. 77% of consumers surveyed have watched a commercial or video advertisement on YouTube with some frequency; 69% have provided feedback to a brand, either through a website or a third-party service like GetSatisfaction.com; 65% have played a branded browser-based game. Moreover, 70% have participated in a brand-sponsored contest or sweepstakes.
Digital experiences create customers. The overwhelming majority of consumers who actively engage with a brand in digital fashion are much more inclined to purchase products and recommend the brand to others.
Digital can make or break a brand. 65% of consumers say that a digital experience, either positive or negative, changed their opinion of a brand. Of those, 97% said that their experience influenced whether they eventually purchased from the brand.
This is the year of the brand fan. According to this study, 40% of consumers have friended a Facebook brand page, and 26 % have followed a brand on Twitter.
If Social Media is not in your plans this research should scare you to death! The good news it’s not too late too late to get in the game. Make sure you get with an automotive ad agency that understands social media and how to execute. Look closely because most have no idea.
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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
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