Businesses can utilize social media even more in 2016 and actually see ROI from it. Here are some social media objectives that can bring a company closer to it’s marketing goals.

Mobile-first is not a new idea, and many now follow this philosophy when designing websites and other elements around the web. However, people only really browse the same few sites and apps - most times while on their phone. Most people generally won't download a new app or type in a new URL outside of this unless they are forced to. So rather than build out tons of new mobile content, meeting the customer where they already are (social networking apps) should be among a business' prime social media objectives.

Native video is getting bigger on Facebook. Rather than merely linking a YouTube video, social media objectives should include uploading media directly to each social networking platform. These platforms design their native players to work quickly and easily in their apps, making the content easy to consume and among the most popular and response-generating content on these apps today.

Content creation strategies have spawned tons of new work that is constantly broadcast online. However, the most opportunity comes from responding to users quickly. So businesses should focus less on blasting out their own content (be it useful or sales-oriented) and increase focus on responding quickly to comments and discussions on their own social media page and throughout each network.

All in all, meeting and engaging customers on various social networks should be at the top of every business' social media objectives list for 2016. What are some ways you all use social networks to engage customers?

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me, right? Wrong. Weak, or, wimpy words are an epidemic that needs to be put to rest.

            Respect is something we all want to gain within our every day lives and within our professional lives. Eliminating any aspect that could take away from that is essential. One of the biggest things we think of in regards to this are wimpy words. Words such as “just” can really change the feel and importance of what you are trying to say. Look as these two examples: “I am calling you in regards to the email I sent you last night, have you read it yet?” or “I am calling you in regards to the email I sent you last night. I was just wondering if you read it?” Which has a firmer feel to it? Adding the word ‘just’ gives it a softer feel, giving a sense of your vulnerability. You want to eliminate any opportunity for someone to feel as though they can control you or how the conversation should go. Once this happens you can potentially lose control of the situation. Which can be hard to get control of again.

            Another wimpy word would be “try”. This gives the impression that you do not feel it can be accomplished, or that you do not have much faith in it or even yourself. “I will try to reach out to them and try to have an answer for you.” Instead, phrase is this way “I will reach out to them, then, I will be in touch with you as soon as I have an answer.” Phrasing it the second way gives a stronger sense of presence and conviction.

            When you have to send an email, or even speak in front of a group of people, have a coworker spot check your work. Doing it yourself does not always work. You can read the same paragraph three times and miss the same mistake each time. This happens because you know what you mean and what it should say. An outsider, however, does not. They can also catch any grammatical errors you may have missed as well.

            Eliminating wimpy or weak words is especially important if you are considered to be ‘client facing’. Having this position can sometimes put you between a rock and a hard place. Standing your ground, using a strong vocabulary and presence, will gain more respect from coworkers and your clients. Stop the excuses, believe in yourself, and let it show in everything you do.

            If this is something you found to be useful, or interesting, contact us today so that we can share more of our ideas!

We sat down recently with our Social Media Manager, Tori, to find out exactly how she spends her day. Does she spend it on her phone surfing Instagram and Pinterest? Or, is she busy helping to build a brand, researching trends and changes?

            When asked what she finds to be a best practice and procedure for her job she informed us that ensuring the content she is pushing accurately represents our brand. “You need to do your research ensuring you’re posting viable information your clients or fans will actually care about. You also need to check the hashtags you’re using before using them. Too many brands have made the mistake of incorporating a trending topic into their message without first taking a moment to see what the trending topic is. This can potentially become disastrous.”

            She also touched on the importance of staying current with new social platforms, but knowing which is best for business, what type of content you should put out there and what to do with comments. “You don’t want to jump into something without knowing how, or if, it will benefit your brand or business. You don’t need to be on every social network. You need to be spending time on the networks the work best for you. Just because it’s available doesn’t mean it’s right for your brand. We follow the 80/20 rule. The social web is about educating, informing, entertaining first and selling second. You have to engage with your audience before trying to sell something. 80% of your updates should be about engagement and the other 20% can be posts about selling. As far as comments are concerned, no one will believe if you only have 5 star reviews. Either, you’re faking it or deleting negative feedback. Turn the negative into a learning and growing experience. Don’t try to bury it, respond to it. Offer help and find a solution to the issue.”

            Tori is often faced with questions of ‘what do you do all day? Do you just sit on your Facebook account or Twitter?’ She took the time to clear up a few misconceptions. “The biggest misconception of my job is that I sit all day and play on Facebook and Twitter. I’d really like to clear this up, I don’t. Both of these platforms have separate accounts that house all your advertising so there’s days where I don’t spend a single second on any of my personal accounts. Like other jobs, mine has highs and lows. I’m given the ability to think outside the box and think of some really creative and fun campaigns to help increase engagement and customer retention. The lows? When a social network is down, and panic ensues.”

            This is just a glimmer of what she faces when she walks through the door each morning. Tori has many more tricks and tips up her sleeve that she constantly brings to the table.

            If you found this to be interesting and useful, contact us today so that we can help you with your digital and social needs! 

Today’s cars continue to become smarter as they “learn” and adapt to the behaviors of drivers. Cars “listen and learn” about the driver to provide the optimal driving experience.

How can your sales advisors learn to engage, optimize and convert women shoppers into buyers and provide the optimal sales experience? What changes can your dealership make to create an ongoing relationship with this demographic, which is 50% of the national market?

Women shop at 30% more dealerships than men. How do you differentiate yourself beyond all that noise - and create an effective sales process that lasts beyond a car sale?

1. Think emotionally. Emotions matter! Respect and trustworthiness are the top two reasons a woman buys from her sales advisor. While 50% of women are excited about their car purchase, only 30% are confident. Price matters, but emotions carry the day when buying and securing a woman buyer’s satisfaction level.

2. Respect your shopper’s time. Everyone is busy. Your woman shopper may be on her lunch hour or ready to pick up her kids from school shortly. She certainly isn’t window shopping; she is there to accomplish something. If a woman senses you can’t assist her – even if she said “no, I’m just looking” - she will go elsewhere. And, when buying, the average woman spends 3 hours and 20 minutes at a dealership. See where you can save time to make it quicker and more efficient. Be honest, when was the last time you bought a car from your own dealership?

3. Visualize Your Best Dealership. How do you help your sales advisors have the highest possible EQ? How do you see your dealership changing if you proactively educate your sales and service advisors to read your buyer’s emotions? What would happen if you empowered them to adjust to advance a sale? What if your hiring procedures screened for people with high EQs as well as strong sales skills?

We as a society tend to focus on instant satisfaction and accomplishing your goals, or, workflow as quickly as possible. This becomes so much of our focus that we often don’t realize that what we are trying to optimize really only saves us milliseconds of our day. This holds true for many job roles, including Website Developer and Account Manager.

A Website Developer, for example, is able to run a series of tests while working on another set of coding. Which, in theory, should save them time and finish the project faster. However, if the search they are doing is for anything that says “!=false”, but, because they are too focused on saving time they forget that PHP could consider “0” a false and should have done “!==false”. This seemingly small mistake renders the search, essentially, pointless. Once they find this mistake has been made, they need to fix their search and run it again. This does not really shave off much time from their task list. Instead of managing their time in this fashion, sometimes it is easier to finish all the “small” tasks on their list at the start of their day and save the big project for later on, knowing it will take them more time.

Account Managers are often faced with questions and concerns from their clients, often times, on a daily basis. It will save you, and the client, more time if you respond to them as soon as you have an answer. Scheduling an email response for an hour or more may seem like the best idea. You have your response written, ready to go, now you are moving on to other tasks. Why not respond as soon as you have the answer for them? It may not feel urgent to you, but to them it is. A quicker response time gives the sense of urgency, importance and responsibility. You are my client; I value you and your concerns and will give you the time you require. This also allows ample time for any follow up questions they may have for you.

In short, pick and choose opportune tasks and times of your day to optimize. Can an hour-long meeting be shortened with time management skills? Perhaps instilling a strict time schedule can ensure the meeting stays on track. Is a meeting necessary or would a group email do just as well? To learn about these strategies and more, contact us today!

Talk More, Sell More, Win More.

Are you a salesperson looking to make more money? I have the answers. On this week's Think Tank Tuesday, learn how to make a gigantic difference in your sales every month. It's time for your end-of-month numbers to get better.

Many of us while watching a video online experience a form of tunnel vision waiting for the “skip” button to appear.  As advertisers, we have approximately 5 seconds to grab someone’s attention. So, how do we do it?

First things first, understand and accept that almost no one wants to watch your ad. They’re on the site for a video, not a mini commercial. You need to create engaging content that will hold the viewer’s attention. Leave out how long you’ve been in business, while that’s great to know, it is not suited for pre-roll.

Another aspect that you need to understand is that pre-roll is not the same as a commercial. Commercials are much longer and you are able to squeeze in a lot of engaging information about your sales event. It is never best practice to run your commercial as a pre-roll video. By doing so, you have lost the viewer, and they have forgotten all about you. You need to convey your product in a way that will grab them and get them to come to you. Most people become engaged when you have an enticing message showing “what’s in it for them”. Remember, you need them; they can shop and buy anywhere. How will it benefit me to come to you?

Once you are able to grab their attention and they visit your website, make sure your message is consistent. Everything about your content needs to match, it may seem like a small detail, but it is extremely important. Treat it like storytelling; if you were to jump from the beginning to the end, leaving out the middle, you are likely to cause confusion.

In short, understand what it is you are trying to do and trying to accomplish. You want the click to your website, the call to your dealership, a customer visiting, and, purchasing from your dealership. For more tips and strategies, please, contact us today, we would love to continue the conversation with you!

In the race to have the best website with the most trafficked marketing channels and the best ROI, many businesses forget what is ultimately at the heart of their business - the consumer. Keeping the consumer at the center of the marketing strategy with smart consumer marketing can ultimately help drive business. The consumer's persona, journey and experience should be what influences a business' marketing efforts.

One way to master consumer marketing is through context. This comes down to knowing and understanding a buyer at any point in the sales cycle - the who, what, where, when and why the consumer wants to purchase. Zero Moment marketing focuses on delivering a business' message to a shopper when they are ready to buy with the appropriate messaging.

Another oft-misunderstood way to get Zero Moment customers via consumer marketing is through engaging content. The context mentioned above is what should influence this content so that clients are seeing the correct message at the correct time for maximum impact.

An aligned set of data-driven messages gathered through well-designed technology that connects across a business' whole organization can ultimately stop any confusing mixed messages that can arise from multi-channel consumer marketing. An enterprise has to, in a way, behave as the customer might expect them to and deliver a consistent experience that goes with both the consumer experience and the business' messaging.

Finally, making something easy to buy seems like a no-brainer. But in industries such as automotive, it becomes tough to convince a shopper with a preconceived notion about the buying process that the experience will be better than what they expect. If a business can anticipate a buyer's needs and make it easy and fast to purchase, convenience will ultimately win over a new client.

There are a number of ways to market, but ultimately putting the consumer at the center of the marketing will be what drives results and loyalty from shoppers. What are some ways you all can think of to help put customers at the center of marketing efforts?

One Simple Tip to Boost Conversion

It's so easy, you'll kick yourself for not doing it sooner. This week, Samantha shows you how to create a top-performing video conversion page. She'll also share a couple of other ways to get the most conversions from your website.

http://www.IndustrySummit.com
http://www.DealerSynergy.com 756-546-2440

Sean V. Bradley's Evolution Keynote For Industry Summit's Tech Talks

http://www.BradleyOnDemand.com 856-546-2440
Make Money Mondays - Use Video And Text Sales Prospects

Currently, the automotive industry is at an all time high for vehicles sold.  Yet, as the old saying goes, what goes up must come down.  Our team is confident not only in ourselves, but our clients as well. We are watching the stock market closely in anticipation of a curveball headed our way.

In 2008 the Stock Market and economy took a large hit, which, was felt across the states. It was also, in relative terms, a quick hit. The fall took place over the course of 18 months, and, dropped more than 50%. As opposed to the hit during The Great Depression, which took about three years and dropped almost 90%.*

The Stock Market has been showing signs of wavering the past couple of weeks, which has business owners and employees on edge, for the most part. We are always watching the market, not only for our business, but for our clients as well. By doing so we are able to better strategize; what is working well and what needs improving. If a client is in a market proven to do well selling Hybrid vehicles, we would not need to focus as much on that part of their inventory, instead we would put more focus on other parts of their inventory.

With this in mind we have more than a few tricks up our sleeves to help you through any situation we may find ourselves in. If this is not something your provider is thinking about, contact us today so that we may strategize with you!

What's Killing the Sales and Marketing Industry?

This industry is going to die because salespeople keep making the same mistake. Are you ready to shape up? Watch Think Tank Tuesday to identify the one habit holding you back. You will establish achievable goals and thrive where others fail--but only if you watch!

Typically, a business markets to potential buyers, and traditionally there is something impersonal about the whole process. The newest challenge marketers face is how to be as "real" as possible when marketing. Convincing shoppers that a business is human and not a cold entity is the goal of humanized marketing.

An often overlooked strategy is to ask customers what they’re looking for and take their suggestions into consideration. After all, traditionally the best sales people are listeners. The same applies to humanized marketing. Once the people have told a business what they want, and the business has a great product, it won't be necessary to exaggerate the qualities of said product. Also, this product will have an inherent "human" factor to it since a lot of the input came from customers themselves.

Follow-up emails, social media posts or phone calls to gauge customer satisfaction can help further a business' humanized marketing. Obviously, this helps to ensure that a customer is satisfied, and it also helps gain insight into what they would like to see in the future. Getting customers to comment on a new product line on social media should be considered a victory.

Finally, giving a brand a name and face for customers to identify with (i.e. Flo from Progressive Insurance) helps round out humanized marketing. This face should help symbolize both the company it represents and the customers it appeals to. This makes marketing to a target market a lot easier.

Humanizing a business is tricky but not difficult if enough time is given to develop a brand as being accessible and social. What are some ways you all add that human factor to give a face to your business or clients?

5 Steps to Get Your Customers to Fill Out Your Surveys

Do you get a dismal response whenever you send out customer surveys? Samantha recently helped a client solve this issue and she can help you too. This week on Hard Facts, learn the five steps to make your surveys irresistible.

Blogging for business is by no means a new phenomenon. It's been talked about for years now, and I'm sure most of you reading this have tried blogging, whether in your free time or for a business.

But while the craze around blogging has died down as it becomes more acceptable, there are still plenty of people out there skeptical about blogging and its potential benefits. In this post, I'll show you how to get started so you can be on your way to developing a more advanced and successful digital marketing strategy.

Every business's site should have a set of main pages that act as the gatekeepers of information. These offer information about your business, its services, and help assure potential customers that they're choosing the right business based on their needs.

With these pages, you're doing the bare minimum. For some businesses, that's fine. But if you're looking to go above and beyond in order to drive traffic and increase leads, a few pages just isn't going to cut it. You need other internal pages that link to this content in order to better establish authority with search engines (and users).

You have to start thinking of your site as not just a place for customers, but a resource for anyone and everyone interested in information about your services or products. That's easier said than done, though, right? Here's an example:

Wikimotive works primarily with car dealers on automotive SEO campaigns, so let's say you're a car dealer that's looking for a way to get more traffic, boost rankings, and get more high quality leads. This is how you'd start:

Create a List of Your Products and Services

Creating a list of your products and services will give you a good look at what you should be promoting and will allow you to figure out exactly what people are searching for in order to find businesses like yours.

Do Keyword Research

Using the Adwords Keyword Planner Tool, take your list of products and one by one use them to gather related keywords and search volume. I recommend creating a spreadsheet for this data, as it's the easiest way to stay organized while doing keyword research.

To get started, simply click "Search for new keywords […]" and enter your product or service in the field labelled "Your product or service." If your business is local, or you simply want to target a specific location, click the first box under the "Targeting" heading. (For U.S. users, this will be labelled "United States," but may differ for international users.)

[irp]In the field labelled "Enter a location to target," type the location and the Keyword Planner should automatically suggest a few locations based on your search. You can be extremely specific with your targeting, so feel free to experiment. (Be sure to also remove the country target before clicking "Save."

Once you're ready to see your ideas, click "Get Ideas." This will send you to a results page that shows overall search data for keywords related to your search, related keyword groups (typically used for quick paid search campaigns), and individual keyword ideas that are related to your original search.

Browse through these and start adding keywords that are contextually informational to your spreadsheet. Informational? What is that?

I break keywords down into two different categories: transactional and informational. Transactional keywords are those that users search when they're looking to make a purchase. Informational keywords are used when someone is looking for information on a specific topic. Pretty simple.

For example, "used cars for sale" would be considered transactional, while "buying a used car" would be considered informational. You don't want your blog posts to be centered around transactional keywords because that should be the focus of your main/navigational content. We'll be linking to the main content from these blog posts in order to supplement that content.

Outline Topics Based on High-Volume Keywords and Get to Work

Now that you've got your keyword list, let's create a few ideas for individual blog posts based on those keywords. For our example of topic that centers around "used cars for sale," I'd pick the following keywords:

• Best Used Cars
• Buying a Used Car
• Best Used Car Deals
• Used Car Valuations
• Certified Used Cars

From here, you want to develop an idea around each of these items. Think about the information people might be looking for when searching for these keywords and try to answer some of the questions you anticipate they'd ask. Here are the posts I'd write in this situation:

• 10 Best Used Cars to Buy in 2015 - I'd gather information from all available sources in order to give readers an idea of the best used cars available in 2015. I'd base this list purely on reliability and overall value, as this is what car buyers think of as "best."
• Buying a Used Car: 5 Things to Consider - To help consumers searching for tips about the used car buying process, I'd list five of the most important things they should take into account when buying a used car, including reliability, depreciation, mileage, and ownership history.
• The Best Used Car Deals of 2015 - While somewhat similar to our "best used cars" post, the best used car deals is purely based on finding vehicles that offer the best value. Typically this means cars that allow you to save versus buying new.
• How are Used Car Valuations Determined? - In this post, I'd explain exactly how dealerships determine the value of used cars when selling and appraising trade-ins. This will not only inform users of the process, but give them a little peace of mind should they be looking to trade in a vehicle or buy one.
• What Makes Certified Used Cars Special - This is something a lot of car buyers probably wonder, and it's our job to inform them. I'd write about the evaluation process for most major brands, and the types of extra work that goes into "certifying" a used car.

Create a Blog Schedule

Now that we've got a few posts completed, let's work on creating a schedule for blogging. This will not only help you or your organization stay consistent with content efforts, but will also help you stay organized with topics and other focuses. Here's what we need to determine:

• How often you want to blog
• What topics you want to cover
• When you want to cover specific topics

How Often You Want to Blog

How often you want to blog really depends on your resources. If this is something you'll be handing off to an employee to handle in addition to other work, you may want to only require one or two posts each week. But if you have a dedicated content writer or editor, you're likely to see better results in less time with a schedule of one post each day.

What Topics You Want to Cover

For our car dealer example, they should be covering a variety of topics in order to better compete for a variety of search terms related to their business. New cars, used cars, car loans, service, and repairs are probably the most basic, and you should have keyword sets and topics ready for each of these.

When to Cover Specific Topics

If you want to stay organized, it's a good idea to focus on certain topics during certain times. So if one week you want to focus on used cars and the next focus on new, you'll have an idea of what's coming up and can plan ahead accordingly. If you have a lighter blog schedule, it's a good idea to focus on one topic for an entire month before switching the focus.

You may also want to cover some topics based on the time of year. So if you know the new models are coming in around April of next year, plan on writing about them in March to prepare for that.

Conclusion

As long as you follow these steps, blogging for business should be a breeze. A lot of work goes into the production of great blog content, but as long as you're committed and consistent you should have no problem keeping up in order to get results.

This post originally appeared on Wikimotive's blog under the title "Blogging for Business: How to Get Started" on August 24, 2015. 

DealerExec Magazine published this article featuring Erich K. Gail, COO of the Cardinale-Group of Companies regarding Zero Moment Retail.
Read the article in it’s entirety here.

When was the last time you wowed someone with your creative? Many dealers fall into a cycle of bland commercials, templated websites, and average marketing. This week on Think Tank Tuesday, I show you how stand out and push the creativity of your entire marketing.