In the Trenches

There were a lot of people in attendance at the recent Digital Dealer V and the JD Powers Internet Round Table yet I have yet to see a detailed round up from dealership or vendor participants barring one from VinSolutions. Thanks Matt!!

Who else have successes to share or tips to give to those who were not in attendance? It would be great to get a recap since no one took the time to give updates from the conference floors..

Technorati Tags: automotive conferences, digital dealer v, jd powers internet round table

I am testing out different platforms to see how well they work for SEO, a case study on Search Engine Reputation Management and online social engagement.  One of these platforms is Vox.com.

I did a post there that was more of an exercise in SEO than anything else, you SEO experts may appreciate this, to create some links to to other properties to help SEO those sites, and I recieved a comment from a consumer that visited our site here.  (full post at My Many Levels of Seperation)

What do consumers want from car dealers?

IzzyRocks Said : ……. I read the 50 days follow up, I thought as a customer, what I would enjoy receiving in emails is testimonials from other customers the salesman had dealt with, and answers on FAQs such as special features of the cars, comparisons of features, information about what kind of tires are good etc etc. For example I have the ability to turn off the anti skid brakes, when would I do that? And then it would also be fun to see various colors and models of cars that were like what I was looking for and comparisons of your car to other brands.

This kind of feedback from consumers can provide huge benefit to the industry.  Especially if it is not solicited in the form of radio button surveys and moderated focus groups where someone leads the conversation.

Technorati Tags: automotive consumer expectations, consumer engagement, consumer follow up

While working on building keyword list for an SEO campaign I ran across a few interesting tidbits of information on “best practices”. One of the ones that struck me most was where a group put together and open source document to give guidelines to organizations on best practices in social media interactions.

How we conduct ourselves online can be a huge tool in building our brand or destroying it. However nowhere have I found a a written or suggested automotive best practices for social media engagement. What is correct for one may be an aberration to another.

In a previous post here I talked about anonymity in blog commenting by a vendor. I can see the benefit that an individual may have in remaining unknown for personal privacy issues, but also see the need to establish a point of reference for basing your opinion and how not doing so can ultimately damage your message.

The report I was found was broke down into six areas to concentrate on in establishing in house “best practices”. And will cover each one in a series of post.

They are:

* Checklist 1: Disclosure of Identity
* Checklist 2: Personal/Unofficial Blogging and Outreach
* Checklist 3: Blogger Relations
* Checklist 4: Compensation and Incentives
* Checklist 5: Agency and Contractor Disclosure
* Checklist 6: Creative Flexibility

Here is what they say about disclosure of Identity:

When communicating with blogs or bloggers on behalf of my company or on topics related to the business of my company, I will:

1. Disclose who I am, who I work for, and any other relevant affiliations from the very first encounter.
2. Disclose any business/client relationship if I am communicating on behalf of a third party.
3. Provide a means of communicating with me.
4. Comply with all laws and regulations regarding disclosure of identity.
5. We will inform employees, agencies, and advocates that we have a formal relationship of these disclosure policies and take action quickly to correct problems where possible.
6. Pseudonyms:
(Option A) Never use a false or obscured identity or pseudonym.
(Option B) If aliases or role accounts are used for employee privacy, security, or other business reasons, these identities will clearly indicate the organization I represent and provide means for two-way communications with that alias.
7. “We Didn’t Know”
Clearly disclose our involvement on all blogs produced by the company or our agencies.

What is your opinion?

Borrowed from “Blog Council“

Technorati Tags: auto industry best practices, social media, social media best practices

People have been trashing the Internet for ages about it’s viability as a marketing channel, establishing virtual communities, interactive education and allowing people to work from everywhere.

The Internet as a viable tool has raised eyebrows for many years in and out of the automotive industry. Clifford Stoll from Newsweek lambasted the medium way back in 1995 as well.

The Internet has reverted us back to a time when ideas and products were introduced by “word of mouth”. The days of acceptance in the marketplace via one way communication, read interruption marketing, is falling by leaps and bounds. Customers do not care how great you claim your product is, they don’t care about the great big sale you are having, they don’t care to be interrupted in their daily lives until they are ready for what you have to offer. That is just the way it is today.

When the radio then the TV became the primary ways for companies to communicate with their customers it took us out of a time where people talked about what was available in the marketplace by letting their friends, family and business acquaintances know who had what and how you could get it yourself. Consumers still did it they were just ignored and the best way to overcome negative press was to buy more advertising. The Internet is bringing us back to marketing at it’s most basic level. Make a product and/or experience worth talking about.

Make it easy for consumers to communicate with you and to provide feedback. Don’t give them fill in the blank rating forms then buy their review with perks. Seek honest feedback with a give and take, engage your customers and offer yourself as a resource and drop the pitch until it is asked for. Once you master this then you will be heads above your competition and capture a larger piece of the ever shrinking pie.

Where do you start? I can’t answer that for you, but I know you must discover what differentiates you from any other supplier in your niche. If you can’t do that you will be stuck in the Dead Zone forever…

Technorati Tags: automotive online marketing, consumer engagement

Search Engine Strategies event located in San Jose, California from August 18-22 is the premier search engine networking and learning event of the year. I was surprised today when I spoke with one of the executives from TK Carsites when he told me they had a team attending and they have not been able to connect with others in the Automobile Industry in attendance, they can’t find any other vendors that serve dealers there.

While the event is drawing to a close in two days I was asked to reach out to the community here to see if anyone had representatives there so the TK team could hook up with them. It would be a great opportunity for SEO and SEM professionals to network.

Right now they are covering the event and blogging about the workshops they have attended. Maybe when the next conference is announced we can have a staff to cover the event as well. If you do not have an individual or team there you can see what you are missing at TopDealerSEO.com where our industry peers are sharing the knowledge they have acquired at SES San Jose.

If you do have people there and would like to hook up with the guys from TK give me a call at 912-266-1629 and I can get you connected with them.

Technorati Tags: automotive networking, Automotive SEM, Automotive SEO, Search Engine Stratgies, SES San Jose

As a blogger myself I read a lot blogs.  They help form opinions and research topics.  Many people mistake blogs as authoritative content.  When someone is an authority in a specific niche and they blog about topics they are familiar with they are using their knowledge to influence their readers to come around to their way of thinking or to establish their competency on the subject matter, if the blog is of a “commercial” nature.

Not everyone will agree and thats is why blogs have comments so people can give other points of view and build the conversation between the blogger and their readers.  Personally I only try to sell ideas from my blogs not services, that may change soon, and provide a call to action of sorts; however the dialog is slow to start online many times.  Why is this?

Could it be because people in our niche are unwilling to share ideas and expertise or are they just so busy in what they are doing the conversation does not matter to them?  Are car guys still playing their cards so close to their chest and afraid that if they give away what works for them that their competition will use this information against them?  Those questions are from my opinion and not fact.  Of course style matters a lot and post that are published need to be to be geared to start the conversation and many times they are not in this niche.

Hopefully with my contributions to the community here will change those lines of thinking and we can start engaging each other more to provide our experiences, knowledge and opinions to build the best automotive social network ever.

Please give your insights to help start building the conversation.

Technorati Tags: blog conversation, blog marketing, engage the community

Online networking allows you to interact with people that you would not normally meet in traditional settings. People that you would normally consider unreachable in real life become open and accessible.

We all have strengths that we can share with others in addition to be able to seek advice from others when we have questions that can not be answered by our traditional circle of influence, using online networking.

One of the most critical keys in networking is to be a giver to your peers before you try to leverage the power of your online contacts when you need them.

“Those who ignore the party/conversation/network when they are content and decide to drop in when they need the network may not succeed. It’s pretty easy to spot those that are just joining the network purely to take –not to give. Therefore, be part of the party/conversation/network before you need anything from anyone. Start now, and continue to build relationships by giving now: share knowledge, help others, and become a trusted node and connector, not just an outlying ‘dot’ of a comet that swings in every 4 years or so.” - Web Strategy by Jeremiah Owyang

You can participate in the community here at Driving Sales on many levels and build your network. You do not have to be an authority to contribute and leverage the power of online networking. You can invite your peers, rate strategies, rate vendors and connect with others in the industry. Get your name out there, you will be surprised how much your network will support you when you really need it. I am living proof of that.

Technorati Tags: build your network, Networking, rate automotive vendors, site features

Recent events in the Online Automotive Social Networking space have brought on great changes of thought, ended careers and even induced me to change the direction of my automotive career forever,  it is doubtful that I will ever seek employment in a dealership setting again.

There has been a cottage industry developed in the car business where dealers and their sales people are being held under scrutiny by their customers.  The dealers are even encouraged to seek these reviews out from their customers.  While I may not agree with some of the marketing tactics being used by these organizations (No M.L I don’t mean you), they still provide value to people searching out dealers.

Here at drivingsales.com dealers will be allowed to review vendor practices and interact with the community and the vendors in a level forum.  That is the power of networks such as this.  It give everyone the opportunity to engage each other in an online setting.

You will never get everyone to agree on certain aspects of online marketing. As an example from my experience as an affiliate marketer I believe that traffic is everything while as a dealership Internet Sales Manager my main concern was conversion.  It was probably due to my payplan at the time, but at the end of the day I still believe that Traffic is Supreme, because it helps build your branding message while at the same time it does produce conversions.  You cannot zero in conversion ratios until you have built the traffic.  That is Internet Marketing 101.

What we publish on the world wide web is being scrutinized very closely, mostly by people who do not participate.  Many times things that we say or do online causes people to react inappropriately.  Keeping the conversation tied to their back room networks and not addressing our criticisms head on, while at the same time they make ever effort to sensationalize things that are published that empower approval of their product or use our content to market theirs, without giving credit to the source.  I have experienced all of these phenomenons personally.

What is sad is people will try to use their influence to strike down what we have to say about their products and services using back door techniques instead of openly engaging you.  Some even resort to threatening to sue you (personal experience) or try to have people removed from their positions (Ralph’s Experience).  Extreme Examples!!  I am aware of many other incidents that people have received pressure based on what they have said about products.  Even people who have no affiliation with competitors.  At the end of the day it is our collective voice that will influence the industry as a whole even if it is rumblings of disagreements and gnashing of teeth that eventually brings about fair play and open communication channels, that is the power of networking.

What is great about the country we live in we have laws in place that allow us to give our opinion on anything we want.  It is called the 1st Amendment.  One of the best pieces of advice I can give before you publish something online that may go against the grain, think of the consequences and how it may impact you.

Does that mean if you feel like you are adding value to the discussion or creating one should you hold back?  Absolutely not.  I only encourage you to remain transparent and to speak your mind while at the same time don’t put anything in the public domain that may affect you at a level at which you cannot tolerate.  Also if you would not say it in front of your mother don’t say it where someone else’s mother may see it too. 

My views and opinions expressed here are my own and not those of the staff, management or ownership of drivingsales.com unless they specifically endorse them.  I don’t mind them seeing them, that is the spirit of blogging transparency and engagement.

GET IN THE GAME

Technorati Tags: blogging, engagement, Networking