Consumers Have Changed The Rules?

Popular social sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube have allowed consumers to change the game in the automotive industry.  Dealers across the country are scrambling to set up social sites that potentially connect them to their own customers.  I have begun to notice a trend that automotive dealers have placed their focus on just connecting and I mean to any body and managing, maintaining or even selling to their own DMS of customers.  Dealers are traveling in the right direction, yet they are all on the long wrong to success.  Consumers actually like the ideal that they have the ability to connect with their local car dealer on Facebook, Tweet on Twitter or even watch on YouTube, yet dealers have failed to establish a real relationship with their own customers inside of their life-style processes. 

We as dealers have a tradition of trying to recreate the wheel, social networking became popular long before the automotive industry decided to jump on the band wagon.  Pushing the needle to increase just Fans is the long road to success for the neighborhood dealer; we have failed to recognize the processes and procedures that these social sites have already implemented to reach their success today, so we miss the mark with our own customers outside of the dealership by not knowing their online behavior as it relates to social networking.

"The Lights Are On, But There Is No One Home"

Consumers Have Changed The Rules, and many local car dealers have not yet decided to play the buyers game.  It appears that dealers and manufacturers have come up with their own game plan to change the face of Social networking, implementing annotated methods that in the past have made the auto industry successful.  Whenever there is a Paradigm Shift, everything changes…including the rules and dealer’s have refused to operate under the new rules.  The way I see it, and keep in mind this is just one man’s opinion “Dealers Who Don’t It, Won’t Get It”

Consumers spend more time on social sites Right Now than they do anywhere else on the web, yet we are not speaking their language on these sites!  In order to capture and maintain friends or fans, as they are called on Facebook; content, connections and links must be fresh and appeal to your fans, in which more than 60% should be your current DMS customers.  Most of these sites give you a breakdown of your visitors; the analytics of your pages along with demographics, what else would you need to manage the behavior of your fans?  Automation and technology can be good, yet without the human element, it will be a long time before many Car Dealers will see a measurable ROI from any type of investment made through social media.  Consumers are yearning for Online Negotiations, Online Trade Appraisals, and Online Real-Time Communications….these services are being offered across the board, yet we have only taken a small road to achieve this goal. 

“One place to do all you need to do, before you buy”….

is what one guy told me in a recent online poll we had launched.

We in the automotive industry may need to operate a lot like Big Businesses in other industries, Outsource!!  Once you began the growth of a true Social Community you have  to learn and depend on outside services to help speak to your guest, maintain an online established relationship, and spend the much needed time online helping them through the process, before they buy their next vehicle. You can continue down the road of duplication of tradition or you can implement a managed service campaign – that keeps dialogue fresh between your brand and your customers, that can perform the follow-up calls, help with the email to our friends and family……… ……..The Rules have Changed, why not us?  There is a lot more to this Automotive Social Networking thing than we want to recognize!

Call me – I don’t have all the answers, but something is working for us - 800-811-2165 ask for Greg