Blogging – Your Online Soap Box

In New Zealand, reading Blogs and uploading videos are categories grew more than 35% in 2010.

 

Matthew DeBord from Shifting Gears, CBS says: “Almost no one has gotten more real bang out of the Blogging revolution than automakers (sorry, Charlie Sheen). Yes, tech companies also “do” Blogging, but car companies urgently need to understand — or just hear — what their customers think. Blogging is an ideal framework...car companies now have the opportunity to capture what was always elusive to them: chatter about their products and brands. ”

Several local automotive identities regularly write Blogs within the industry. Currently there are 34,217 New Zealanders Blogging about products and services, but a massive 279,225 read their comments and opinions. More dealers are realising the value in Blogging to reach their customer and build brand loyalty and reinforcement. Latest research tells us that consumers are having conversations about your brand while you’re not in the room by heading to Blogs, forums, review sites, social networking sites. Kiwis are increasingly using Blogging to interact with brands, and to support their purchase decision making by comparing vehicles by reading reviews and other peoples’ experiences or opinions. Currently over half of all online New Zealanders over 18 have read a Blog.

What is a Blog?

A Blog is like your own soap-box - a website forum that is sorted by date which provides interactive commentary or news e.g. latest announcements from your manufacturer, dealership news/promos. There is also room for visitors to leave comments providing an interactive element and link to your customers. A good writer will gather a following and is great advertising for their dealership. You can talk about and promote not only your business and vehicles, but review vehicles and discuss industry news, community events and views.  Being personal builds trust with your audience and gives your site that human touch. This can add value to our business by creating a personality and brand that people can identify with, and relate to - look at The Mad Butcher!

To keep up to date with your favourite Blog, you can get updates when a new Post is done by using RSS feeds.  (Really Simple Syndication – a signal from a favourite blog telling your computer that it has been updated). You can also utilise Blog Gadgets such as Facebook and Twitter links, add a list of your favourite websites or links to your own website, start a poll, or have a list of Blogs sorted by subject. Many of these Gadgets are free to download or add to your blog. 

Why Blog?

Blogs are free of charge and you can start one from a website such as www.Blogger.com. Blogs need ongoing monitoring and participation to guide those conversations onto the right path, respond to comments and questions and able to and quickly take action if need be. All you need is time. Blog software is easy to use, quick to update and a low-cost alternative for a web presence. More importantly, it is a way to stay connected with your customers and put a face behind your business and brand.

Use a Blog to:

·    Share your expertise, knowledge and experience to a large audience

·    Create a direct link & dialogue with your customers

·    Promote specials and send traffic back to your listings and website

·    Personalise your Blog to promote local charities or community events, or events    that you as a business sponsor

·    Link  to your readers with RSS feeds

·   Link Blogs to your Twitter and/or Facebook for extra ‘arrows’ and exposure to your stock and your brand

Is a Blog right for me?

It is sometimes hard to know where to start and what to use that’s why it is important that you have a solid digital strategy and establish the medium that best suits you and your business. Some people love making videos of their vehicles and have the charisma to be in front of a camera. Others enjoy writing so may start a Blog to post articles about their dealership and products, or review vehicles.

Top Tips for Bloggers

1.  Blog regularly, at least every week.

2.   Use an RSS Feed to remind your readers every time a new Post is published

3.  Be Personal - let your personality shine through. Use staff names, share personal experiences about running your business and being involved in your industry.

4.  Promote your stock and services. Feel free to talk about your vehicles & tell your readers why your product can benefit them. You can add links to the vehicle listing.

5. Link your Blog to your website or Blogging site

6.   Use Multimedia - it adds interest to your Blog. Most people are visually oriented and images and video make Blogs more interesting to read, and most people will click on a You Tube link.

   

In a nut shell, if you have someone in your dealership who is are keen on writing and telling a story, Blogging gives you the opportunity to further reach you customers.  Ask your Marketing or IT team about this. Blogging is an opportunity!

Interested in social media but not keen on Blogging? For  information on what Twitter and Facebook are all about, click here.

Social Media for Dummies

This is a great, simple synopsis of the world of Social Media, from Greg Savage.

Facebook is like a pub: It’s an informal place where people get together with old friends, shoot the breeze, tell risqué jokes, and meet people they have never spoken to before. There are few rules and people certainly tend to misbehave there at times, often feeling embarrassed later about what they have said, shown or done! But real friendships can start there, and what’s more business can be done over a beer in the Facebook pub, so it’s not to be ignored.

Twitter is like a cocktail party: There is lots going on, and it’s very high energy. Many conversations are happening at once. Lots of people are talking and far fewer are listening. People drop in and out of conversations and if you like a conversation you might share it with another group. Sure you get the odd twitter cocktail party guest who behaves inappropriately, but mostly it’s pretty cordial, with more manners, and better language, than at the Facebook Pub.

LinkedIn is like a Tradeshow or a corporate conference: It’s business-like. People are there to work, learn and connect with like-minded business people. Mostly everyone is aware they are ‘on show’, and put their best foot forward. At the “Conference” you watch your language, dress up a little.

YouTube is like Times Square on New Years Eve or the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras: Pretty much anything goes! People will let their hair down and willingly make a fool of themselves, but no one really cares… until they meet you at the LinkedIn Conference, maybe.

A blog is like Hyde Park Corner in London: You can stand on your soapbox and say pretty much whatever you like. But your audience is fickle and will drift in and out, and judge you very quickly to be an interesting expert on a niche subject or a quack to be jeered or ignored. But don’t ignore it because lucid orators on street corners spark ideas!

MySpace is like Woodstock: The young and the crazy populated it, but it’s a fading memory for most.

When the Big Boys come to town

What can automotive businesses learn from the likes of Google? Well, a lot. When the opportunity arose to attend the iStrategy Global Digital Media conference with keynote speakers from Google, Facebook, Microsoft, ESPN, MTV and Dell, I was not going to turn it down.  One of the best attributes of the internet is that it is ultimately a scalable business model and what works for Dell (who earned $10B US last year in online sales alone) can work for any NZ based car dealership.

Before I discuss the learnings and hopefully provide you with thoughts and ideas on improving your internet results, I would like to cover off the difference between tactics and strategy. There is a lot of great information forthcoming from the US on internet based automotive sales and they do set the benchmark. When watching a pitch from a person perfect hair, bright white teeth, a blue shirt and brown dockers, it is generally a vendor that has identified a revenue leak in your business which they can plug with a product. These are tactical solutions.  

Understanding internet trends and merging this with your business direction is strategy.  

While the internet is not owned by any single entity, it is shaped by a number of very large players. For most of us Google dictates what we see and the order we see it, Facebook provides access to the third largest country in the world (with 650 million virtual inhabitants), Microsoft powers the desktops and gaming consoles we use, Twitter distributes news and information faster than light and the online media companies are replacing broadcast TV in the supply of content. The world is changing rapidly.

At AutoBase we have an advantage that most businesses do not have.  The internet is our day job and we spend many hours ensuring our understanding of the above is translated into value for our customers. Lesson One - Partner with a company that can keep you up to speed and provide advice on emerging trends within the internet environment. Your main focus should be on your strategy for results not buying more and more vendor solutions.

Lesson Two - Presence is the key to strong internet sales. The internet is not a friendly place; it is very competitive and not free. This is the part Google loves as businesses want more and more presence on the web and they are prepared to pay for it. Organic search results (which are the ones where Google does not receive a dollar) are dropping further down on the first page and the sponsored searches and paid for advertising is increasing.  With the Rugby World Cup coming up, try to Google ‘Auckland Bars’.  What you see is the face of the internet future with hotly contested competition for first page internet real-estate. We have a model that we share with our customers outlining that 70% of online spend needs to be on gaining a strong web presence. In our unbiased view this should be directed to Trade Me Motors. A scattered spend on the web gets you nowhere, it needs to be focused to get you to the top of the page.

Lesson Three – 20% of online spend should be targeted at enhancing your listing to ensure a great click through rate.  Using the Trade Me Motors example, a feature listing can be used to place your listings at the top of each relevant search category. While the internet can be a bit hostile the 80/20 rule applies. It is very easy to represent your business within the top 20% as 80% of businesses put very little effort into their web presence. Again, have a look at Google to see this.

Lesson Four - Treat anybody you communicate with as well read. The last Nielsen Automotive Report found that after completing their online research 48% of customers were prepared to drive between one and two hours to visit a dealership. There is also the Gen Y factor where they wish to have more and more of the transaction and discussion completed online.

Lesson Five - Social Media is the panacea.  Well to be honest that is a lie. What social media or what now just seems to be called ‘Social’ provides is access to a secondary customer base. In old school terminology we know it as referrals and repeat business.  These tools and applications provide a great way to stay engaged with existing and potential customers.  The key is not to get too hung up on the hype and to choose what suits your business to communicate with your future customers the best. If you can write an entertaining and engaging blog relatively often (a few paragraphs a couple of times a week is good) - write one; if it does not come easy - don’t.  Twitter may be for you if your customer base is more niche and fast, quick communication is the goal.  Facebook works well if you run community events or provide sponsorship as part of your business strategy. If you are a dealership, do not just blast your cars out there because as the young of today will say ‘Epic Fail’. You want a conversation that leads to a sale.

If some of the above has been of interest we will be running seminars for our customers in the coming months covering these topics and more.  On the chance you have read to here and been totally uninterested drop me a note and I will supply you a list of the best bars and restaurants we found in Melbourne.

Print a copy of this article HERE.

Establishing loyalty through Social Media

Social media is a highly effective way of maintaining a relationship with our customers. Retaining clients in what is a long sales cycle is one of the challenges we face in the automotive industry. By keeping in regular contact during what are traditionally dormant periods through social media we can improve loyalty and generate repeat sales and referrals.

The Nielsen New Zealand Social Media Report Wave 2: 2010 described Social Media as where consumers have the power to review, compare, rate, and recommend ideas, products, brands, and anything they connect with. During the last year 73% of Kiwis using the internet turned to other consumers’ opinions found in blogs, message boards, comments on social networking sites (such as Twitter or Facebook) and other ‘social’ websites. The credibility of social media networking was expressed by those surveyed saying that friends and family referrals were “Trusted, impartial, reliable, experienced, knowledgeable - knowledge from a person with a genuine wish for me to get the best deal.” We have talked about the power of Twitter and Facebook in previous articles, but as an industry we are increasingly adopting other forms of rich media (ie. interactive multimedia) to spread our message like videos and blogs.

Video

Fronting a video can add value to our business by creating a personality and brand that people can identify with, and relate to - look at The Mad Butcher! And people are looking - the Nielsen Online Social Media Report 2010 showed that New Zealanders are increasingly turning to rich media to support their decision making. In 2010, a massive 1.6 million Kiwis* watched an online video about products or services they were thinking of buying. Online videos were mostly accessed straight from a company website when viewers were researching products they were considering buying – this was followed by YouTube (You can also embed YouTube videos into your own company website). YouTube has a male skew (62%) and has a large proportion under 40*, targeting our videos to our audience will help us get the best results.

Blogs

A blog is like a message board and can be part of a website or stand alone. The blogger writes regular entries listed by date, often with pictures, video and room for visitors to leave comments. Several Kiwi automotive identities regularly write blogs within the industry. A good writer will gather a following, and is great advertising for their dealership. You can talk not only about your business and products, but review vehicles, or discuss industry news, events and views. This is yet another way to stay connected with your customers and continue to put a face, personality and credibility behind your business and brand. In the last 12 months more than 1.4 million Kiwis* read online blogs.

Sharing

Another reason that social media works so well to retain clients and generate referrals is that it is just so easy to share information and products online. At the click of a button you can email dozens of friends a classified listing, video, website or blog to check out, or post a listing or link on your Facebook or Twitter for all to see. For example Trade Me Motors and AutoBase now have buttons on every listing allowing viewers to share that listing by posting it on their Twitter or Facebook site. In the past year 62% of Online New Zealanders over 18 watched online video involving a product or service and 44% sent or shared that video clip with a friend!

Connect, Contribute and Converse

Social media provides us with an array of simple tools we can utilize to continue to Connect, Contribute and Converse with existing customers and prospective buyers. The great thing about social media is that it’s FREE - all it takes is time. It is sometimes hard to know where to start and what to use that’s why it is important that you have a solid digital strategy and establish the medium that best suits you and your business. Some people love making videos of their vehicles and have the charisma to be in front of a camera. Others enjoy writing so may start a blog to post articles about their dealership and products, or review vehicles.

Step into the ring, get amongst it

Updates to your website, YouTube channel or Blog give you the opportunity to enter the social media marketing ring with some clout; the delivery once again is your choice eg. you can use a link on Twitter with its short sharp jabs (140 character tweets) which are persistent, quick and timely or Facebook’s right hook delivering an in depth well connected shot . Whatever you do don’t sit on your hands, Social Media is an opportunity!

*Source: Nielsen Online Social Media Report 2010, surveying the New Zealand online population aged 18+ of 2,628,000 ?

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.