Comments on: Who Is Sick Of Hearing About facebook?

By: Bob Finger

Bob Finger — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 18:57:00 +0000

Something this
chain is missing is the ability to “control the message.” Do a quick google search on your dealership,
and you will find people who have reviewed your business. They are often angry and frustrated and may
post some bad reviews.

If you have a
facebook page and concentrate on getting customers to post nice things about
you (right after a sale is a great time to get someone to say “I love the new
car I bought at CARite.com!”). This does
a great job of balancing out any negative comments, and gives you a forum for
handling customer complaints before they decide to tell the whole world that
they are angry.

Social
networks are here to stay, and the truth is out there. If you are not controlling
or at least monitoring the message, you can be operating with two black eyes
and not even know it.

By: mark bonfigli

mark bonfigli — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 19:57:41 +0000

Alex, I just wanted to say that this was an excellent post! Thank you for making it easier for our dealers to understand how to jump into the world of Facebook! -mb

By: troyhartenstine

troyhartenstine — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 21:02:10 +0000

Thank you for that Alex. Its long overdue that social media is put in its proper place regarding automotive internet marketing.

By: Engaging Customers through Social Media w/ JD Rucker - DealerRefresh Automotive Technology Forums

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:04:00 +0000

[...] [...]

By: Eley Duke

Eley Duke — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:08:12 +0000

Hey Alex,
Dead on the money with this, I too see many pages that are annoying with nothing but hard sales tactics and it is a turnoff! With our Duke Automotive page we have taken the approach of simple dialog and updates, we post some videos time to time, update on the weather like last week, and news about Duke and our community. We get some comments, but its really how many times I am out and someone says, “hey, I loved that video on the Cadillac CTS-V you posted to the dealership site” that makes it worth it. I get those comments all the time, and tells me it is doing what Facebook was meant to do, stay in touch with people and be a casual social medium! Great post Alex!!

By: Holly Brown

Holly Brown — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 17:04:34 +0000

In the learning phase with FB. Good article! It reinforces my thought that dealerships should use a fan page.
I learn best by doing. Even though there will be mistakes, I am jumping in with 2 feet & making a go of our dealership fan page.
First I thought give them product info…now I’m thinking they can go to factory sites for that.
Will switch to more relevant consumer info & small give aways.

By: Jerry Thibeau

Jerry Thibeau — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 14:13:56 +0000

Alex,

Another 5 star article. You’re on a roll this year! I’ve sent the link to a bunch of dealers I’ve been trying to get active on facebook.

Jerry

By: Auto Marketing Group

Auto Marketing Group — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 05:21:57 +0000

Sensation this is a good giveaway. I so necessitate this lol. What an enormous awareness you have provided here. I actually resemble it. Gratitude for this well-informed post

By: Adam Boalt

Adam Boalt — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 03:41:10 +0000

Jeff:

Well said, LOL, are you going to NADA?

Adam

By: Jeff Kershner

Jeff Kershner — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 03:38:15 +0000

If another dealer asks me to be a “friend” on facebook I might go postal (okay, it’s not that bad). Dealers..I DO NOT WANT TO BE YOUR FRIEND. However, I could quite possibly want to be your “fan”.

http://screencast.com/t/MGVjODM5MT

PLEASE dealers, as Alex states in his post..build a facebook fanpage and NOT a normal fb profile while asking people to be your friend.

If you are not going to give your social efforts 100%, then don’t do it. Just don’t do it. Dial into the 101 first. There are other avenues of marketing that are WAY easier to manage and will give you a quicker bang for the buck.

http://www.dealerrefresh.com/car-dealer-social-media-usage/

“facebook is a communication platform. Nothing more, nothing less.” – At the end of the day Sales is what matters, I don’t care what business you are in unless it’s a non-profit. Yes, I’m all about being a social media douche bag; engaging the customer and “listening” while being a part of the “conversation”. Yes, social media is great for creating buzz but it’s also a great direct marketing channel. Shot term — no, well maybe. Long term — Yes. I was reading a recent study that found that consumers WANT to see promotions and discounts..of course in the right frequency, finding the right balance is the magic.

Become very familuar with facebook, use it yourself on a consistent basis before jumping into it.

Great post Alex!!