Social Media – Word of mouth on STEROIDS

We are always looking for ways for our dealers to maximize their online presence, and have had dealers ask us how they can integrate Social Media, particularly Facebook and Twitter into their digital strategy. That’s why we have recently added some new features to our dealer services area which allows dealers to send vehicle listings to their Facebook or Twitter accounts. This is another ‘arrow’ that can be utilised to drive online traffic back to your stock. There’s been a lot of talk amongst dealers lately about social media – what is it and do I need it? Is it a flash in the pan or is it actually relevant to my business? Here is a bit of a brief about what it all entails.  

What is so important about Facebook and Twitter?

In the 2009 Nielsen Online New Zealand Automotive Search Report; “Friends and Family” were the most useful resource when buying a vehicle. Other studies support this and a 2010 report says “In terms of the impact of Social Media on advertising, word of mouth is the popular option with 78% of customers trusting peer recommendations on sites. While, only 14% trust advertisements”

Facebook and Twitter are word of mouth on steroids, giving businesses the ability to tap into these trusted networks of friends, family and followers, which ultimately leads to sales.

What is Facebook’s business application?

Facebook was originally created for everyday people (in fact university students) to keep in touch and share photos. As an extension of this, individuals can also create a Facebook Page to share interests, or in our case, business information. Individuals can “like” your business’s Facebook page, so every time you post something they will get an update in their News feed on their personal wall.  A post may be as simple as writing a comment or you can create links back to your listings and more in depth information on your website. You can manage the information posted on your Facebook page, and share it using the networks of friends and family already connected on Facebook.  

How does Twitter work?

Twitter has also exploded in New Zealand.  After setting up your free Twitter account you choose who to ”follow”. This means when you log into Twitter, you are kept up to date with the news & information from the people who you want to listen to (“follow”).  Tweets are posts which are limited to 140 characters, are predominantly text-based and can include links to websites, articles, videos and images.  Tweets should be timely and relevant to your audience of followers (people who follow you, to listen to what you have to say).  80% of Twitter users use Twitter on mobile devices (Smartphones like an iPhone) which have become an essential tool to deliver high frequency conversations and keep up with the play.

Auto marketers and dealers are increasingly realising the value of Social Media and using it to increase their online presence, or ‘digital footprint’. Today, almost half of all Kiwis using the Internet are interacting with companies via social networking sites.

Social Media can be used as an effective marketing tool to:

• make it easy for friends, family and followers to refer your business or vehicles
• engage in conversations about your business or product and reinforce your brand
• promote specials, events and information
• be aware of what your competitors are doing and discover trends

Like having a company website, using sites such as Twitter & Facebook needs to be well-executed and managed. So before you start, ensure that you have a digital media strategy. A badly managed Facebook or Twitter account can do more damage than good. Look at corporate behemoth Nestlé, reduced to a vulnerable deer in the headlights due to their badly managed Facebook page in one of the year’s most epic corporate blunders. Once Nestlé put up their Facebook page, it was lambasted with ‘digital protests’ and abuse from the public and Greenpeace  for their use of palm oil and using companies accused of illegal deforestation of rainforests. Questions about Nestlé’s products were being asked on the page by the public, but Nestlé were not answering them. The page became flooded with protests and negative comments about the brand. The furor rapidly grew from Facebook to Twitter and is now all over the media like a tumor. Given that Google now index Twitter and Facebook, all that negative publicity comes up when you type ‘Nestlé’ into Google. A Nestlé employee admitted ‘The person responding for Nestlé seems to be junior. In future they need to look at the person who is responsible for monitoring the page and use someone more senior.'

Social Media is here to stay and is growing within the New Zealand automotive industry, but having a solid digital strategy in place before entering the social media arena is absolutely vital. As a business the way you engage should be quite different to your personal approach. When engaging be authentic and remember these 3 C's - Connect, Contribute, Converse. If you want to have a discussion about social media, give us a call, post a comment or send us a tweet; we’d be happy to hear from you.