Tag Archives: Web content

Marketing

Digital Media In Conjunction With Social Media = Marketing Brilliance

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2017 is upon us, which means it’s a new year and a clean slate to improve on areas that we may have come up short on in 2016. Effective social media marketing is much more difficult to achieve because commitment and involvement are necessary ingredients to seeing the results that you desire. If 2016 didn’t go as planned in terms of sales, engagement, and audience growth, now is the time to fix those problems and look to 2017 as they year you crush your competition on all social media platforms. In 2017, digital media is the new king and it will be the deciding factor for increased sales growth per quarter.

In the automotive industry, what is one of the biggest complaints from car buyers? They feel that dealerships are out of touch with the consumer, which in most cases these days is actually false, as many dealerships have made great strides in making car buying a very fun process. In any case, there are different ways of changing this perception, one being to add a comfortable environment that doesn’t rush buyers into hasty decision, and a few other strategies that happen once the customer is in the door. But what if we can change these perceptions before the buyer is even considering purchasing a car? That’s where digital media comes into play.

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Digital media is the future, not only for online sales, but to entice interested buyers to visit your car dealership. Text, links to articles, and poor content does not get engagement, likes, or shares. In fact, it doesn’t receive much attention at all. Vehicles, much like houses, require an extra level of involvement from the marketing side of the buying process, as there needs to be a reason(s) why a specific car or house has to be purchased now, rather than down the road.

For instance, you’re a Volvo dealership and on your lot is this 2006 Volvo S40. Now, most likely you’d be pushing 2016s or 2017s, but let’s just use this car in the pictures above as an example. What should be the course of action your dealership should take to get this car sold? Digital media content that can be created and promoted on multiple social media platforms is the best strategy to start getting leads. Whether it’s high quality photos, a virtual walk around, or a video review, the content that is being created will get noticed by your targeted audience on Facebook and Instagram. Remember, your ultimate goal is to get sales, and digital media on your social media accounts will achieve your goals of getting traffic to your website that will eventually lead to the S40 finding a new home.

One dealership that gets it is Audi Wilsonville in Oregon. They continually post digital media to their Facebook and Instagram accounts, and the number of likes and engagement they receive speaks for itself. A lot of social media ads and promotions were necessary to get the amount of responses they do, but I’ve been following them for over two years and they’ve never ceased on providing eye catching content on their Facebook page. Here is the link to check it out for yourself.

https://www.facebook.com/AudiWilsonville/

If you want to start seeing results from your social media efforts, you must be committed everyday to posting high quality content that’s worthy of people reacting to it. The days of having a bland timeline are over as other dealerships are beginning to awaken to the fact that non-native and lackluster content just doesn’t work if you’re seeking to sell vehicles on all your social media platforms. It’s time to get serious and start injecting digital media into your marketing strategy, while also creating a schedule in which these posts are shared at times when you’ll receive the most impressions and traffic.

2017 is a whole new year, and a new beginning to increase car sales to outperform your competition. Let 2017 be remembered as the year when your dealership set itself apart from the rest.

Marketing

Car Dealerships Fall Short When It Comes to Marketing

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In many industries we can sit at the desk in our offices and find a blueprint to effective marketing in the business sector we work in. Finding experienced professionals on the Internet or social media who have created content on marketing strategies for businesses are a dime a dozen, but in some industries it’s not as easy to find marketers who are sharing their knowledge on what works and doesn’t. The automotive market is one of the most directionless sectors when it comes to advertising, social media, and digital marketing in the 21st century. Why? Because content for car dealerships requires involvement, rather than automation.

For small or regional businesses, automation was the worst strategy imposed by marketers on thousands of businesses across the country. Car dealerships are immune to automation because there’s a level of involvement in the car buying process that marketers don’t deal with when selling household items or services; the product itself. Buying a vehicle is much more difficult than buying drapes or curtains, because there’s a number of factors that come into play: interior space, cargo room, drivetrain, horsepower, reliability, and appearance. It’s these same factors that keep marketers away, as to effectively market vehicles they’re required to leave their office and create the content themselves, rather than promote infographics on Facebook.

Car dealerships of all sizes are leaderless in the marketing realm because no one, up to this point, has been willing to take the risk and completely revolutionize how customers buy cars. Yes there are many apps that help aid dealerships, but at the end of the day, they do absolutely nothing to draw potential customers into the showroom. For far too long dealerships have promoted their brand, posted ads in the newspaper, or created banners ads on web pages and then waited for interested viewers to click on the link and hopefully contact that dealership.

In 2017 that can all change by taking the content to the customer on social media and the web. Instead of waiting for people to walk through your doors, your content will reach them in their homes and on their mobile devices. Today, with the power of digital media, your dealership can create YouTube videos and pictures that will be posted on your Facebook page where they can be promoted and shared to people who are in the market for a new vehicle. The days of old school marketing are behind us, and it’s time to add a new dimension to your marketing efforts.

Right now no one has stepped up to the plate and changed an entire industry for the better. Few have come close, but because they don’t have a marketing or business background, they’ve completely missed on the opportunity to revolutionize car buying. In 2017, generate more sales by committing to a social media marketing strategy. As the years pass, your competition will begin to utilize social media, and that’s why it’s imperative that you take the initiative to be first, grabbing the attention of customers in your area.

Business, Economy, Marketing

The Auto Industry Is Old, But The Marketing Strategy Shouldn’t Be

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Throughout the decades, there have been industries that have stood the test of time despite the changing in technology that has closed many businesses over the years. One essential business sector, the automotive industry, shows absolutely no signs of going extinct as transportation is a major part of our lives in the 21st century. With that being well known, what isn’t so obvious is how marketing on the local level for cars hasn’t changed in decades. While websites like eBay Motors and CarFax have added a new dimension to sales, car dealerships are still operating as if it were the 1990’s.

We could sit here and speculate as to why the industry hasn’t changed over the years, but the lack of qualified millennials in key positions is a possible variable that shouldn’t be ignored. Yes, car salesman are beginning to get younger and car dealerships have made great strides in hiring experts on the brand of vehicles they sell. However, that’s still not enough to revolutionize the marketing behind car sales. Brand experts don’t market, in fact dealerships are using such a term because “car salesman” creates a bad perception that reflects poorly on dealerships that want to be friendlier with customers and not push a quick sale.

A revamped marketing strategy that hires committed employees or freelancers, depending on the size of the dealership’s franchise, is a must in the 21st century. It’s not enough to add someone who is familiar with marketing; you need enthusiasts who are passionate about vehicles, no matter what brand you sell. These enthusiasts will be your best marketers, and well worth the investment of time and money as their vision for content curation, along with their social media savviness will outperform the most experienced person on your staff.

You’re probably asking why should we hire car enthusiasts, and how will our marketing change in the hands of a millennial? To start, car enthusiasts who are also marketers know exactly what turns a potential buyer on. Digital media, through the forms of video and pictures is the future to car buying as YouTube has completely changed the game in terms of introducing vehicles and brands to customers of all demographics. Car and Driver magazines used to be relevant, but today, customers in the market for a new car, go straight to YouTube for reviews on the models they’re looking for. Why not get in on the action and create the content yourselves? That’s where the car enthusiast/marketer comes into play.

Millennials are well aware that social media is a powerful tool in generating interest, and enticing potential customers to walk through the door. Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube are the three major weapons that should be in car dealerships’ arsenals. Facebook provides a blog-like structure where updates in text or digital media form can be created. Instagram is where high quality pictures draws the interest of the viewer to follow your account and check out your website. YouTube is the flagship where your best content is created. Here car reviews, walk arounds, previews, and unveilings are all posted, and by tying the video producing platform with other social media channels, your marketing efforts have been fully upgraded where anyone, even those who reside in other states, are being reached by your content.

Most importantly you must stay consistent with posting, which is why hiring an enthusiast/marketer is the key to having a successful marketing strategy. Far too many dealerships post sporadically, while others who stay active see the most ROI and engagement.

In 2017, make sure your dealership(s) joins the 21st century and starts marketing in the year that we live in. Car sales happen every day due to the necessity that vehicles bring, but wouldn’t you like to increase those sales figures in the 1st quarter of the new year? Now is the time to take advantage of what millennials have to offer, especially those who are knowledgable in the business sector your dealership is in. Social media offers great opportunities to grow your franchise’s brand, and it would be foolish not to implement it into your marketing strategy.

Marketing

8000 Likes On Facebook But No Engagement – Blame Your Content

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As Facebook matures, so does businesses’ attitudes towards the platform for marketing and sales purposes. Throughout the year, companies from all business sectors create ad campaigns, promote content, and then wait for customers to flood their online or brick and mortar stores. If life were that simple we’d all be living comfortably, but sadly many owners and social media managers believe without a doubt that the conventional strategy of promote and wait for sales works. As a result, many business Facebook pages amass large followings but receive very little engagement. Why? Poor and lacking content is to blame.

There are plenty of businesses out there where marketing efforts by social media managers is downright embarrassing, especially for those who are not a Mom and Pop store. While social media marketing atrocities occur in all business sectors, the automotive industry is by far the worst, and we can all learn how not to use Facebook, or any social media platform for marketing purposes.

Everything comes down to the product and the content. In the automotive world, vehicles are effectively marketed on the corporate level making the product appealing, but it’s the dealerships on the local side of spectrum where lack of content could be detrimental to sales figures, especially when the objective is to increase sales through the use of social media. One important factor that dealerships must consider is that not only are they competing with rival brands, but they’re also trying to out-perform the other dealership that sells the same vehicles. It’s that realization that many general managers haven’t grasped yet, and once their competition effectively markets on all social media channels, the dealership that didn’t innovate will be immediately left behind.

What absolutely infuriates me as a social media manager is the endless amount of useless content shared and promoted on dealership’s Facebook pages. Links to articles, sometimes not even in the automotive industry are shared, along with regurgitated content from the corporate pages are posted constantly. It should come as no surprise that there’s no engagement whatsoever and these posts fall on deaf ears. Dealerships have the ability to create their own content, and they don’t have to walk far from their desks as the vehicles in their showroom are the perfect start to revitalizing their bland social media accounts.

Native content is the key to engagement, which has the ability to lead to sales. In recent studies, 84% of millennials’ buying decisions are influenced by user generated content. That means, taking high quality photos or creating digital media content of your products, or in this case vehicles, will effect sales, especially for brands within the price range of 20 and 30 somethings. It should also be noted that social media isn’t just a young person’s online playground as women aged 40 and older are the largest growing demographic of users on Instagram, and 50+ year olds are joining Facebook in higher volumes than any other age group.

Your inability to increase engagement is not a reflection of your product or your audience, but it’s your content. For businesses in the automotive industry or sectors where visualization is a major factor in influencing sales, native content is a must. While some consumers will go to the manufacturer for the answers, the dealerships have the vehicles and all the trim levels for each model. By promoting high quality digital media, these dealerships are going to start seeing engagement by serious buyers and window shoppers, which is much more productive and possibly rewarding than posting lackluster content that gets no likes, comments or shares.

2017 is a new year. Whether you’re in auto sales or services, your content is key to driving sales. The customer’s first impression is an important one, which is why eye candy that grabs people’s attentions is necessary to being successful on social media. Make great content a priority this upcoming year and begin to see your sales figures flourish.

Business, Marketing

Effective Social Media Marketing Starts With A Clear Message

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Before social media, timelines, and news feeds, companies of all sizes could generate clear messages through email marketing, newspapers, and radio ads. The message was simple and direct, with the objective to get customers to visit an online store to purchase a company’s products, or promote a physical location to shop or visit. Today with social media marketing, many small businesses lack a consistent message because they either don’t post enough, or they post so often on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter that each status or tweet has absolutely nothing to do with the previous posting. Coherency and staying on point is a lost art in marketing, especially on social media, and the businesses that do stay consistent with their message, get engagement.

There are businesses among all sectors that struggle with sticking to one message. The companies that are succeeding have done an excellent job with defining who they are, whether that be the solo entrepreneur who knows his or her business and market completely, or leaders within a larger company that have instilled in the marketing department the culture and brand the business is expressing to their customers through social media. With that being said, what about the businesses that don’t have a clear message, and often deviate from being consistent by posting too many updates that don’t stay on point? Why are they struggling and can it be fixed?

The best examples of companies in major business sectors that are brutally awful at social media is automotive and real estate. Both industries have put so much effort into sales that they’ve completely forgotten that Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter aren’t necessarily selling platforms, but in fact marketing avenues that attract customers by enticing them, rather than pushing them into buying. Most notably in the automotive world, once you get to the dealership level, any semblance of good marketing is rare at best, and as a result, you get incoherent messages or posts that make no sense for the car selling business.

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A local Volvo dealership who usually posts sporadically throughout the year, must have gotten the urge to start posting around the holidays. But instead of actually promoting sales offers or cars on the new and used lots, the social media manager decides that sharing a YouTube video of two non street legal Volvos racing around a track in Sweden is relevant to customers interested in purchasing a Volvo. What is the message that the dealership wants to portray to past, present, and future buyers? If posting Car & Driver or MotorTrend articles are the basis of their social media strategy, they’ve failed at using Facebook as a viable platform to sell cars on.

These dealerships have vehicles that they know inside and out as they’ve been trained to sell them to people who walk in the doors. They know the specifications and price tags, but more importantly, they’ll be the first ones to receive new models. The message should be quite clear and if I was the social media manager, this would be my statement to the department. “Our mission is to sell cars, with that being said, we should create our own content surrounding the cars on our lots, and the service department that maintains customers’ vehicles and this should be the focus of our message”. Once the message is in place, then you can effectively market your business and products.

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Real estate, much like the car industry, is a very sales driven market. However, with social media now entering the picture, it appears that once hard selling companies have been forced to become friendly and informative, but they’re going about it the wrong way. In the picture above, Century 21 shared a link to an article about wall painting. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being informal, but what’s the message that they want to portray?

If selling property and houses are the main goal, why is painting walls relevant to potential buyers if they can get that information from Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Sherwin Williams? More importantly, renovation and updating the interior is the step after purchasing, which realtors wouldn’t be a part of. Technically, that’s not their role in real estate and it’s the contractors who would benefit most by sharing that article as it would be a message they’d want to promote on their Facebook page.

With the same mindset as the dealership, the social media manager has to come up with a clear message and build content around that message. “The goal is to sell houses, therefor creating content that’s beneficial to the buyer, whether that be through digital media or pictures, would be an immensely powerful tool to attract potential buyers to our realtor firm.” When it comes to social media, it’s all about the message. Once the message is set in place, then a strategy on content creating can be put in place.

Social media marketing is essentially the basis of your business’ mission statement. Why was your business created, who are your customers, and why would they choose you? The same questions can be applied to you social media marketing strategy. Once you get the answers, your message will be clear and effective. Until that point, you’ll never get the most out of your social media efforts.

Economy, Marketing

How Realtors Sell Houses Will Change With Social Media

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In the last six years, social media has changed how we conduct business, acquire customers, and advertise on both a local and national scale. The ability to reach anyone, even those who reside outside the country, has given small businesses the chance to compete on a global scale. But for business segments that thrive off domestic and local markets, you have to go to new depths to sell anything, whether products, cars, and even property. The real estate market has slowly begun to implement social media marketing elements, but realtors could take their marketing strategies to a whole new level with the power of live streaming and video.

When we think of buying real estate, open houses are probably one of the first things that come to mind in the buying process. Perfect for the new home buyer to get an idea of what they’re looking for, open houses gives people who are in the market for a home the opportunity to get a look inside and try picturing their futures living there. With social media, a new element can be added that is both convenient for the potential buyers and beneficial to the realtor; Facebook live or promoted video post.

Live streaming is on the rise, and one market that could certainly use it is real estate. By going live, a realtor could have a virtual open house the day before and walk through the rooms to showcase the house’s greatest features. This adds a layer on convenience for those who can’t make it, and for the realtor, live streaming or any form of video helps build their own personal brand. By posting any form of video with you presenting the property you’re selling, your brand takes center stage, and if you present yourself as a professional and friendly, it’s very likely you’ll start seeing more referrals as sales increase.

Paired with Facebook advertising, your videos whether live or previously recorded, can be shared to people’s timelines who are looking to buy a home. While websites like Zillow and Redfin have made finding new property easier, there’s no argument that going the extra mile by having a virtual open house or tour could be the deciding factor for interested prospects. Realtors are no longer at the mercy of interested buyers, and can now go directly to them to draw them into new properties in the desired areas they want to reside in.

Facebook isn’t the only platform where video can be beneficial, but is still a crucial part of a successful marketing strategy to selling homes. YouTube allows realtors to go much more in-depth than going live by producing eye catching video. These edited videos with music and clear shots of the exterior, interior, and backyard could be the realtor’s version of HGTV, whether the property is being presented by the realtor or a tastefully done video that grabs the attentions of viewers where they can dream of living in that house. Much like walk around shots of an exotic car, the same rules apply to real estate as they’re both sought after, and if presented right, could move someone to buy. Since video is multi-platform friendly, Facebook then becomes more important as your YouTube video can be shared to your timeline, or can be uploaded directly from your computer to your Facebook page.

Real estate is in need of going through a transformation. HGTV has become popular due to consumers’ desire to buy homes. By having that mentality with the real estate you’re selling, you can be the HGTV on a local scale, where you’re not only presenting beautiful homes, but also enticing local house buyers to show up to open houses and take a look for themselves. Social media is adding a new dimension to how we consume everything, and real estate should be no exception.

Business, Economy, Marketing

Facebook Live – Signaling The End Of QVC

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When you think of QVC, Shark Tank’s Lori Grenier is probably the first person you’ll associate the channel with. Dubbed “The Queen of QVC”, Lori made a living from selling her products by using the platform to promote her products on television. Her success catapulted the channel’s household name recognition, and for the past 5 years or so they’ve been the king of infomercials, and arguably so as many businesses have reaped the benefits of using QVC as a marketing channel. However, all good things must come to an end, and sometimes even kings and queens get dethroned. Ladies and gentlemen, the new kid in the block, Facebook Live, is ready to change how you shop and how businesses advertise to you.

Live streaming is slowly becoming a part of hour daily lives. Whether it’s Periscope, YouTube, or Facebook, you’ve either watched a live event, tuned into your favorite vlogger’s live Q and A, or perhaps even you have picked up your phone and went live. Needless to say our phone, laptop, and tablets are just an arm’s reach away, and tech savvy businesses are well aware that your attention is no longer focused on the television, but on social media.

On my Facebook news feed, a childhood friend had commented on a live stream from a small business that was selling women’s clothing targeted towards women in their 20’s. Of course being a guy, I wasn’t interested in what these women were selling, but the marketer in me couldn’t help but notice the effectiveness of having a live infomercial where viewers’ questions were being answered immediately. The ability to interact live through the use of Facebook will eventually bring many businesses in television marketing, like QVC, to their knees. How can you draw businesses to use your platform if there’s a cheaper, more effective and direct solution to a problem that up until now, has been a brick wall that has stopped many small businesses from getting to the next level?

To get a spot on QVC, you’re looking at paying $10,000 if not more. On Facebook it’s free to live stream, and your only costs will be ad campaigns and boosted posts. What live streaming has essentially done is break down the barriers that have held small businesses back and now give them the chance at national, and possibly global expansion to new markets through the use of social media channels. The power is no longer in the hands of a selective few, and now women in their 20’s can pave their own way to success by utilizing Facebook live.

QVC may not be the only potential casualty as social media and live streaming become more common and mainstream. Many old technologies could become obsolete, and much like MTV’s emergence killed the radio star, social media could very well be the death of television as we know it, and along with its funeral, many businesses related to TV could very well go under if they don’t transition over to platforms such as Facebook.

Despite the many businesses that could be affected by live streaming replacing a large portion of television shows, infomercials, and sporting events, new companies will arise, ushering in a new era. We could be living through a technological revolution, bigger than many have anticipated, that along with it brings a wave of small businesses popping up across the country that will no longer be regionally based, but could conduct business throughout the county and internationally. We’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg, and with each passing day, it just continues to get better and better.

While QVC’s days might be numbered, we are now entering the Golden Age for small businesses who effectively use social media to the fullest. Instead of throwing thousands of dollars away on television advertising that will continue to be less influential in the buying process for consumers as the years pass, social media will be the platform that yields a high reward because of it’s unlimited potential and ability to reach virtually everyone.

January 1st is right around the corner, and the perfect time for a new start and new direction for your business’ advertising strategies. Incorporating Facebook Live into your weekly activity on social media, could be the deciding factor between having a great year, or being left behind by those who were willing to innovate.