One potential client, after viewing the mock-up we created for them, told us they didn’t think they had the time or expertise within their dealership to move forward with a company blog at this time.

No problem with that on the surface but the reason this concerned us is that this is the very reason Motoblog was born, to do all that work for car dealers. We can create bespoke packages of weekly blog postings and content creation so the busy dealers don’t have to. All we need from the business is a single point of contact within their organisation to provide us with information on any news or deals and anything else they’d like publicised and we do the rest.

The beauty of blogs, from a business perspective, is the opportunity to drive internet traffic to the main site and keeping the core facets of their site (such as car search etc) within the blog means everyone who comes to read an article is a potential customer.

So we are starting to think that maybe we are not getting the message across loud and clear enough about what we can actually do for a business.

So expect to see a few site changes to reflect this.

In the report, GOSO contacted several companies that had made claims that social media played a large role in their overall growth and sales strategy for 2009. Aaron Magness, Director of Brand Marketing and Business of Zappos.com, which was just sold to Amazon for $1.1. billion, said, “We believe that every industry, be it retail, real estate, automotive, etc., has the ability to focus on forming personal connections with the end user. This helps build trust, loyalty and respect with the customer.”

The top brand on Facebook was Chrysler followed by Buick, Chevrolet, Mazda and then Jeep. The top brand on Twitter was Toyota, followed by Chevrolet, Honda, Nissan and then Ford. The total dealerships on Facebook amounted to 5155, whereas the total dealerships on Twitter amounted to 2195. On the web, the most popular searched brand is BMW, followed by Ford, Honda, Lincoln and Mini Cooper.

To date, most dealers have been skeptical and don’t see the value in social media but when they discover that Dell accredited $6.5 million in 2009 earnings to Twitter and Gary Vanynerchuck of WineLibrary.com used social media to build his business to $60 million on his own terms in just a few years they may just change their minds!

If customers have complaints about issues such as reliability or poor service they will often let off some steam on sites like Twitter, Facebook and user forums where everyone, including potential future customers, can read them.

Of course in an ideal world businesses would be best served by not having anything to complain about and failing that, should provide a robust complaints procedure whereby customers are not compelled to take their grievances elsewhere, but if they do, then it is often far better to engage and attempt to solve issues head on than ignore such comments in the vain hope that they will be ignored.

There are plenty of examples of how complaints on social media sites can be turned into positives, such as this one reported on econsultancy.com.

Monitoring sites like Twitter will help you to become aware of such issues and it’s easy to do. Even better, having your own presence and thereby a point of contact on social media sites can provide another channel for such issues.

During this time the Motor Trade Insider site has often commented on the rise of the internet and social media in particular and why companies in the automotive sector have been slow to participate. During the last year we have been working on ideas of how to introduce car dealers and manufacturers into the “new age” and as the Motor Trade Insider team is a mixture of car professionals and IT specialists, it puts us perfectly in place to offer bespoke services solely to the car industry.

We are today proud to introduce Motoblog.co.uk. MotoBlog offer social media and blogging services which are both very relevant and absolutely necessary to all businesses in the automotive sector. We understand that with so much time spent trying to do the things you are good at, selling and fixing cars, there is often neither the time, expertise or resources present within your company to maintain this service, and whilst some people will say it’s just setting up on Twitter and writing a few blog posts, it is potentially far more than that (and far more important).

By offering packages to individual companies which fit both their budget and their ambitions, we are convinced that businesses within the motor trade will very quickly see the benefit of being able to interact with potential new customers whilst building their brand at the same time.

It is reckoned that social media and blogs will take over from static sites because of the immediacy of the information flow, so it won’t be a question of whether you can afford to do it, but whether you can afford not to. For more information on the packages, prices and what we can do for your business please use our contact page to make an enquiry.

It just may be. Ford has taken to social media marketing for all of these reasons, hoping to get ahead of the curve on leveraging online outlets to push their message through. A more recent effort for Ford’s social media marketing was the Fiesta campaign, which relied on a handful of bloggers and social media users to drive the car for a period of time and publish their thoughts to the world.

Read the full article by Kristen Nicole here…

The emergence in 2009 of social media as a real catalyst of change signalled for the first time the possibility that customer service had a vital role to play in winning the hearts and minds of customers.

As the year went on, more and more customer service agents could be heard chanting their new found mantra – “I’m sorry, how can I help you” – as they emerged from the shadows of their monolithic corporate structures. Customers no longer complained in private, but engaged in open and authentic conversations with ‘customer advocates’ willing to listen empathetically to their problems. Companies such as BT, ASOS, EasyJet, O2 and Virgin Trains led the way in the pursuit of helping their customers at their moment of greatest need. These companies recognised that social media, or specifically Twitter, allowed them to do just that, and they were willing to take a leap of faith.

A number of trends have become evident: the rise of help networks, customer service ‘on the go’, the decentralisation of trust and the ‘intermediation’ of business processes. All of these trends serve to highlight one simple truth: social media is diluting, redistributing and challenging the dynamics of the traditional company-customer power structure in favour of customers.

In terms of customer service, Twitter is helping to turn customers into people, whilst making companies more human, personable and approachable. People are becoming used to the immediacy of response, which in turn is forcing companies to not only re-evaluate and potentially redefine how they provide customer service, but also to validate their very legitimacy to do so.

Read full article here…

Although in most car businesses the need to have a good, engaging website that represents the company in the very best light is understood. Most also realise that their cars must look fantastic and have plenty of images to appeal to their customers but not all have the expertise or know how to embrace the seemingly ever changing ways of communicating with their customers and prospects.

For instance, social media entities like Twitter and Facebook are rapidly expanding networks with millions of participants, with a lot of potential car buyers and businesses. Social media can at the very least help a dealer raise their profile and get their name “out there” and at best they could enable dealers to market themselves and their products to a huge audience for a relatively small amount of investment. It’s a form of low cost, mass and at the same time targeted marketing that car dealer’s from twenty years ago could only dream of.

I wouldn’t mind betting that in every car showroom a high proportion of the people employed there will have a Facebook account or be active on twitter which would indicate that if there are employees who are familiar with it why not utilise them to engage with the network and get your message out there?

From a customer perspective, as we are always alluding to, very few people will make a decision about buying anything these days without first carrying out at least some research on the net. This means that engaging with them would and should be a relatively simple process. Being able to get specific details of promotions or special offers that can be changed and updated regularly and very inexpensively is a Godsend to businesses.

To have the ability to talk directly to as many potential customers as this can really only do the business good and with offers on servicing and MOT’s it is a simple and efficient way of keeping in touch with drivers and ultimately maximising the opportunities to sell more products.

A blog will let you talk to, engage and have a conversation with your customers and prospects. You can ask your customers and prospects what they think. You can launch your special offers instantly and communicate the essence of your business.

Why should you have a blog? Because it’s the latest fad? Because it will make your business look cool and up to date? Because your competitors are doing it? No. You should have a blog because it shows your customers and prospects you are open, eager and unafraid to engage with your customers eye to eye.

If you are serious about marketing your business and your products in the modern internet age then you need to have far more than a website. You need to have a blog. You need MotoBlog.