The world wide web has replaced car row as the place to shop for a vehicle. The consolidation of brick and mortar facilities might have been accelerated by a shrinking economy and government dictates; nonetheless, the writing has been on the virtual wall for some time. Technology has always served as the catalyst for change and the Web has proven to be the platform to introduce the next evolution of the auto industry.
The world wide web has matured as an efficient data resource to replace the real world auto dealership as the place of selection for car shoppers to gather the details they want to choose a vehicle and a dealership — in that order! Internet based social networking is the virtual version of a Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club, Community Event, Fraternity, etc., linked together by a technology that serves as a central communication and distribution tool.
The significance of relationship based selling in the real world is supported in each and every sales training manual based on the observation that people like to do company with folks that they like. The logic to Sell yourself, sell the dealership, sell the vehicle and then justify the price is an accepted wisdom that is based on the 1 constant that has survived in both the real world and the world wide web — Human Nature! Net based social networks represent an on the net community of like-minded consumers who have a strong influence on their on-line friends. Auto dealers should invest and involve in these on the net communities as men and women not as an auto dealer.
They must prioritize the interests of their new on the web friends before, during and after their purchasing cycle to earn their trust and consideration when they have a want for a new vehicle or to service their present 1. After all, what are friends for!
Once a require has surfaced it is critical that the transition from casual conversations to focused selling processes is transparent and comprehensive to move the consumer seamlessly through their online shopping experience. Technology can communicate the information needed by both the consumer and the dealer to move forward into a transaction. Even so, the processes should create on the personality and relationship built on the social networking website that surfaced the chance. The special differentiator between the dealers down the street selling the same product is not the price, but the people that started the dialogue built on an earned relationship and trust.
Viral advertising is a natural extension of social networking that distributes a message in such a way that it will be forwarded by the recipient in a geometric progression enhanced by its valued content, distinctive creative, entertaining production or some quality that will motivate the initial consumer to share it with their spheres of influence. The exponential growth of this kind of on-line distribution channel affords an extremely price efficient media to distribute the initial message to a diverse audience that might or may not be interested in the content, but even a little percentage of conversions represent a superior short term and quantifiable R.O.I. to conventional marketing media. The buzz created by the extended on-line community also develops lengthy term branding recognition that enhances the reach and frequency of the message with less measurable outcomes but similar value in developing top of the mind awareness for future consumers.
By extension, social media as it is applied for the purpose of advertising for the retail auto industry is a channel for distribution of both viral and targeted advertising messages through controlled blogging forums as well as expanded spheres of influence by means of on the net communities such as Twitter, Face book, LinkedIn, Naymz, YouTube, etc.
These on the web social networking communities have unique profiles that attract different varieties of users. Twitter and Face book, for example, are much more universal and personal in nature although Naymz and LinkedIn are additional professional and focused on business to enterprise networking with YouTube utilizing video to express the message. These on the internet communities will be component of your extended social media channel, on the other hand, much more specialized networks targeted to the auto business must be the core channels based on their applicable content, audience and related links.
It must also be noted that recent market studies confirm that the efficiency defined by Twitter – in that they limit their postings to 140 words – has served to differentiate them from other sites with a superior growth curve to prove it. Conversion rates from Twitter users who access on the net banner ads or comparable commercial messages are twice those of social networkers who do not have Twitter in their on the internet profiles. The revelation is that numerous on the web networkers are overwhelmed by the fragmented on the net communities that they participate in and limited time demands them to seek out a lot more effective methods to manage their on the web and real world lives.
New platforms that link these diverse on the web communities into one central access point now exist that offer efficiencies beyond those provided by any single website. Power.Com — for example — functions as a layer or residence page that represents this one stop social networking site philosophy. Newly developed marketing platforms serving the auto industry, like ronsmap.com, integrate social media with their vehicle listings with localized search engine functions — think Google Local! ronsmap is a game changing on-line vehicle buying/selling internet site for both customers and dealers that makes automobile buying quick, comprehensive, transparent and live. Their proprietary technology gives clients unparalleled buying and negotiating power over the automobile purchasing/selling processes including the opportunity to accommodate For Sale By Owner listings. It offers auto dealers with unprecedented levels of sales intelligence on consumer leads and it enables automotive advertising agencies to promote and engage customers via social networks.
The capability to supply both B2B and B2C advertising messages supported by relevant social networking forums is an efficient combination of company and pleasure that will attract today’s time challenged consumers. Of course, company opportunities must be subordinate to providing relevancy and fascinating content to the end users — the car shoppers — nonetheless, the convenience of providing a locally targeted inner circle of connected real world friends by means of an on the web communication tool is an example of the leveraged and efficient resources that are emerging on the Internet. Marketing to customers in social networking communities demands resources, tools and skill sets to compliment and supplement auto dealers existing on the internet selling efforts and ronsmap supplies all of these elements in a cost efficient scalable manner whilst delivering market intelligence that enables the auto dealer to maximize their conversion rates and preserve gross profit in their on the internet negotiations.
Finally, quite a few dealers have learned the value of integrating customer generated content onto their web sites via blogging forums and other strategies to present past and present customer experiences to possible future clients. These dealer sponsored social networking platforms are generally suspect and dealers tend to filter negative comments on their own internet site which limits participation by customers and adversely impacts the confidence of visitors in the value of the content. A far more proven platform has been for auto dealers to support third party micro-web sites that distance the dealer from the on the internet community. The web site can then expand on the messages it presents to consist of problems of interest to potential clients. Links to community organizations and related data resources supported by the dealer do not require a sales message, which would likely alienate the on-line community. The value of developing relationships with the website visitors on the frequent ground of your shared support for the activities coordinated on the web site will plant the seed that will grow when they are looking for a friend in the vehicle enterprise.
The agenda of participants in social media and social networking does not include commercial messages as it is primarily an on-line platform to construct relationships and share facts. On the contrary, any commercial abuse of a social media web site will alienate users and produce negative backlash. That said, as previously stated, human nature has survived from the real world to the virtual world and people still prefer to do enterprise with friends — real or virtual. As lengthy as the sales message is secondary to supplying valued content or is placed in the context of a relationship focused community with shared interests then the capacity to develop sales is both measurable and assured.
Viral advertising and social media have price advantages over conventional media — such as radio, TV, print, direct mail, etc. — as well as on the internet investments in search engine advertising, (SEM) — such as pay per click and banner advertisements — since there is no direct costs.
They are similar in their R.O.I. and value to World wide web based search engine optimization, (SEO), with comparable indirect costs in that they are labor intensive. However, correctly leveraged reciprocal links and automated content provided by RSS feeds from related on the web sources can be integrated to reduce the labor for both content and distribution enhancing the R.O.I. even after the price of labor is considered.
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